As Freedom @ Work readers are aware, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union wants its very own federal bailout. On Friday, UAW president Ron Gettelfinger, expressing frustration that his union doesn’t own everybody in Congress, indirectly blamed the mess in Detroit on the fact that the National Right to Work Foundation fights for voluntary unionism while protecting its donors’ from being harassed by union goons.
But rather than worrying about the Foundation’s funding sources and demanding the American taxpayers to bail out his pension scheme, perhaps Gettelfinger should examine his union’s financial mismanagement. The DC Examiner has more:
What do UAW executives and workers do to relax? They play golf at the union’s highly touted championship caliber Black Lake Golf Club, designed by Rees Jones. The UAW golf club is in secluded Onaway, MI, as part of the union’s Walter and Mary Reuther Family Education Center. Also part of Black Lake are a learning center, a practice facility with practice bunkers, chipping and putting greens, and a small, nine-hole par-three Little Course.
Golf Digest named Black Lake as one of top “upscale public courses.” And Michigan Golf described the course as a “classic” that includes “wide, well-groomed fairways [that] provide ample room for big hitters.” But some big hitters get special privileges at Black Lake. Tee times can be reserved up to two weeks in advance by UAW execs, compared to only three days for non-UAW duffers. Cost to play Black Lake is $95 per round.
Remember all the much-deserved bad press Detroit’s high-paid Big Three executives received last month when they flew in their corporate jets to beg Washington for a tax-paid bailout? Has anybody in Congress or the media bothered to ask UAW head Ron Gettelfinger about his union’s assets and perks like Black Lake Golf Club?
Michelle Malkin points out that the UAW union’s golf course and education center have managed to lose $23 million over the last five years, even though both are supposedly run as for-profit businesses, according to an independent audit.
