Posts tagged AFSME
Harris County becomes first in Texas to allow employees to organize with new ‘consultation policy’
March 19, 2026 // Harris County commissioners voted 3-1 Thursday to let many county workers choose a labor organization to advocate for workplace policy changes, elevate grievances and make recommendations to Commissioners Court. The "employee consultation policy" does not permit employees to engage in collective bargaining, which state law blocks most government employees in Texas from doing. Government employees in Texas cannot strike.
BALTIMORE: Moore administration settles contracts with state unions — except AFSCME
January 6, 2026 // According to a Monday news release from AFSCME, the contract proposal the Moore administration offered did not include wage increases aligned with inflation, nor did it fully correct wage scales for unionized workers that lag behind other state employees. Last month, a Moore administration official told The Daily Record that in his nearly three-year tenure, the average salary for AFSCME-represented workers has increased by 12.47%, while inflation increased by 8%.
Op-ed: Government unions put politics before workers
January 3, 2026 // Unions can sidestep PAC contribution limits and disclosure rules by setting up 527 organizations or super PACs. They can avoid accountability by transferring funds through multiple intermediaries, thereby obscuring the source and any direct association with the union. The result is a shell game that gives the illusion of independent political action. Despite member-facing claims that dues cannot be used for politics, Department of Labor filings and Federal Election Commission reports tell a different story. Union executives frequently use workers’ dues to further political agendas. Often, the money funds a litany of leftist causes, including abortion, “defund the police” advocacy and opposing school choice and, in cases like Mr. Spiller’s, quixotic Democratic campaigns. (About 99% of union-funded candidates are Democrats.)
Unions spend big on politics — often at the expense of their members
December 2, 2025 // “When I signed my union membership card, I did not check the back saying I wanted to contribute to the union political action committee,” writes Marie Dupont, a teacher and NJEA member, in The Wall Street Journal. “That was a contract stating my dues wouldn’t go to the union political apparatus, but a handful of insiders ignored that choice and broke that trust.” NJEA funneled general funds through Garden State Forward, Working New Jersey, and Protecting Our Democracy — all election-focused organizations that not only backed Spiller but also were headed by the NJEA president. These questionable activities landed NJEA in court with a lawsuit alleging that the union misled its members, including Dupont, who is a lead plaintiff.
LACMA Employees Push to Unionize, Calling for ‘Fairer Compensation’ and ‘Expanded Benefits’
October 30, 2025 // The AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36 has aided in the unionization efforts at other LA museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Foundation, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and La Brea Tar Pits. The larger AFSCME Cultural Workers United represents employees at museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Denver Art Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Frost Art Museum in Miami, the Brooklyn Museum, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Number of federal employees exiting government this year continues to grow
October 27, 2025 // The number of federal employees exiting the government this year continues to grow. The Partnership for Public Service has added thousands more to its running tally of how many feds have left their jobs since January. The latest estimate surpasses 211,000 employees who are either already gone, or who may exit soon.
OMB delays firing federal workers to comply with court order
October 18, 2025 // The unions and other opponents of the reductions say the firings are a significant departure from the norm in a shutdown and are not the type of work agencies can undertake during a shutdown. Previous shutdowns, including during President Donald Trump’s first term, did not result in any reductions in force. In all other shutdowns, federal workers who are classified as “excepted” employees remained on the job while all others were furloughed, and all received back pay after the government reopened.
Trump Is Making Major Concessions To Union Bosses. Is It Worth It?
August 15, 2025 // The Institute for the American Worker noted that union members who had funds embezzled by their leaders in recent years would now have less insight into how their dues were being spent. For example, in 2024, the Secretary-Treasurer of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 2198 pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $63,000; under the proposed rule, the group would no longer have to file an LM-2.
Union Leaders Get Tough With Democrats as Members Drift Toward Trump
August 11, 2025 // “Every time we talk politics, the first thing that comes up is, ‘The Democrats let us down,’” Jimmy Williams, the president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, told The New York Times.
Democratic drama: Union leader exits underscore DNC divisions
June 17, 2025 // “It was very clear to me that they were looking to blow up the DNC,” the source said. “[Martin] is not looking to blow the place up.” The two unions represent significant Democratic constituencies. The American Federation of Teachers boasts more than 1.8 million members, while the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has more than 1.3 million members. The groups and their leaders are also expected to continue to play major roles in the Democratic ecosystem. Some Democrats note Weingarten’s and Saunders’s departures come after Republicans made inroads with some union constituencies in 2024. “Although Republicans are not sweeping unions, Republicans are starting to be viewed by union members as the party of the people who have to take a shower after work or, in this case, the people who have to take an Excedrin after work,” Wilson said.