Posts tagged AFSME
Union leaders come together for Harris
October 21, 2024 // Some of the nation's largest unions are launching a new get-out-the-vote effort to support Vice President Harris. AFCME President Lee Saunders and AFT President Randi Weingarten join The Weekend to discuss their efforts to win in key states.
Howard County public library employees vote to form union
February 20, 2024 // The union will represent more than 200 Howard County public library employees across the system’s seven branches. Library employees formed the union so they could have a voice in the decision-making process, receive fair wages and have better job protection, reasonable schedules, adequate staffing, paths to promotion and a safe work environment, according to an AFSCME news release.
Some Workers Try to Free Themselves from Unionization, Biden Officials Try to Dragoon More In
January 5, 2024 // If the union loses the election, it often files an “unfair labor practice” charge against the company, seeking to invalidate the election. It used to be that after such a charge (assuming that an NLRB administrative law judge found it credible, which was usually the case), the remedy would be to order a new election. But now, the NLRB is making the remedy an order that the union has “won” and that the company must bargain with it. (Compulsory bargaining is another concept that’s contrary to the freedom that common law protected.) That was the ruling in I.N.S.A, Inc. This is “administrative law” at its worst. Under the Constitution, Congress, not unelected bureaucrats, is supposed to make the laws. But Biden’s pro-union appointments to the NLRB are determined to make the law under the guise of “interpreting” the NLRA. This ruling will lead to more compulsory unionism.
Commentary: When Unions Play Politics
December 22, 2023 // Nearly 96 percent of union PAC spending went to support Democratic candidates and organizations for use in federal and state campaigns. Meanwhile, membership dues support a thriving ecosystem of progressive-oriented organizations, which is hardly reflective of the range of viewpoints represented within membership. However, even workers ideologically aligned with union executives may resent their money going to political projects in other states. Nearly 60 percent of all state-level PAC spending went to five states: Illinois ($27.9 million), California ($24.9 million), Minnesota ($13.2 million), Pennsylvania ($12.1 million), and Washington ($7.5 million).
Commentary: To Unions, Organizing Time Is Fine When It’s on the Taxpayers’ Dime
June 29, 2023 // Despite public sector unions, and particularly teachers’ unions like Weingarten’s American Federation for Teachers, facing mounting scrutiny for their role in school closures and broader left-wing political activism, the practice of release time has garnered little attention.
More Than 700 City of Portland Workers Form New Union
June 9, 2023 // What has now officially become the CPPW union began collecting signatures as early as January in an attempt to establish the new union. It submitted a petition in May with 39% of employees’ signatures, breaking the 30% threshold that allows a potential union to call for a vote. Three hundred eighty-five ballots—representing a 54% turnout—were cast by potential union members, with 306 votes in favor of unionization.
Secret ballot vital in union elections
February 17, 2023 // Consider one example from the public sector. In 2018, the US Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that public employees can’t be forced to join unions or pay union dues. The Commonwealth responded by passing legislation that allows public employee unions to agree to different terms for union members and non-members, giving unions the sole right to negotiate lesser pay and reduced benefits on behalf of the non-members. The law also promotes tried and true intimidation tactics by giving unions access to employees’ personal information, including home addresses; work, home, and personal cellphone numbers; along with work and personal email addresses. Anyone in Massachusetts public policy circles knows the Commonwealth’s unions aren’t interested in using that information to augment their holiday card lists.
Union: NM calling state employees back to in-person work without much of a plan
January 17, 2023 //
Maryland public defenders overwhelmingly vote to unionize
December 20, 2022 // Employees at the Maryland Office of the Public Defender on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to unionize, the culmination of a more than two-year organizing effort that required a change in state law. One unit consisting of administrative and support staff voted 45-1 to make the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3 its exclusive bargaining representative. Meanwhile, another unit covering assistant public defenders, intake staff, social workers and investigators voted 233-8 in favor of a union.
Supermajority of TAM workers organize for union representation
November 15, 2022 // On Oct. 17, TAM’s board of trustees received the workers’ letter requesting union representation. In the letter that TAM Workers United sent to the board and leadership, they expressed that their “efforts have been undermined by un-livable wages, unsafe working conditions, no opportunity to provide input on policy, few avenues for review and advancement, a lack of accountability and transparency, as well as fear of retaliation when we raise concerns.” AM Workers United