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In the News
Local orchestra members one step closer to unionizing
April 25, 2026 // author for 13 News
The group decided to unionize under the American Federation of Musicians in the spring of 2024. However, their status has not been formally recognized by TCVO’s board of directors.
Ninth Circuit Affirms Bargaining Order in Cemex Without Opining on NLRB’s Cemex Framework
April 25, 2026 // Dinsmore & Shohl LLP for JD Supra
The Ninth Circuit could have joined the Sixth Circuit in rejecting the Cemex Framework outright, or it could have affirmed the Cemex Framework, which would have established a circuit split and set the stage for Supreme Court review. By choosing to do neither, the Ninth Circuit’s decision means the Board’s authority to issue bargaining orders under the Cemex Framework will remain unsettled. In the meantime, employers outside of the Sixth Circuit (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee) should be aware that the Board will likely continue to enforce the union-friendly Cemex Framework (as it did after Brown-Forman). Dinsmore’s labor and employment attorneys will continue tracking these developments closely and provide updates as courts weigh in on the future of the Cemex Framework.
Labor Department’s reworked joint employer rule restores common sense
April 23, 2026 // Sean Higgins for Competitive Enterprise Institute
The Labor Department came out with a draft rework of its joint employer rule. CEI labor policy expert Sean Higgins points to some good fixes but underscores the need for Congress to reform the law instead of leaving decisions to regulators:
California’s wage experiment offers warning as Oklahoma weighs SQ 832
April 23, 2026 // Curtis Shelton for Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
These outcomes are consistent with broader trends in California, where years of increasing minimum wages have coincided with declining youth employment and rising prices. Similar patterns have emerged in states like Oregon and Washington. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has taken a different path, one that has allowed wages to grow while keeping costs relatively stable, helping position the state in the top 10 in the nation for attracting younger workers. California’s experience should give all Oklahomans pause. What may be a well-intentioned policy doesn’t produce the outcomes anyone wants—fewer hours, fewer opportunities, and higher prices for the very people it is supposed to help.
One of Oregon’s Most Powerful Unions Is Rebelling Against Democrats
April 23, 2026 // Nigel Jaquiss for Willamette Week
Although many donors contribute to individual candidates, OEA sends most of its legislative contributions to caucus leaders, who distribute the cash to candidates in tight races. That ensures maximum influence with leaders, who in turn decide which bills get hearings and who gets committee chairmanships. (A 2012 study by the Fordham Institute ranked OEA the second-most powerful teachers union in the country—only the Illinois teachers union ranked higher.) In addition to large and steady contributions, OEA also developed a reputation for punishing Democrats who failed to fall in line, as Sollman is now learning. One infamous example still echoes nearly two decades later.
Brown’s graduate union wants to make history. Labor experts say the journey may be strenuous.
April 23, 2026 // James Libresco for Brown Daily Herald
The union has not yet brought the case to the state labor board. But in an interview with The Herald, Michael Ziegler GS, the president of GLO’s parent group RIFT-AFT Local 6516, said the union was prepared to do so if they feel it is needed. Fellows must be considered employees by law in order to unionize, Herbert explained. “The fundamental question is whether or not the employer pays specifically for work being performed and has control over that work.”
AFSCME union seeks to charge university with criminal offense for bringing in alleged “strikebreakers”
April 23, 2026 // Bonny Chu for Fox News
The union says the practice violates the state's Employment of Strikebreakers Act, a Class A misdemeanor, but courts have found the measure unconstitutional
OPINION: Union Politics Is Poisoning Washington’s Business Climate
April 23, 2026 // Chip Rogers
Between 2021 and 2026, Washington fell from #16 to #45 in the Tax Foundation’s State Tax Competitiveness Index, a dramatic drop that signals a rapidly deteriorating business climate. Meanwhile, the cost of living has surged. The Washington Roundtable now ranks the state among the five most expensive in the country. This did not happen by accident. It is the direct outcome of a policy agenda backed by union money and enacted by elected officials who benefit from it: higher minimum wages, expansive paid-leave mandates, new healthcare requirements, and an increasingly complex regulatory environment.
Trump Labor Department proposes rule redefining workplace violations for franchises
April 23, 2026 // Zach Halaschak, for Washington Examiner
The proposed rule sets four standards for use in every case of potential vertical joint employment: (1) whether the potential joint employer hires or fires the employee in question, (2) whether it supervises or controls the employee’s work schedule or conditions of employment to a “substantial degree,” (3) whether it controls the employee’s rate and method of pay, and (4) if it maintains the worker’s employment records. Wage and Hour Division Administrator Andrew Rogers said that the proposal would “deliver much-needed regulatory clarity in the face of divergent judicial precedent throughout federal courts of appeals.”
Unions push back against Spanberger’s collective bargaining changes
April 23, 2026 // Heciel Nieves Bonilla for Commonwealth Times
Spanberger’s term in office ends in 2030, around the time local government employees would be allowed into the terms of the bill. She defended the correlation between the two, pointing out Virginia’s unique rule limiting governors to one consecutive term. “But that doesn’t mean that just because I only have four years as governor that I need to rush things much, much faster,” Spanberger said. “It is about being methodical.”
