NJ Study Questions Handling of Paid Leave For Union Leaders of Government Workers
By David Madden
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) -- A newly released state study questions how taxpayer-funded leave for union leaders in New Jersey is handled.
The practice is far from uncommon or improper. But the state's Commission of Investigation wonders why, among other things, the rules aren't uniform.
"You can go into any town or school district, compare city workers to school district employees to county employees, and you'll find some that are on full-time union leave for union business at taxpayer expense, some who are on full-time leave that the union picks up the tab, and some in which the costs are shared," notes Lee Seglem, assistant director of the Commission of Investigation.
Some, Seglem says, have spent years on union leave. He says the report's aim is to get government officials thinking about whether they should be funding this, and if so, how to make the process more transparent.
"The governor and the legislature should take a look at whether, and to what extent, government-paid union leave should be severely curtailed or eliminated altogether," Seglem told KYW Newsradio today, "and the statutory landscape should be brought to order by some kind of a consolidated statute that treats all of these union representatives equally."
A cursory check has found union leave has cost taxpayers $30 million over a five-year period.
