BY ROBERT C. HERGUTH AND CHRIS FUSCO Staff Reporters Advertisement
A truck driver or warehouseman represented by Teamsters Local 710 -- with a few years under the belt and some overtime -- might pull in $52,000 a year.
Before he retired Dec. 31, longtime Local 710 boss Frank Wsol also was, on average, making $52,000 -- a month.
Wsol's $630,000-a-year salary was the highest of any Teamsters officer in the country, even James P. Hoffa, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters chieftain. He also appeared to be the highest-paid labor leader in the Chicago area, though six-figure salaries are common for top union officials here, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of the most recent U.S. Labor Department wage data and interviews.
At least 160 union officers in the Chicago region each made $100,000 or more annually. At least 10 officials made more than $200,000.
Often, those salaries are significantly higher than what's paid to the dues-paying workers they represent.
Before leaving his job as a dock worker at a south suburban trucking outfit, Tom Albano made $19.90 an hour, or $45,000 to $50,000 a year with overtime. The Chesterton, Ind., resident was a longtime member -- and critic -- of Local 710 who described officer salaries as "disheartening."
Wsol and other union officials, however, said members have the right to change the compensation levels and vote for new leadership if they're unhappy. He said he was paid so much because of the long-held practice of awarding "commissions . . . based on how many members you represented, how many members you organize, etc., things of that nature.
"The perks are darn good, there's no question about it," said Wsol, 78. "Then again, the responsibility is pretty darn tough, too."
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A common argument for paying union bosses big money is they are, effectively, CEOs.
"If you look at a local of any size, what you're talking about is a multimillion-dollar annual nonprofit organization . . . you generally have pension funds . . . many employees," said Brian Rainville, a spokesman for Teamsters Joint Council 25.
The Joint Council represents 22 Teamsters locals in the region, covering 110,000 members. It's led by John Coli, who is paid around $300,000 a year for his work at the council and a Teamsters branch that he and a brother lead.
"It is reasonable because it is set in a democratic process," Rainville said of Coli's salary.
Still, such levels have come under scrutiny, particularly from a dissident organization called Teamsters for a Democratic Union, which regularly releases names of Teamsters officials making more than $100,000 a year.
"They say the CEOs of companies make a lot more," said TDU's Ken Paff. "Our movement doesn't agree with the comparison at all. We don't want union officials to have the same reputation as CEOs or even used car salesmen."
Indeed, the subject of leaders' pay is a touchy one. Several unions declined to return telephone calls about the issue.
Even so, it seems most agree that the excesses of the past -- which involved union heavyweights such as the late Edward Hanley flaunting cars, jets and luxury homes -- are largely gone. In several unions, leaders have frozen their salaries after the economy started to tank in 2001.
Charles Anderson, secretary-treasurer of Painters AFL-CIO District Council 30 in St. Charles said an average painter earns about $56,000 a year after health insurance and other costs are paid.
Anderson, a 21-year union leader, makes about $200,000 a year. He believes the 3,600 people in his union understand his salary in light of his responsibilities, including helping oversee about $100 million in pension funds.
Union leaders who represent public employees -- such as police, fire and teachers -- appear more apt to tie their salaries to what they would earn if they had moved up doing those jobs.
"I'm probably in the ballpark of what a district chief earns," said Chicago Fire Fighters Local 2 president Jim McNally, who earns about $120,000 a year.
Sometimes officials' pay is tied to what members make.
"Our officers make what a teacher would make, but for an 8-hour day and a 12-month year," said Chicago Teachers Union president Deborah Lynch, who earns around $111,000 a year.
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One paycheck that's raising eyebrows belongs to Joseph Senese, who runs the Oak Brook-based National Production Workers Union.
Senese, the son of late Teamsters boss and reputed mobster Dominick Senese, was paid $345,000 in 2002, records show. With expenses and allowances, he took home $385,000.
The membership, composed in part of landscape workers, has been at 4,500 and is reportedly growing. Still, some are stunned by Senese's salary.
"Wow," said the Illinois AFL-CIO's Margaret Blackshere, who is paid just over $100,000 a year and whose umbrella organization represents a million workers.
After Wsol's departure, some officers in Teamsters Local 710 have taken salary cuts as part of a new salary cap tied to Hoffa's salary, said the local's new chief, Patrick Flynn. The large salaries last year helped contribute to a financial crunch at Local 710.