Nurses file unfair labor charges against Teamsters Local 332 amid ongoing strike
April 22, 2026 // WNEM Digital for WNEM
According to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), some nurses have filed unfair labor charges against their union, Teamsters Local 332. Charges were filed on March 31, April 10, and April 14. They claim the Union violated the National Labor Relations Act, and they claim a violation of employee rights specific to a picketing or strike action as well as allegations of related harassment and coercion.
Full-time Gould RTPC faculty release statement opposing inclusion in non-tenure faculty unionizing effort
April 22, 2026 // DAILY TROJAN STAFF for DAILY TROJAN
These reasons include the American Bar Association’s protections for clinical and non-tenured law faculty exceeding those available to full-time RTPC faculty. They said they would also lose participation in the merit review process for faculty. Additionally, they wrote that they want to preserve the ability to negotiate individually with law school administration. They also stated that a previous University-wide initiative to improve the conditions of RTPC faculty harmed full-time Gould faculty while faculty at other schools benefited. They wrote that the prior initiative to give RTPC faculty five-year contracts overrode a Gould policy that gave RTPC faculty rolling three-year contracts without an end-of-contract review. “We oppose being included in a collective bargaining unit with such disparate interests,”
MEA makes unsupported claims about school funding, student performance
April 22, 2026 // Jamie A. Hope for Michigan Capitol Confidential
But Michigan is one of many states where higher spending has not translated into better academic outcomes. “State spending on K-12 schools has grown nearly 35% over the past decade,” said Molly Macek, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Yet student achievement in reading and math has declined over the same period, she said. The way districts spend taxpayer dollars is more important than total funding, Macek added.
Trump strips union rights from 1,400 Fort Drum and Rome defense workers
April 22, 2026 // Mark Weiner for Syracuse.com
President Donald Trump’s administration has stripped union rights from more than 1,400 civilians who work at Fort Drum and at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Rome, according to union officials. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the move to terminate most collective bargaining agreements for civilian employees at the Defense Department, the officials said.
Reed & Perrine Lawn Products Workers Escape Union After Fighting Frivolous Union Delay Tactics
April 22, 2026 // author for National Right To Work Foundation
After a year-and-a-half delay caused by frivolous union legal tactics, employees at Reed & Perrine Lawn Products (a division of The Andersons, Nasdaq: ANDE) have finally succeeded in removing United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 152 union officials from power at their workplace. Reed & Perrine employee Christine Bradach kicked off the effort among her coworkers to remove the UFCW union in November 2024 when she filed a decertification petition at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Bradach received free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in filing her petition.
Pingree, Bellows blast DoD over ending bargaining with shipyard employees
April 22, 2026 // Sean Murphy for Spectrum Local News
In March of last year, President Donald Trump issued an order indicating that it would be terminating bargaining negotiations with some unionized federal workers, including workers at the shipyard. At the time, the administration cited national defense concerns when issuing the order. This week, various media outlets are reporting that local workers’ unions at the shipyard received a notice on Friday that the U.S. Department of Defense was no longer going to be engaging in bargaining agreements with unionized workers.
Freelance Busting: The ABC Test Defense
April 22, 2026 // Kim Kavin for Freelance Busting
And perhaps most important, according to all of the oral testimony and thousands of written public comments submitted to New Jersey’s Labor Department, there are zero people being unknowingly classified as independent contractors. You can download and read here the eight (yes, only eight out of about 9,500) public comments that individuals supporting the proposed rule change filed. Not a single one of them says the person was unknowingly working as an independent contractor.
Faculty at University of Illinois Springfield reach tentative agreement to end strike
April 22, 2026 // Ben Szalinski for Capitol News Illinois
UIS said in an email to students last month that it was running a $19 million deficit in the current fiscal year. UIS accounts for 2% of all of the university system’s spending in the current fiscal year, according to the system’s budget documents. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign receives 44% and the University of Illinois Chicago 31% while the rest goes to the system’s administration and university’s hospital. UIS also receives only 3% of state funds allocated to the system. State lawmakers have been debating a new higher education funding formula that would allocate a greater share of annual funding to lesser-funded schools like UIS.
Opinion– Editorial Board: Why the Republican-union alliance never works
April 22, 2026 // Editorial Board for Washington Post Opinion
"The new acting secretary, Keith Sonderling, is a more conventional Republican choice for the job. Respected by conservatives, he would sail through the Senate confirmation process if nominated. He has already been competently running the department as deputy secretary, as it has advanced deregulation and protected independent contractor status for 11.9 million workers"
WATCH/EXCLUSIVE: Teacher alleges union retaliation in labor dispute
April 21, 2026 // Esther Wickham for The Center Square
Angela Arancio, a teacher at Middlesex Public School District and an 11-year member of the Middlesex Education Association, said union leadership failed to address issues she raised about inadequate class preparation time and teacher workload in a collective bargaining agreement. According to Arancio, the union took no action after she voiced concerns about the agreement between the union and the district.