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In the News
Seven years after Janus, public employees still can’t quit their unions
October 24, 2025 // Matthew Hayward for Washington Examiner
Seven years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME decision established that public employees cannot be compelled to pay union dues, a troubling pattern has emerged: unions nationwide are systematically obstructing workers’ rights to resign. Consider Chaquan May, a California in-home caregiver, who has spent more than two years trying to resign from SEIU Local 2015.
White Collar Workers Are Considering Unionizing as Their Jobs Are Threatened
October 23, 2025 // Bruce Crumley for INC.
The scenario was recently explored in a Washington Post article titled “The future of white-collar work may be unionized,” which noted “(l)aw firms, banks and tech companies are seeing an uptick in employees choosing to organize.” Interestingly, the paper didn’t mention that its own tech workers overwhelmingly voted to form a union earlier this year, despite management efforts to prevent them. Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has for years battled to stop the online marketplace’s employees from doing the same. In any case, it was probably no coincidence that the Post’s IT workers led the push to organize. Employees at Alphabet, Microsoft, Kickstarter, and other tech companies began organizing as far back as 2020 to gain better leverage against what they considered heavy-handed management decisions.
Union County teachers hold ‘sick-out’ to protest amid pay supplement saga
October 23, 2025 // Myles Harris for WCNC
Tuesday, the Union County Public Schools Finance Committee worked through a plan to fund the $1,000 supplement this school year. UCPS Chief Finance Officer Shanna McLamb explained the plan would cost roughly $3.8 million and amount to about $100 more per month for teachers. Some parents say the pay issue has a direct impact on students.
Chicago Teachers Union bosses make a lot more than members. Little of members’ dues pay for representation. See who makes what, here.
October 23, 2025 // Mailee Smith for https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-teachers-union-dues-support-54-bosses-making-over-100k/
More than 50 CTU officers and employees made $100,000 or more in the 2025 fiscal year. To put that in context, the median salary in Chicago is $65,250. The average Chicago teacher made $86,439 during the 2023-2024 school year. Not even 18% of CTU’s spending in its 2025 fiscal year was on representing teachers – what is supposed to be its core focus. That’s according to the union’s own numbers.
California’s Fast Food Minimum Wage Hike Cost the State 18,000 Jobs. That Shouldn’t Surprise Anyone.
October 23, 2025 // Peter Suderman for Reason
The trio looked at fast-food employment in California and found a decline of 2.64 percent between September 2023 and September 2024—six months before and after the law went into effect. During that same time period, fast-food employment in the rest of the United States slightly increased. Those different outcomes make it likely that the law caused fast-food businesses to hire fewer people, with a probable effect of lowering such employment 2.3 percent to 3.9 percent. At the middle of the range, that means about 18,000 fewer jobs in California.
Top teachers union invites pro-violence activists to shape public school curricula
October 23, 2025 // Robert Schmad for Washington Examiner
Many of the Rethinking Schools and Zinn Education Project materials promoted by the NEA explicitly target younger children. The NEA, for instance, on its official Instagram page, highlighted the work of Zinn Education Project fellow and third-grade teacher Sundjata Sekou, who hosts “racial literacy circles” where his fellow elementary educators discuss “cultivating genius in black and brown children.” Additionally, the Zinn Education Project has published reams of educational material aimed at teaching elementary school students about climate change, racism in America’s founding, and feminism, among other topics.
Memphis city unions hold protest at city hall, demand city leaders honor MOUs
October 22, 2025 // Joyce Peterson, Lydian Coombs for WMC
In Memphis, Tennessee, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lost his life in 1968 fighting for the rights of unionized sanitation workers, trouble brews. All 13 of the city’s unions protested together Tuesday, criticizing Mayor Paul Young and the city council for trying to invalidate their collective bargaining agreements.
San Francisco courtroom clerks threaten to strike as early as next week
October 22, 2025 // Margaret Attridge for Courthouse News Service
The clerks, represented by Service Employees International Union, Local 1021, voted in early October by 98% to authorize a strike. Union organizers say a strike is “imminent,” and could happen as soon as next week.
NLRB Challenges California’s AB 288 as Preempted by Federal Law
October 22, 2025 // Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP for JD Supra
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed suit against the State of California and the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) seeking to block enforcement of Assembly Bill 288, a new law that would allow California to step into the NLRB’s shoes under certain conditions. The NLRB contends that AB 288 is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and that it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. As discussed in our prior update here, California recently joined New York in passing legislation that would allow state agencies to assume powers delegated to the NLRB by Congress
Opinion: A Teachers Union Candidate Took My Money and Ran for Office
October 22, 2025 // Marie Dupont for Wall Street Journal Opinion
in a lawsuit filed Sept. 30 in New Jersey Superior Court, that it was also an illegal breach of contract and a violation of the union’s fiduciary duty to its members. On paper, the union tells teachers that giving to its political organizations is voluntary. The membership forms we signed, which function as a contract between a member and the union, have a separate box to check for voluntary donations to the union’s political action committee. I didn’t check that box and therefore believed my money wouldn’t be used by a PAC. That wasn’t true. In 2013 union officials created an obscure political group called Garden State Forward and funded it with more than $100 million in teachers’ dues.
