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In the News
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.
Why College Athletes Probably Won’t Unionize
April 21, 2026 // George Leef for national Review
Still, some schools are worried about possible unionization of players. That is the case at Duke University, which chose to hire a law firm that specializes in labor relations to assess the situation. The firm’s conclusion was that the school did not need to worry. Anderson concurs.
Thousands of Harvard University graduate students go on strike
April 21, 2026 // Ryan Breslin for Boston 25 News
Their demands include fair pay and raises that keep up with inflation, protections for non-citizen workers, and external processes with third-party arbitration for cases of harassment, discrimination, and abuse in the workplace. HGSU is made up of 4,000 workers.
Unions, workers push back against looming job cuts in San Francisco
April 21, 2026 // Sergio Quintana for NBC Bay Area
Union members insisted the layoffs and other cuts aren't necessary. They said Lurie could dip into the city's reserves instead. They also encouraged voters to pass Proposition D this November. If passed, it would raise taxes on the city's highest corporate executive earners, meaning more revenue and less need for cuts. While 127 layoff notices have already been issued by the Lurie administration, there could be more on the way. Lurie's budget team directed departments to send the proposals for 500 layoffs.
Littler Lightbulb – March 2026 Employment Appellate Roundup
April 21, 2026 // Linde Blocher for JD Supra
This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment and labor law developments in the federal courts of appeal in the last month.
After dodging massive strike, a major NYC union struggles to dodge criticism about how it represents workers
April 21, 2026 // Sadie Brown for AM NY
Online, members have also been outspoken, with many venting their grievances against the union in the comments sections of building service workers’ posts. “It’s unfortunate because the union representation is lacking,” one user wrote on TikTok. “For the OGs we see every contract the same ole song. Shame on them, living it up with better pensions than the ones who built this union.” Another commenter spoke directly about raises disappearing into increased union dues.
Hundreds of Nurses at GWU Hospital Demand Vote to Remove DCNA Union From Power
April 21, 2026 // author for National Right To Work Foundation
Hundreds of registered nurses and healthcare professionals at The George Washington University Hospital are backing a petition to remove District of Columbia Nurses Association (DCNA) union officials from power at the facility. GWU Hospital nurse Elizabeth Abraha, who is leading the effort among her colleagues, submitted a union decertification petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on April 15 with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Opinion GOP’s fatal attraction to unions is the start of a bad romance
April 21, 2026 // Ken Girardin for New York Post
Instead of offering flowers and chocolates, they aim to impress labor by slicing up the PRO Act and feeding it piecemeal to the rest of the GOP. The Faster Labor Contracts Act, sponsored by Hawley and Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ), is the first portion. It would allow federal mediators to essentially write union contracts for newly organized workplaces, if businesses and unions can’t agree on terms within four months of a union’s workplace-election win.
DC police lieutenant celebrated as first gay union boss accused of soliciting underage boy
April 21, 2026 // Bonny Chu for Fox news
A veteran Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer and former head of a D.C. police union has been arrested in what authorities described as a "disturbing" child exploitation case, MPD told Fox News Digital. Lt. Matthew Mahl, 47, who previously made history as the first openly gay chairman of the police union, allegedly exchanged text messages with an undercover Maryland detective posing as a 15-year-old boy, according to charging documents.
How Representative Are Pennsylvania’s Public Sector Unions?
April 21, 2026 // David Osborne for Commonwealth Foundation
In one sense, this is a small ask of union officials, who are already legally bound to fairly represent all employees once the union is certified as representative of a given workplace—whether those employees voted for the union or sign up to become union members. In most states with unionized government workplaces, state agencies, counties, and cities can withdraw recognition from a union and refuse to bargain if they doubt that the union truly represents a majority of their employees. Yet, according to election data obtained by the Commonwealth Foundation, many of Pennsylvania’s government unions won the right to represent workplaces (or “bargaining units”) without majority support from employees. In fact, public records from 302 government union representation elections, conducted from 2011 to 2025, reveal that one in every seven unions won without majority support.
Hundreds of union workers, supporters join picket line in strike at KC-area ammo plant
April 21, 2026 // Laura Bauer for Kansas City Star
Striking workers are walking in four-hour shifts and have been on the line round-the-clock since the strike began. Among the issues workers face, union leaders say, is low pay. Entry level wages range from $20.60 an hour to $21.75.
Opinion: This is how NJ’s policies hurt our construction workforce
April 20, 2026 // Samantha Roman for NorthJersey.com
The latest data from the Union Membership and Coverage Database tells a striking story: just 10.7% of New Jersey’s private construction workforce is unionized. That’s a dramatic decline from 15.6% in 2024, 12.2% in 2023, 20.7% in 2022, 26.9% in 2021 and 21.5% in 2020. In fact, in just a few years, union representation in private construction has been cut by more than half. That means nearly nine out of 10 construction workers in New Jersey are now non-union. And nearly 98% of minority-owned construction firms are non-union. Yet state policymakers continue to expand policies that favor union-only labor on public projects — creating a growing disconnect between who actually builds in New Jersey and who is allowed to compete for taxpayer-funded work.
Chicago Public Schools declare May 1 a ‘day of civic action’ for students
April 20, 2026 // Lindsay Kornick for Fox News
However, CPS added that schools can allow "optional participation" in "civic engagement events" for students who wish to attend protests or take part in civic activities during the school day under state laws. "Principals may exercise their existing authority to provide students the opportunity to participate in events and field trips, including civic engagement activities on May 1 during the school day. Schools wishing to participate must follow the existing CPS student travel policy and normal field trip procedures," the CPS statement read.
Estes Park Safeway Worker Slams UFCW Union with Federal Charges for Illegal Retaliatory $7,912 Strike Fine
April 20, 2026 // author for National Right To Work Foundation
Estes Park Safeway employee Abraham Ireland has slammed United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 union officials with federal charges, maintaining that union officials hit him with a variety of illegal disciplinary actions for not participating in a June 2025 strike. Ireland, whose charges include details about UFCW union officials demanding nearly $8,000 in unlawful fines, filed his unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Union Now Is America’s New Strike Fund
April 20, 2026 // Whitney Curry Wimbish for The American Prospect
The American labor movement will soon have something it’s never had before: a centralized strike fund. Union Now, the new nonprofit and brainchild of Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International President Sara Nelson, began officially fundraising at a kickoff rally on Sunday, April 12th, in Manhattan. National leaders of the Democratic left were there in support; both Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani made rousing speeches, which suggests that the supporters Union Now hopes to enlist will go beyond those who are already union activists.
Research ● Labor
Andrew Dunn
State Policy Network
100 State Leaders Urge Washington to Protect Independent Work