Posts tagged DOL
National Right to Work Foundation Submits Comments Opposing Proposed DOL Rule Loosening Union Financial Disclosures
August 1, 2025 // Rule will let huge number of unions escape meaningful scrutiny over how union bosses spend worker funds while providing no tangible benefits
New Game Plan: White House and Congress Move to Clarify Student Athlete Unionization Rights
July 31, 2025 // The SCORE bill’s ban is broad. Its key provision says, in part: “no individual may be considered an employee of an institution, a conference, or an interstate intercollegiate athletic association based on the participation of such individual on a varsity sports team or in an intercollegiate athletic competition as a student athlete.” In addition, the bill blocks states from enforcing any law that “governs or regulates the compensation, payment, benefits, employment status, or eligibility of a student athlete (including a prospective student athlete) with respect to participation in intercollegiate athletics.” It specifically blocks any state law that “relates to the right of a student athlete to receive compensation or other payments or benefits directly or indirectly from any institution, associated entity or individual, conference, or interstate intercollegiate athletic association.”
Illinois teachers can opt out of unions in August. Here’s why they should.
July 30, 2025 // Just 15% to 26% of Illinois teachers union spending was on representing teachers in 2024. But public education employees can opt out of union membership and keep their hard-earned money.
LaborLab Exposes Employers’ Use of Anti-Union Persuaders in Recent Filings
July 29, 2025 // Among the notable cases, The Tustin Group in Fairfield, NJ, and American Rock Products in Yakima, WA, were found to have engaged persuader services at significant hourly rates. American Rock Products’ case is particularly striking as the union won the election, yet the consulting agreement was filed post-election. Similarly, Alro Steel Corporation in Jackson, MI, and Medix Ambulance Service in Hillsboro, OR, have also been implicated, with the former’s union losing the election and the latter’s case still open. These revelations underscore the importance of transparency and adherence to labor laws in protecting workers’ rights to organize. The delayed filings by some employers raise questions about the effectiveness of current regulations and the need for stricter enforcement to prevent undue influence on union elections
Unveiling Financial Transparency Failures in Labor Organizations
July 24, 2025 // In 2024 alone, the DOL recorded 177 union enforcement actions involving fraud, embezzlement, wire fraud, and falsified records. These are only the crimes that rise to the level of federal prosecution. Far more ethical violations, financial misuses, and questionable behaviors fall below the radar leaving union members in the dark and are quietly buried through internal repayments, hush resignations, or legal threats — all without any formal DOL investigation or public accountability. Despite 16 years as a union official, I did not become aware of the existence of LM-2 financial disclosure filings until our local filed a lawsuit against our state affiliate. Imagine that: even as a union president and past treasurer, I was unaware that both our state and national unions were required to submit LM-2 forms to the Department of Labor. If someone like me — deeply engaged in union governance — was kept in the dark, how can we expect average members to know their rights, much less exercise them?
The Roadmap To Modernizing Federal Labor Laws: Matt Kittle, F. Vincent Vernuccio
July 20, 2025 // That's one of the main things that we want to see at I4AW. Is workers having a choice in a voice, having. The ability to say who they want to be represented by, how they want their money spent, and how they want to work. And I know we talked about it briefly with the ERA, but the ability for an independent contractor to work for themselves, not be considered an employee, small business owner, to own a franchise, all those things are core to what the flexibility and the entrepreneurship of the modern worker, and those are the concepts that are embraced, you know, not just on the union end of the Employee Rights Act, but on the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit and pro worker end of the ERA.
Federal and State Leaders Take Aim at Empowering America’s Flexible Workforce
July 16, 2025 // However, while federal leaders build support for national reforms to help workers all across America, states are not sitting idle. They know that not only do self-employed workers support greater access to portable benefits, but their residents in general think this warrants policy reforms as well. Instead, many are forging ahead with legal pathways for flexible, portable benefits, maximizing what they can do at the state level in ways that will be further enhanced by federal reforms when they occur. Many states introduced legislation this year to legalize voluntary benefits, but several pioneering states now have laws enacted.
California’s fast-food minimum wage is super-sizing job losses
July 15, 2025 // The damage for California doesn’t stop at job losses, as CEI has noted previously. The vast majority of California’s fast-food workers, 89 percent, have had their work hours reduced. Another 35 percent have seen their supplemental benefits reduced. Customers suffer as well. Menu prices for Golden State restaurants rose 14.5 percent between September 2023 and December 2024, nearly double the national rate of 8.2 percent for restaurants. Prices jumped 3 percent in the month after the minimum wage hike went into effect. Americans across all income groups eat fast food, but the core consumers are low-income families according to the Morning Consult. Any price increase is going to hit them the hardest.
How affordable housing in National City became a cash machine for San Diego County labor unions
July 9, 2025 // Public records show these same union leaders, who manage the coalition and the apartments, also direct political action committees that help channel rent and laundry payments into various political causes. Since 2016, about 11 cents of every dollar collected from tenants has been used to influence elections for city councils and school boards across the region, finance ballot initiatives that advance labor interests and pay these same union leaders six-figure salaries.
Chair Cassidy, Scott, Paul Release Legislative Package Empowering Independent Workers to Access Portable Benefits
July 7, 2025 // “We applaud Sen. Cassidy for striving to ensure independent contractors can be protected and receive benefits similar to employees without jeopardizing their entrepreneurship or independence. The Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers Act supports independent contractors and freelancers by allowing businesses to provide benefits without redefining worker status. In today’s evolving economy, flexible work shouldn’t come at the cost of healthcare or retirement security. This legislation helps ensure that all American workers – regardless of classification – can have access to benefits like health care and retirement plans,” said F. Vincent Vernuccio, J.D., President, Institute for the American Worker.