Leaders earned between $173,000 and $618,000 at major unions, the Center for Public Integrity found in examining 2009 tax records, with some groups paying dozens of employees in the six figures. At the three major unions , which together represent more than 5.6 million public workers, presidents’ salaries ranged between $400,000 and $500,000 in 2009.
Gerard McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, was paid $479,328 in salary and benefits in 2009. He was one of 10 employees of the 1.5 million-member union who made more than $200,000 that year.
At the 3.2 million member National Education Association, President Dennis Van Roekel made $397,721 in salary and benefits in 2009. Thirty other officers and employees of the nation’s largest teachers’ union made more than $200,000 that year. Public school teachers, by comparison, were paid a national average of $54,319 in 2009.
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