Posts tagged Congress
Op-ed: The Delphi bailout Congress shouldn’t pay
July 24, 2026 // Some media reports claim that 20,000 former Delphi employees lost their pensions, but the PBGC confirms that 14,300 of the plan’s approximately 20,000 participants have received every dollar of the pension benefits they earned. Only about 5,700 experienced any reduction, either because their benefits exceeded the $54,000 statutory insurance limit, or because they earned early-retiree benefits the PBGC does not insure. Most of those reductions were modest. About 60% of affected participants lost less than one-fifth of their promised pension,
Op-ed: California doubles down on pension debt — and dares Congress to bail it out
July 23, 2026 // On July 1, California’s Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced AB 1383, a bill that guts the pension reform Sacramento passed in 2013 to keep its own promises honest. It would drop the public safety retirement age from 57 to 55, invent a new 3%-at-55 benefit formula, and let cities bargain away the cost-sharing rules that reform required. CalPERS already carries more than $179 billion in unfunded liabilities. California’s total state and local pension debt tops $200 billion. Sacramento’s answer, apparently, is to promise more.
Nurses and teachers unions bankroll leftist candidates and causes
July 21, 2026 // Additionally, the AFT donated $150,000 to Gov. Tina Kotek’s (D-OR) reelection campaign on the eve of the May primary. Kotek then decided in June to opt Oregon out of the Trump administration’s school choice program, which would subsidize scholarships for K-12 students to cover the cost of private school tuition and homeschooling expenses. AFT has been lobbying Democratic governors to reject the education tax credits offered by the program, calling it a “private school voucher scheme.” Meanwhile, the Oregon Education Association declined to endorse Kotek, despite doing so in the past, out of frustration with the state’s school funding levels.
Railroad, airline labor mediator fired by Trump drops legal fight
July 20, 2026 // The Supreme Court’s blockbuster decision expanding President Trump’s firing power has reached another agency: one that works out labor disputes in the airline and railroad industries. Deirdre Hamilton, a Democratic appointee to the National Mediation Board who had been contesting her firing, has now dismissed her legal challenge. A judge on Thursday ordered the case be closed.
Op-ed: Politics Has Taken Over My Union
July 16, 2026 // The UAW should focus on automotive job growth, not leftwing fads. As for Congress, lawmakers shouldn’t support any bill that lets unions put political ideology ahead of workers’ real needs. By taking contract votes away from workers and giving the final say to forced arbitration after the last offer from union leadership, the Faster Labor Contracts Act will surely worsen the kind of union politicization that already hurts workers like me.
Op-ed– MY TURN: Washington’s one-size labor law doesn’t fit Alaska
July 9, 2026 // Forced arbitration doesn’t resolve disputes. It delays them and adds uncertainty to project timelines that are already difficult to manage. For the major energy and infrastructure projects Alaska is now positioned to advance, that uncertainty isn’t just an inconvenience. It could be catastrophic. America needs bold steps toward a more robust energy future, and shortsighted federal mandates stand in the way of that.
Commentary: Faster Contracts, Bigger Problems
July 7, 2026 // TThe FLCA isn’t just about wages and hours. Some argue that it is also a backdoor for big unions to impose radical left ideology into the workplace. The Wall Street Journal editorial board recently warned, “Unions, allied with Democrats, have long supported a progressive agenda that includes collective bargaining for abortion coverage and transgender healthcare.” Under the FLCA, government arbitrators could force provisions for things like abortion coverage, gender-affirming care, and DEI mandates into a contract and lock them in for two years. Employers and workers alike would have little recourse. Not only is this bill flawed, but it also skipped the normal legislative process.
Unions sue DoD over termination of collective bargaining agreements
July 6, 2026 // In April, lawmakers asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about his decision to cancel nearly all collective bargaining agreements across the department, Hegseth said he “fundamentally believes the Department of War should not be subject to collective bargaining. Full stop.”
Dream Team of Three Congressional Primary Winners Joins UAW Union Rally for Columbia University Researchers
July 5, 2026 // Three recently elected Democratic nominees for Congress — Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez and Brad Lander — spoke at a Tuesday rally for CPW-UAW Local 4100, the union that represents 1,600 postdoctoral workers at Columbia University. The lunchtime rally was held in a pedestrian plaza outside the university’s massive medical center in Washington Heights. Drawing over 200 participants, it took place on the day CPW-UAW’s current contract was set to expire and right before a bargaining session between the union and Columbia. As of Wednesday afternoon, the university and the union have yet to settle on a new contract.