Posts tagged dues
Gov. Newsom is poised to sign a bill that would allow tax dollars to fund a third of worker union dues
September 30, 2022 // Section 3 of Assembly Bill 158, also known as the Workers Tax Fairness Credit, promises to subsidize up to a third of annual union dues for public sector workers. “Governor Newsom has a bill on his desk right now enacted by the California legislature that’s just waiting for his signature to become law,” said Timothy Snowball, litigation counsel with the Freedom Foundation, a union watchdog.
BIG LABOR’S AGENDA PUTS UNIONS FIRST, POLITICIANS SECOND, WORKERS LAST
September 23, 2022 // The only way to ensure real prosperity for Pennsylvania is for workers to leave their unions, taking their dues with them and spending it to improve their own lives rather than lining the pockets of union leaders and politicians who see them only as a piggy bank to be cracked open. The more public-sector employees the Freedom Foundation helps opt out of their union and stop paying dues, the less money the unions have to buy out their radical candidates and, in turn, create a fairer, more limited government through individual liberty and free enterprise.
And Now the Union Would Like a Word in Private-Under Janus, government workers don’t have to join or pay. But behind closed doors it’s hard to say no
September 13, 2022 // Four years after Janus, plenty of government employers haven’t explained to workers that union membership is not a condition of employment. Some employee handbooks still say workers must pay the union to keep their jobs. And many—if not most—public employees don’t know that a contract negotiated by the union applies to them whether they pay dues or not. Government-worker unions enjoy outsize influence over government. Governors, mayors, county executives and school superintendents facing demands for private access to their employees must remember how the unions wound up with the privileges that make them so powerful.
California’s Latest Gift to Big Labor
September 8, 2022 // California may have fired the first shot in an interstate political arms race. If lawmakers in blue states begin forcing taxpayers to fund national progressive political organizations, politicians in red states will inevitably feel that forcing their respective tax bases to subsidize conservative groups is necessary and justified. It doesn’t take much imagination to see how this could accelerate the nation’s descent into extreme partisanship and winner-take-all governance. Given the already precarious state of civil society, that’s the last thing the country needs.
No worker is a victim
September 5, 2022 // Good workers should never ‘play the victim’ and blame their boss for not making enough money. Working for a company isn’t the priesthood -- you can leave. A worker is worth fair wages. An employer who takes advantage of willing, loyal, honest workers by not paying them what they are worth isn’t worthy of having eager, reliable, forthright employees.
Despite the Media Hype, Unionization Is Down—and for Good Reason
September 3, 2022 // Unionization did increase during the pandemic but fell as the pandemic waned. In 2021, 15.8 million workers were represented by a union, a decline of half a million since 2019.
Opinion: Paying unions: Recurring opt-in requirements protect public workers
August 31, 2022 // Much of the political spending is used to encourage and support ideologically aligned politicians in opposing badly needed reforms to public education such as addressing tenure policies, offering performance-based merit pay and alternatives to traditional public education like charter schools and tax-credit programs. A big chunk of those “dues and agency fees” also are used to advance controversial curriculum like critical race theory, divisive bathroom practices and abortion policies that go against the wishes of parents and communities.
MAJORITY OF IFT SPENDING GOES TO CHICAGO
August 29, 2022 // 2021, IFT spent 190 times more money on Chicago-area affiliates than it did on affiliates south of Interstate 80.2 In fact, IFT reported directing money to only one affiliate south of I-80.3 That isn’t all. IFT and AFT admit in their reports that most of the spending was not on representing members, but on politics, overhead and other union leadership priorities.
Opinion: Connecticut teachers have choices; unions would do well to respect them
August 16, 2022 // CEA leaders disparaged those who would suggest leaving the union. In emails this spring, they scolded teachers for even thinking of attending our online sessions. And of late, the CEA has resorted to having its lawyers make phone calls to teachers who’ve mailed in escape letters. Ironically, for some teachers this is the most attention the union has ever paid to them.
NEA dues rise, spending on teachers drops for 6 straight years
August 15, 2022 // To assist teachers in evaluating NEA’s and IEA’s spending, this report examines data pulled from the unions’ LM-2s5 in the following three areas: Representational spending Leadership spending Political spending. JUST 6% OF NEA’S AND IEA’S COMBINED SPENDING WAS ON REPRESENTING MEMBERS NEA AND IEA SPENDING ON UNION LEADERSHIP SALARIES OUTPACED SPENDING ON MEMBERS NEA AND IEA SPENT 1.5 TIMES MORE ON POLITICS THAN ON REPRESENTING TEACHERS IN 2021