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In the News
A Manager Says His Union And Non-Union Employees Want The Same Wage. Dave Ramsey Responds, ‘I’m Not Trying To Bust A Union, But…’
August 29, 2025
Ramsey then told the caller that "It doesn’t matter if they’re union or not. It’s just they get paid different because they do different jobs."
New Study Finds Unions Promise More, Deliver Less for Workers
August 29, 2025 // author for National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors
From 2015 to 2024, wages in most unionized NLRA jobs grew by 26%. In contrast, the least unionized NLRA jobs grew by 36%, the fastest growth of any group studied. “These findings underscore that over the past decade workers have not realized gains from aggressive union leader tactics” said Eric Hoplin, CEO of NAW. “In fact, the opposite trend is clear: the least unionized workers have seen greater wage growth.”
The share of Californians in unions holds steady as nationwide numbers continue decline
August 28, 2025 // Suhauna Hussain for Los Angeles Times
The report, which analyzed data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that the percentage of Californians covered by a union has hovered between 16% and 18% in the last two decades. In 2024, the most recent year analyzed by researchers, the Golden State’s 2.67 million union-represented workers amounted to 16.3% of its labor force. Unions have only been able to sustain those numbers through consistent new organizing, said Enrique Lopezlira, director of the Low-Wage Work Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center and a co-author of the report.
PENNSYLVANIA: Nurses last week voted 402-305 to join the union.
August 28, 2025 // Chrissy Suttles for Axios Pittsburgh
Nurses, elected officials and more will rally at 1pm today at Zulema Parklet, across from Magee, urging the health care giant to begin contract talks without further delays. Roughly 60 advanced practitioners at the hospital, from nurse practitioners to midwives, will hold their own union vote on Sept. 6 and 9.
Yosemite Workers Vote to Unionize
August 27, 2025
Federal employees at Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon national parks have voted to unionize with the National Federation of Federal Employees. Across the two parks more than 97% of ballots cast in elections that ran from July 22 to Aug. 19 were in favor of unionizing, results that were certified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority on Monday. Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon join a handful of other unionized parks in the US. For decades, government agencies have been required to collectively bargain with employees if they unionize, but the process of negotiating a contract can take years, and the Trump administration has been working to hamstring federal unions’ power.
Evergreen school employees strike as districts across the Northwest start heading back to class
August 27, 2025 // Erik Neumann for Oregon Public Broadcasting
The union is asking for paraeducators to be paid for the full time they are at school, even if students need assistance after classes end. They’re also asking for release time to do union work, among other benefits. Union representatives said the district has so far been inflexible with their requests as well as bargaining dates.
VA redirects millions in wasteful union spending back to Veterans
August 27, 2025 // author for VA.Gov
In FY24, the following VA employees were on taxpayer-funded union time, performing work for unions instead of providing care for Veterans: More than 1,000 VA employees in direct patient-care roles. Six registered nurses who collectively earned nearly $1.2 million per year in wages and benefits. Five attorneys who collectively earned $1.25 million per year. Four pharmacists who collectively earned more than $700,000 per year. One physician’s assistant who earned $225,000 per year. One Veterans claims examiner who earned $190,000 per year.
Employers Gain Additional Defenses In Union Salting And Deferral Cases Thanks to New Guidance from NLRB Official
August 27, 2025
Under the AGC’s July 24 guidance, employees (or unions) filing charges must present evidence that the salt is “genuinely interested” in working for the employer. While the Board will independently evaluate this element, it will analyze evidence from the employer of the circumstances surrounding: the contents and completeness of the salt’s application; the applicant’s behavior and conduct during interviews; and the applicant’s previous refusal of similar employment.
TVA privatization could spell trouble for unions in Appalachia, workers say
August 27, 2025 // Katie Myers for BPR News
Around 5700 union members work on a range of energy projects across the seven-state footprint of the Tennessee Valley Authority. From Western North Carolina to Tennessee, unionized workers work on TVA energy infrastructure, operate gas, coal, and nuclear plants, and check safety on waste ponds and landfills. While 24 full-time TVA employees work in Western North Carolina, union contractors are regularly called upon to maintain the region’s four major dams. Though all the states in which TVA operates are right-to-work states with resulting low union density, the TVA workforce is 57% unionized.
Commentary: The 2025 Labor Power 100 New York’s most influential union chiefs and worker advocates
August 26, 2025 // author for City and State New York
City & State’s Labor Power 100 highlights the most influential leaders in one of the most politically powerful spheres in New York. The list, researched and written in partnership with journalist Aaron Short, features union chiefs who have scored major victories – new contracts, new legislation, new members – and navigated tough circumstances. It also highlights a number of retirements that have paved the way for new leaders to ascend.
Hudson Valley Farmworker Challenges PERB Official’s Dismissal of Employee Petition Seeking Removal of UFW Union Officials
August 26, 2025 // author for National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
Despite the fact he submitted a petition containing enough of his colleagues’ signatures to trigger a union decertification vote, Bell’s latest filing reports that the PERB’s Acting Director of Private Employment Practices and Representation refused to process his petition on the basis of four unproven claims of wrongdoing that UFW union officials filed against Porpiglia Farms management. At both state and federal labor boards, union officials often file such allegations (usually called “blocking charges”) to stop workers from exercising their right to vote a union out of power at a workplace –
Philly teachers union and school district reach tentative contract agreement
August 26, 2025 // Brendan Brightman for NBC 10
The agreement, if approved by the union's 14,000 members, would end the possibility of a teachers strike, which members had voted to authorize earlier this summer. As negotiations continued between the two sides in recent weeks, teachers were beginning to make picket signs in preparation for a potential work stoppage.
