Posts tagged Alaska
ALASKA CASE GIVES SCOTUS A CHANCE TO REINFORCE JANUS
October 3, 2023 // Unfortunately, lower courts — including the Alaska Supreme Court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals — have been reluctant to hold either states or unions to that standard. If the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, it will effectively be asked to specifically apply to public employers the majority opinion issued just five years ago in Janus. If the court rejects the petition, the Alaska Supreme Court’s decision will stand. But even if the court takes up the case, a decision isn’t likely before winter. Most likely, months or years of written and oral arguments could be forthcoming. “Unless you agree to enforce it, even a landmark ruling like Janus is just a piece of paper,” Stahlfeld said. “Because unions and activist judges have been allowed to act as if Janus never happened, states like Alaska that want to comply with the ruling have been obliged to adopt legislation reinforcing what should have happened all along.”
The Supreme Court’s Janus v. Afscme Sequel?
August 25, 2023 // Alaska’s courts have blocked Mr. Dunleavy’s plan from taking effect. In a May ruling, the state Supreme Court said that “neither Janus nor the First Amendment required the State to alter the union member dues deduction practices set out in the collective bargaining agreement.” This is a crabbed view of free speech and free association. Although Janus involved a union nonmember, Alaska tells the U.S. Supreme Court in its petition that “the decision applies to all involuntary fees and has clear application to members and nonmembers alike.” Consider the devious policies that make canceling a paycheck deduction into a “byzantine process,” Alaska says. In California, “certain public employees cannot stop their dues unless the union receives a signed revocation letter ‘postmarked’ precisely ‘between 75 days and 45 days before’ the employee’s ‘annual renewal date.’” The point is to trap workers and keep that dues money coming. The authorization form for the Alaska State Employees Association was even stricter, making union dues irrevocable except during a magical 10-day window each year, though the petition says the union eventually promised not to enforce it after the state sued.
Peltola urges pizza workers in Alaska to unionize so she can have a slice
July 19, 2023 // It may cost Alaskans more, however, to share a pizza with Peltola. Currently, a line cook at Moose’s Tooth in Anchorage starts at $16 an hour. No experience is needed, and it comes with an array of benefits, such as a 401(k) matching retirement plan, health and dental insurance, vision insurance employee discount on food, paid time off, and an energetic working environment. A sous chef at the Bear Tooth Grill, a sister establishment, gets paid $22 to $27 an hour. No degree is required, but two years of restaurant experience is requested. The average cost of a pizza nationally is $17.81, but in Alaska, that same pizza is going for $21.74, a 22% increase in cost for Alaskans over their fellow pizza eaters in the Lower 48.
Union and Alaska Army Posts Resolve Differences Over Official Time and Illegal Contract, But Other Fights Remain
May 22, 2023 // Management at three U.S. Army installations in Alaska this month agreed to unwind the unilateral imposition of Trump-era caps on official time as well as an entirely new contract for a pair of union locals representing civilian workers at the forts. But labor leaders bemoaned continued resistance to implementing President Biden’s executive orders rescinding Trump-era labor policies and mandating federal agencies establish a collaborative relationship with their unions.
Alaskan Factory Workers Overwhelmingly Vote to Remove Unwanted Union Monopoly ‘Representation’
May 4, 2023 // Scot Breuer filed a decertification petition with the NLRB on March 31, 2023, which was supported by a significant number of his coworkers. Under federal labor law, workers can trigger a decertification vote with the support of 30% or more of workers in a unionized workplace. The NLRB should then promptly schedule a secret ballot election to determine whether a majority of workers want to end union officials’ power to impose a contract, including forced dues, on workers. On April 12, 2023, the NLRB issued an election notice to all parties involved that stipulated an election date for May 2. During the election on May 2, Spenard Building Supply employees made their position on the union clear when over two-thirds of the workers voted to remove the union from their workplace, with the official tally of 17-6.
Opinion: SEACC United clears the air on unionization
January 4, 2023 //
Right-to-Work battle looms in Michigan: Businesses fear repeal by Democrats
December 5, 2022 // Michigan business groups are wary of Democrats’ calls to repeal Right-to-Work laws when they take charge in Lansing early next year, saying the state instead should focus on economic policies that attract jobs. Business Leaders for Michigan, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and chamber leaders from the state’s two largest cities — Detroit and Grand Rapids — all urge caution. But Democrats — who are backed heavily by unions including the Michigan Education Association and United Auto Workers — say the move prioritizes workers and labor rights.
Most NEA-Alaska Spending Goes to Its Staff, Not Members
November 23, 2022 // In fact, “benefits paid to or for members,” totaled to $0.00. According to the IRS description, this means no money at all went toward unemployment compensation, “death, sickness, hospitalization, or disability benefits” for members. Of NEA-Alaska’s 33 employees, seven received more than $150,000 in annual compensation from the union. The top-earning employee was UniServ Director Debra Omstead, who received $186,302 in total compensation from the union. Other top-earning employees were UniServ Directors Hedy Eischeid ($181,311), Valerie Baffone ($176,754), and Monica Southworth ($150,690), as well as Chief Financial Officer Karen Roope ($176,538) and Communications Director Zachary Mannix ($173,309). Glenn Bafia, the executive director, only received $11,416 in nontaxable benefits from the union but received $167,472 from “related organizations.” The union spent $125,962 on travel and $3,318 on conferences and meetings. Incredibly, the organization managed to spend $91,487 on dues and subscriptions, which does not include the $170,197 fee the union paid to the National Education Association, which had spent $13.6 million during the 2022 election cycle as of this writing on political activities and lobbying nationally. NEA-Alaska also spent $158,734 of its members’ dues on advertising and promotion. Anchorage Education Association, Classified Employees Association, Education Support Staff Association, Fairbanks Education Association, Matanuska-Susitna Education Association,
ALEC: Illinois’ unfunded pension liability $533 billion; $8.2 trillion nationwide
June 13, 2022 // Jonathan Williams, ADC, general fund budget, federal bailout, Illinois Supreme Court,