"We ran $250,000 in the red last year," said Flynn, who represents 14,000 UPS workers and truck drivers, among other types of jobs. "We've made a commitment to our membership that that's not going to happen this year."
CHICAGO'S LABOR ELITE
Select area union leaders and how much they get paid:
NAME ANNUAL SALARY TOTAL PAYMENTS GROUP
Frank Wsol** $630,231 $636,394 Teamsters
Joseph Senese $345,419 $385,931 Nat?l Production Workers
John Coli $301,454 $329,487 Teamsters
James Dawes $279,285 $287,313 Teamsters
Ronald Powell $253,885 $262,086 Food & Commercial Workers
Earl Oliver $235,861 $254,918 Carpenters
Frank Riley $235,209 $239,426 Laborers
James Connolly $232,825 $236,860 Laborers
William Dugan $228,110 $259,444 Operating Engineers
Stan Karczynski $212,224 $261,189 Sheet Metal Workers
Charles Anderson $199,865 $230,944 Painters
Gerald Harms $181,803 $190,620 Painters
Dennis Gannon $180,000* N/A Chicago Fed. of Labor
Tom Balanoff $170,558 $202,772 Service Employees
James Sullivan $147,320 $162,009 Plumbers
Mark Donahue $136,000* N/A Chicago Police
John ?Mike? Fitzgerald $134,300 $140,287 Electricians
James McNally $120,684* N/A Chicago Firefighters
Robert Hogan $112,735 $129,126 Teamsters
Henry Tamarin $111,425? $124,507 Hotel, Restaurant Employees
Patrick Duff $111,345 $138,403 Liquor & Wine Sales
Henry Bayer $111,125 $153,881 AFSCME
Deborah Lynch $111,000* N/A Chicago Teachers
William Biggerstaff $109,200 $130,192 Hotel, Restaurant Employees
John F. Duff III $108,680 $131,151 Liquor & Wine Sales
Margaret Blackshere $105,000* N/A lllinois AFL-CIO
Rig driver killed on U.S. 30
Trooper OK after his car hit at traffic stop
By Craig Rimlinger
The Journal Gazette
COLUMBIA CITY – A Fort Wayne man died and an Indiana State Police trooper narrowly escaped injury and possible death in an early-morning accident Thursday on U.S. 30 in rural Whitley County.
Minutes after 6 a.m., 14-year trooper Brian Bills, 40, pulled over the driver of a National Serv-All trash hauler eastbound on U.S. 30 near County Road 400 East for neglecting to stop at a red light at 300 East.
During the stop, Bills was on the step of the truck obtaining the driver’s information when he heard his cruiser, a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria, being hit by a UPS vehicle, according to a written statement from the state police.
The vehicle, which was pulling two trailers, just missed hitting both Bills and the trash truck before it went off the right side of the road, pinning driver William Klea, 44, inside.
Klea, the father of three, died of blunt-force trauma in the crash, the statement said. An autopsy will be performed at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne.
His wife of 23 years, Tammy Klea, said her husband was an outdoorsman whom everyone liked to be around.
“He was a really good dad and a very loving father,” she said. “He was a family man. He was into mountain climbing and traveling. He had a lot of friends.”
He had climbed in Argentina as well as scaled Mount Rainier in Washington and Mount Shasta in California, she said.
She said her husband was in the process of building a cabin in West Virginia with his brother-in-law.
“Everybody liked Bill,” she said. “He was a good guy. He was a Christian. Everybody knows he’s in heaven.”
William Klea worked for UPS for a little more than 20 years, she said. He was on his way back from Chicago, his normal, three-hour route.
In a written statement to The Journal Gazette, UPS said: “We are extremely shocked and saddened by Bill’s death in this tragic accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bill’s family, his wife, Tammy, and her children. We are thankful that no one else was hurt in the accident.”
The shipping company also said it is working with authorities in their investigation.
Eastbound traffic was slowed and funneled into the left, eastbound lane as investigators remained on the scene for hours.
The driver of the trash hauler, 34-year-old Anthony D. Rashawans, was cited for disregarding an automatic signal. Bills’ cruiser was a total loss.
In addition to the state police, the Union Township Fire Department, the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department and the Whitley County Hazardous Materials Response Team arrived at the scene.
