Posts tagged collective bargaining agreement
IRS workers only had to show up to work once a week in person, before Trump took over
April 18, 2025 // Last December, a bombshell report from Ernst’s office found that a measly 6% of the federal workforce showed up “in-person on a full-time basis.” Almost one-third of federal workers were remote on a full-time basis at the time, marking a steep decline from the pre-pandemic era in which only 3% teleworked daily, according to the report. Ernst has clashed with the IRS repeatedly, including over watchdog findings last July that current and former workers owed $46 million to Uncle Sam in unpaid taxes. “This adds insult to injury to the fact that the agency is filled with tax cheats,” the Hawkeye State senator added, referring to the collective bargaining deal. “I have a laundry list of reforms to fix America’s least favorite government agency.”
Freedom Foundation Takes the Teamsters to Court
April 16, 2025 // Although Ms. Tarbah is not a member of the Teamsters, a portion of her wages is automatically deducted every pay period and directed into the union’s “Health and Welfare Trust Retiree Plan.” While the plan is presented as a retiree health benefit, the lawsuit alleges that the funds are routinely used for union-driven initiatives that include political and ideological activity. “Karima Tarbah has a constitutional right to decide where her money goes and what causes she supports,” said Timothy Snowball, Litigation Counsel for the Freedom Foundation. “This case is about the fundamental right of every public employee to make choices that align with their own political conscience. California’s laws must align with the Constitution—not empower unions and governments to coerce funding.”
Chicago teachers vote on deal to bring average salary to over $114,000 per year
April 12, 2025 // “It’s estimated to cost around $1.5 billion, and Johnson has said he doesn’t have a plan yet to pay for it,” Smith told The Center Square. CPS teachers currently have an average salary of more than $93,000 per year. If they approve the tentative agreement, the number would rise to $114,429 by the end of the contract. Smith said teachers can expect to pay more in dues to CTU. “When government unions like Chicago Teachers Union are advocating for higher salaries for teachers and for other school employees, what they are really advocating for is a higher dues amount coming from that employee, because every time they score a win in the raise category, that means they are also going to be taking more money out of that person’s paycheck,” Smith said.
Pro-labor Republicans push Trump to rescind order busting most federal unions
April 3, 2025 // “This executive order, which ruthlessly strips collective bargaining agreements for over 1 million federal workers, is the most recent attack your administration has levied against our merit-based civil service in the effort to cut the workforce and replace them with political cronies,” they wrote. “While the CSRA does give the president the authority to limit collective bargaining agreements due to national security concerns, the executive order’s direction to terminate mass swaths of federal employee collective bargaining agreements is clearly intended to broadly dismantle the CSRA, which is specifically designed to grant federal employees the right to collective bargaining as a means to resolve workplace issues while maintaining the smooth functioning of government operations.”
Backgrounder: Executive Order: Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs
March 31, 2025 // The practice of “official time” is when unionized federal employees perform union-related activities, rather than their actual public service duties, while being paid by taxpayers. The Federal Unions EO requires that agencies, upon termination of an applicable collective bargaining agreement, reassign any workers who performed “official time” to positions where they perform solely agency business. It also contains language regarding existing grievance proceedings and allows for the head of each agency to submit a report to the President within 30 days highlighting any agency subdivisions that were not covered but should have been covered under the Federal Unions EO.
‘Puts everything we hold dear at risk’: Libbey Glass workers frustrated after 6 months of contract negotiations
March 18, 2025 // "If people vote to strike, there will be no strike pay, there will be no unemployment," the employee said. "What's going to happen? Are they eventually going to close the plant or what?" they added. "Anything could happen. Look what's happened with other places that have closed. Our plant manager has closed plants before, so what's going to happen with us? It's scary." That employee said many people they know are looking to find other jobs, worried about their job security.
Lawmakers propose banning all federal labor unions
March 17, 2025 // “This legislation would end federal labor unions and immediately terminate their collective bargaining agreements to ensure the federal government is working on behalf of the American people – not labor unions – by increasing the productivity of its workforce,” Blackburn said in a statement. If passed, the bill would affect 25% of the federal employee workforce who are members of public sector unions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Starbucks workers strike in six cities across the US with multiple supporters arrested
March 14, 2025 // In Chicago, 11 employees were arrested after staging a sit-in at one of the city’s first union Starbucks locations. Five people were arrested in Pittsburgh as well. Chicago police told the Seattle Times that strikers were arrested for criminal trespass “on signed complaints from an affected business.”
MLB players union expects lockout by team owners after CBA expires following 2026 season
March 4, 2025 // The salary cap is again an issue during this bargaining cycle. Team budgets are a major point of the discussion with the Los Angeles Dodgers building a payroll of an estimated $379 million, while the New York Mets aren't far behind at $312.5 million, according to Spotrac. (MLB's lowest payrolls are the Miami Marlins at $31.35 million and the Athletics at $55.25 million.) Clark counters by saying that several teams are already using the luxury tax threshold — in which teams are taxed 20-50% on the amount over the threshold, depending on how many years a franchise has done so — as a de facto salary cap. (This week, he criticized the Los Angeles Angels for doing so.) This year's luxury tax, or competitive balance tax, is set at $241 million.
Civil Service Commission considers one-time authorization requirement for dues deductions
February 4, 2025 // A change would mean “using the power of government to reduce the rights of employees and give more funding to unions,” Bolger said in a phone interview with Michigan Capitol Confidential. “That’s backward. Employees should be empowered. Individual rights should be elevated. And we shouldn’t be using the power of government to favor big special interests, which is what this proposal would do.”