Posts tagged DOL
More transparency for the largest unions
May 31, 2026 // A new rule from the Labor Department will recalibrate the disclosure reports that labor unions are required to file. It’s a welcome update to ensure that union members know how their money is being spent. What will happen in the 2026 midterms? Sign up for Margin of Victory The reason unions have government-mandated disclosure requirements is that they are government-backed monopolies. Labor relations law gives unions exclusive power as the sole bargaining agent for the entire workplace.
Colorado governor vetoes union dues bill — again
May 31, 2026 // Gov. Jared Polis on May 29 again vetoed legislation that would have made it easier for labor organizations to impose dues on non-union members, a decision long expected after the legislature approved the measure without securing the buy-in of businesses. Polis rejected a similar proposal last year, and cited the same reason: that, if enacted, the bill would allow a simple majority of employees who choose to unionize to “also determine that dues could be mandatorily taken from all workers.”
New York City Unions Keep Winning Six-Figure Salaries
May 21, 2026 // Business owners say the wage increases will raise prices for consumers, with higher hotel bills and healthcare costs. In its negotiations, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority argued that the wage increases that Long Island Rail Road unions were asking for would lead to higher fares or increased borrowing. Labor economists and union supporters said union victories in New York City could be hard to replicate elsewhere, but across the country unions have been flexing a bit more muscle in recent years. And other workers, struggling to keep up with rising costs, could take notice.
DOL gets flexible on overtime
May 20, 2026 // In 2023, The Biden administration raised the income threshold from $35,500 to $44,000, and planned to increase it again to $59,000 annually by 2025. This was intended to expand the number of people receiving overtime. The administration’s union allies and labor-sympathetic lawmakers have long argued that companies abuse the exception by designating regular employees as managerial to get out of having to pay them overtime. Raising the threshold was meant to prevent this. This one-size-fits-all approach did not necessarily benefit all workers. The Biden rule would have limited employers’ ability to offer work weeks longer than 40 hours in exchange for other considerations, such as the ability to work from home or additional time off during other weeks.
How Teachers’ Unions Became Political Big Spenders
May 18, 2026 // A new report out today accuses both the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) of spending tens of millions of dollars on electing Democratic political candidates, and prioritizing politicking over the needs and interests of their union members. The report, conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), Gevura Fund, and Rutgers University, among others, found that of the NEA’s $450 million annual disbursement budget from fiscal year 2025, less than $46 million, or 10 percent, was spent on activities directly representing the union’s constituents.
DOL gets flexible on overtime
May 18, 2026 // The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that workers be paid time-and-a-half once a work week exceeds 40 hours. However, employers may exempt workers classified as managerial who meet a salary threshold. In 2023, The Biden administration raised the income threshold from $35,500 to $44,000, and planned to increase it again to $59,000 annually by 2025. This was intended to expand the number of people receiving overtime. The administration’s union allies and labor-sympathetic lawmakers have long argued that companies abuse the exception by designating regular employees as managerial to get out of having to pay them overtime. Raising the threshold was meant to prevent this. This one-size-fits-all approach did not necessarily benefit all workers.
Editorial Board: The federal government’s most efficient use of $600 ever?
May 15, 2026 // As part of the Trump administration’s effort to modernize government websites, OLMS has added a new “Visualization” column. All the reports are available the same as before, but now some also have a more user-friendly version. The data are searchable and sortable, and users can view multiyear comparisons, with charts, at a glance. This fix has made it much easier to see, for example, that the Amalgamated Transit Union has 18 vice presidents, and they all make more than $215,000 a year.
The Department of Labor is right to make union spending transparent
May 11, 2026 // The form includes spending, assets and major receipts, to ensure union members are informed about their union’s financial condition. LM-2s also disclose relationships with affiliated groups, including political action committees, advocacy groups and other organizations that engage in electoral or issue-based campaigns. Given the amount unions spend on political activities, reporting and transparency are increasingly important. For example, in 2023 the Service Employees International Union spent 17 percent of its budget on political activities and lobbying and 16 percent on benefits and union administration. In other words, a labor union with more than 2 million members, spent nearly as much on partisan political activities as it did on protecting workers.
100 State Leaders Urge Washington to Protect Independent Work
May 8, 2026 // That is why State Policy Network’s Center for Practical Federalism helped organize a coalition of 100 state leaders from 25 states in support of the US Department of Labor’s proposed rule clarifying independent contractor status under federal law. The coalition includes four statewide officials and 96 state legislators. The proposed rule would rescind the Biden administration’s 2024 independent contractor rule and replace it with a clearer standard for determining when a worker is an employee and when a worker may be classified as an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
Op-ed: Unions are acting as a toll booth on the road to unaccountable single-party power
May 8, 2026 // Unions do not write personal checks. They collect dues from membership — teachers, construction workers, public employees — then steer voluntary PAC contributions through ActBlue, the Democrats’ preferred fundraising apparatus. The tilt is so extreme it would embarrass a slot machine. The National Education Association’s PAC raised nearly $27 million in the 2024 election cycle, virtually every dollar aimed at electing Democrats. The four largest government unions — the NEA, the American Federation of Teachers, AFSCME, and the Service Employees International Union — spent more than $700 million on election-related activity in the 2021–22 cycle alone, with 96 percent flowing to Democratic candidates and organizations. That is not grassroots democracy — it is a toll booth on the road to single-party rule.