Sick Unto Retirement

Make sure you're sitting down when you read this one: A recent survey by The Boston Globe finds that municipal workers take 50 percent more sick days than people in the private sector. Which is not news, really. But there was one line in the piece that deserves reprinting:

Boston officials said they are examining the case of Officer Christine Meegan, who allegedly took advantage of the department's generous sick-time and vacation policies to take off more than 100 days from work between July of last year and March of this year. A department official said the days off were allowed under the union contract but were improper. (emphasis added)

For more on the glories of unions, read some vintage Mike Lynch and Virginia Postrel here, here, and here.