Minneapolis teachers to vote on strike
October 22, 2025 // author for Learfield Wire Service
Tuesday’s meeting marked the seventh bargaining session since April. A strike authorization vote begins tomorrow(Thursday). If approved by union members, a walkout could begin as early as November.
Workers at Major D.C. Concert Venues Launch Unionization Effort
October 22, 2025 // Caitlin Huston for Hollywood Reporter
Production staff as well as employees in food services, box office and those staffing the door at D.C.’s 9:30 Club, a well-known venue that helped launched the careers of bands including Nirvana and R.E.M, as well as at The Anthem, one of the larger East Coast venues with a capacity of 6,000, The Atlantis and Lincoln Theatre, have asked management at I.M.P. to allow the process to move forward for voluntary recognition of the unionization efforts.
Interior Department reveals plans to lay off more than 2,000 employees
October 21, 2025 // Jared Serbu for WFED
According to the documents, the RIF would involve: 474 employees in the Bureau of Land Management 12 employees in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 30 employees in the Bureau of Reclamation 7 employees in the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement 143 employees in the Fish and Wildlife Service 272 employees in the National Park Service 7 employees in the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 770 Interior headquarters and Interior Business Center employees 335 employees in the U.S. Geological Survey In an earlier filing last week, the department said it had been planning the staff cuts for months, and until they were blocked by a restraining order, officials had planned to abolish the positions “imminently” and issue RIF notices to the staff in those roles.
Union Fights to Revive $3.5M Pension Win Against Jones Lang LaSalle
October 21, 2025 // Rihem Akkouche for USA Herald
In a Friday petition for rehearing, the pipe fitters and plumbers’ union — alongside several benefit funds and trustees — urged the Third Circuit to reconsider or rehear the case en banc, arguing that the panel’s split September ruling misinterpreted the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and ignored key principles set forth by the Supreme Court. At the Heart of the Battle: What Counts as “Hours Paid”? The dispute stems from a 2020 ERISA lawsuit accusing Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc. (JLL) of failing to properly account for overtime pay when calculating pension contributions. The Delaware district court initially sided with the union in 2024, awarding $3.5 million in unpaid contributions, audit costs, liquidated damages, and interest.
UPDATE: Union submits counteroffer after Volkswagen makes final contract public
October 21, 2025 // Logan Dubel for Local 3 news
The contract includes a 20% wage increase over four years, a $4,000 ratification bonus, the company’s first-ever cost-of-living allowance and lower health care costs. If approved before Oct. 31, employees would receive an additional $1,500. Employees could make nearly $80,000 each year, before overtime and benefits, according to a contract fact book released by Volkswagen. Withdrawn portions of the contract include random drug testing and a tentative agreement about onsite childcare, after disagreements on a weekly subsidy amount.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Ups The Ante As He Calls For A General Strike
October 21, 2025 // Kelby Vera for Huffpost
Summoning people of all backgrounds to unite and take a stand against President Donald Trump’s “tyranny,” the “ultra-wealthy” and corporate greed, Johnson said, “We are going to make them pay their fair share in taxes to fund our school, to fund jobs, to fund healthcare, to fund transportation.”
Kaiser Permanente employees return to work after 5-day strike
October 21, 2025 // author for City News Service
The strike was part of a walkout involving 31,000 members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP). Members include registered nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, rehab therapists, dietitians, speech-language pathologists, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, midwives and other specialty health workers. Picketing was held at three facilities in San Diego County: Zion Medical Center in Grantville, San Diego Medical Center in Kearny Mesa and San Marcos Medical Center.
Heavy Equipment Operators File Federal Charges Against Operating Engineers Union for Illegal Retaliation
October 21, 2025 // author for National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
The charges filed by Michael Mitchem, Billy Johnson, and Chris Oaks each state that even before formally resigning from the union, the employees were never voluntary union members, as they had been misled into believing that union membership was mandatory. Though union officials frequently mislead workers into believing that formal union membership is required, the problem is especially prevalent when employment involves union hiring halls. Under longstanding law, only fully voluntary union members can be subjected to internal union discipline, which often involves fines levied against workers at odds with union boss demands. Workers cannot face discipline for actions that occur after a worker has resigned from such voluntary union membership.
Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots
October 21, 2025 // Karen Weise for New York Times
Amazon also said that it’s not insisting executives avoid certain terms, and that community involvement is unrelated to automation. Amazon’s plans could have profound impact on blue-collar jobs throughout the country and serve as a model for other companies like Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, and UPS. The company transformed the U.S. work force as it created a booming demand for warehousing and delivery jobs. But now, as it leads the way for automation, those roles could become more technical, higher paid and more scarce.
NAGE IAEP Union Boss Robert Rasulo Sentenced for Crimes
October 21, 2025 // author for National Institute for Labor Relations Research
NAGE IAEP Treasurer Robert Rasulo has been sentenced to two years of probation, along with paying nearly $20 in restitution, after pleading guilty to petit larceny and attempted petit larceny.