Baltimore union leadership faces shake-up as DPW workers push for change
August 26, 2025 // MIKENZIE FROST for FOX45 NEWS
AFSCME Local 44 represents employees at several city agencies, including the Department of Public Works, Recreation and Parks, and Department of Transportation. Several DPW previously voiced their frustration with Local 44 over safety conditions within the agency and their pay. “The Union, we don't have a union. You know, we really, really don't because they totally aren't 100% for us,” said Reginald Nobel during a previous interview with FOX45 News. “Yeah, they're totally for their self.
CDC finalizes roughly 600 layoffs; union says workforce ‘decimated’
August 26, 2025 // Joseph Choi for The Hill
“I can confirm that roughly 600 CDC employees were let go,” an American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. “The cuts are across the agency including the Division of Violence Prevention, EEO, FOIA, the Office of Financial Resources, the offices of the chief information and chief operating officers, and more.” The AFGE blasted the timing of the firings, taking place so soon after the fatal shooting that occurred at the CDC’s offices in Atlanta.
UAW Local 4811 pushes for immigrant protections, pay equity in UC negotiations
August 25, 2025 // Josephine Murphy for Daily Bruin
About 33,000 of the over 57,000 employees under UAW Local 4811, including academic student employees and graduate student researchers, are being represented in the ongoing negotiations. UAW Local 4811 is also representing nearly 5,000 student services and advising professionals in the determination of another bargaining unit contract – the first contract for the new group, which was recognized by the University in April. There are five bargaining units under UAW Local 4811 – academic student employees, graduate student researchers, student services and advising professionals, postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers – three of which are being represented in the current negotiations. Once a new contract is determined, ASEs and GSRs will merge to simplify bargaining and implementation, according to a press release from the UC Office of the President.
Powerful union demands ‘New Deal’ for the 2028 LA Olympic Games, threatens to strike
August 25, 2025 // Libby Rainey for LAist
They're asking the International Olympic Committee and private Olympics organizer LA28 to give $5 billion to build housing in Los Angeles. They're also demanding a citywide moratorium on Airbnb, and want the International Olympic Committee to end its partnership with the short-term rental giant. Unite Here Local 11 announced the "New Deal for Our Future" campaign alongside other unions and community groups Thursday morning outside the Coliseum, which will co-host the Opening Ceremonies.
Nation’s 2 largest teachers unions funneled nearly $50M to left-wing groups, watchdog report says
August 25, 2025 // Alec Schemmel for Fox News
Left-wing philanthropic behemoths like the Tides Network, New Venture Fund, Sixteen-Thirty Fund and Future Forward, the last of which was the main Super PAC supporting Kamla Harris' 2024 presidential run after former President Joe Biden dropped out, all received a combined nearly $1.5 million from the unions, according to the report. The unions also forked over significant amounts of cash for groups that focus on supporting left-wing candidates for public office, such as the Democratic Governors Association, Democrat's House Majority and Senate Majority PACs. Other groups they have donated to include major left-wing think tanks like the Center for American Progress and its 501(c)(4) arm, which received close to a million dollars since 2022 from the two unions.
Connecticut Union Raises. Incompetence or Worse?
August 25, 2025 // Frank Ricci for Yankee Institute for Public Policy
By telegraphing guaranteed raises, Lamont places unions on offense, emboldened to demand wage and benefit enhancements, rather than defending existing gains. As negotiation expert Chester Karrass once said, “You don’t get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate.” Revealing your playbook isn’t negotiation — it’s surrender. State unions, representing 45,000 employees, already secured a staggering 33% in raises and step increases under the 2017 SEBAC agreement, far outpacing the wage growth of the private-sector workers whose taxes pay their salaries. These contracts, negotiated in the name of taxpayers, are meant to balance fairness to employees with fiscal responsibility. Yet, taxpayers are left out, footing the bill for what resembles a feast.
NEW YORK: Opt-outs up by 63 percent
August 25, 2025 // Ryan Brooks for Freedom Foundation
Compared to last July, opt-outs have surged 63 percent. Since just last month? Another 51 percent spike. This isn’t a one-off. It’s a movement. And if the pace continues, New York will crush last year’s totals. Union executives can’t ignore it. New Yorkers are waking up to where their dues are really going — political slush funds, six-figure union salaries and agendas that don’t represent them.
The Buckeye Institute Wins Settlement in Education Union Dues Case
August 25, 2025 // author for Buckeye Institute
The Buckeye Institute won another legal victory, this time for Beth Queen, a science teacher in Poland, Ohio, and Buckeye’s client in Queen v. NEA. Immediately after The Buckeye Institute filed the case, the Ohio Education Association agreed to settle the dispute to Ms. Queen’s satisfaction. “With this settlement, the OEA properly recognized Ms. Queen’s claims and avoided costly and protracted litigation for all involved,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute and an attorney representing Ms. Queen.
Blog Research ● Labor Unions
author
A ‘Copy And Paste’ Campaign? – Opponents ‘Flood The U.S. Department Of Labor With Identical Comments Against Proposed Union Rule