Posts tagged Democrats
Longtime Union Leader Prepares to Step Back From a Movement Under Threat
July 30, 2026 // Mr. Saunders had to reckon with another internal division after George Floyd’s murder, when a subset of members called for law enforcement groups to be banished from the union. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is a liberal union, but its political composition can be quite diverse: Its 1.4 million dues-paying members across the country include nurses in Michigan, transportation workers in New York and corrections officers in New Mexico, along with domestic workers, clerks, cops and librarians. Mr. Saunders thought it would be a mistake to push out the police.
Op-ed: Republicans should stop helping Democrats empower union bosses
July 29, 2026 // Policies built on employee choice, such as right-to-work protections, reflect what American workers actually want. The partisan legislation now moving through Congress reflects only what union leadership wants. Pro-worker legislation is not synonymous with pro-union legislation; in fact, they often are opposites. It is time for Congress to wake up and realize this.
Federal employees say they’ll quit if they have to move to New Jersey
July 28, 2026 // The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 98, representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New York District and North Atlantic Division employees, rallied outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan on Thursday, protesting the proposed relocation of their offices to New Jersey. New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Lander were among those who joined in person, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent a statement in support, calling on the federal government to keep the employees in New York. Members of both the Democratic and Republican New York congressional delegations have sent letters to the Trump administration urging them to reconsider the move.
Opinion: California’s public sector unions are trying to undo pension reform
July 22, 2026 // In 2012, Democratic then-Gov. Jerry Brown made real progress by championing and signing the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA). It was a significant reform that adjusted benefits for new hires. By reducing abuses like “pension spiking” (by which some employees juiced payouts), raising the retirement age for many, and requiring the new hires to pay a larger share of their own pension costs, the reform sought to save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
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.
Opinion: The Faster Labor Contracts Act could enable antisemitism
July 8, 2026 // The FLCA’s cure is worse than the disease, and in today’s union environment, the disease is increasingly political. According to a recent study by the Gevura Fund, “Combined [National Education Association] spending on political activities, lobbying and contributions to outside organizations totals approximately $175 million in FY2025, nearly four times the $45 million spent on direct member representation.” The National Education Association is a public-sector teachers’ union, but its conduct represents a broader pattern, considering how politicized unions have become. The FLCA would essentially fast-track union contracts built on ideological activism rather than workers’ rights.
COLUMN: It’s a mistake to support Faster Labor Contracts Act
July 1, 2026 // The Club for Growth, one of the most influential conservative scorecards in Washington, has issued a formal “Key Vote Alert” urging all representatives and senators to vote no on the FLCA and announced the vote will be included in its 2026 congressional scorecard. For the seven House Republicans who signed the discharge petition — Riley Moore, of West Virginia; Nick LaLota and Mike Lawler, of New York; Don Bacon, of Nebraska; Max Miller, of Ohio; and Rob Bresnahan and Brian Fitzpatrick, of Pennsylvania — a vote for this bill is now on permanent record as a vote against economic freedom. The Wall Street Journal editorial board was blunt in its assessment, calling these members “rubber stamps for labor bosses who are allies of the Democratic Party” and describing their support as the latest sign of Republican midterm panic.
Kavin: How To Be An Anti-Socialist
June 26, 2026 // If moderate Democrats want to distance themselves from the party's socialist surge, a good place to start is by protecting independent contractors.
Commentary: The House Sides With Unions Over Workers
June 26, 2026 // Last year, I participated in a Senate hearing in which a union shop steward was asked about government-appointed arbitrators unilaterally imposing contracts. He said that would be “removing the democracy from the workplace.” He said such democracy “is the whole point of the union” because it gives workers a say. The shop steward’s own union was in the process of voting down several contract proposals, further emphasizing the importance of letting workers vote.
US moves to end Teamsters union oversight
June 18, 2026 // “After 37 years, this filing marks an end to the longest monitorship of any union, corporation, nonprofit, or public entity in the history of the United States,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who won a reelection bid to lead the union on Tuesday, said in a statement. “Over the past four years, we have developed a system of internal controls and created a culture of vigilance in our union. Our efforts have proven that we can police our own, and the controls we have put in place are more stringent than any labor organization in the country,” he added. The union established a review board to address reports of corruption and has amended its election process to ensure it is “fair, democratic” and “member-driven.”