Posts tagged fair representation

    Pa. Worker Sues Union, State Over Mishandled Promotion

    June 13, 2025 // Veteran state employee Todd Burns was in line for a well-deserved promotion until state officials allegedly violated his employment contract to promote someone less qualified but who had close ties to management. Burns turned to his union for help, only for AFSCME, Council 13, to refuse to defend the contract, despite his many years as a dues-paying member. Now, Burns is suing his union for violating state law by failing to provide him with fair representation and his employer, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), for breaking his employment contract.

    As Janus anniversary draws nears, public workers retain right to union representation

    June 28, 2024 // A union is required to represent even workers who are not members, due to its “duty of fair representation.” “It’s crucial that public employees understand the duty of fair representation to ensure their rights are protected,” Delie told CapCon. Unions have this duty because they also have the right of “exclusive representation.” Under it, the union negotiates with management as the exclusive representative of a group of employees known as a bargaining unit. Members and nonmembers alike are part of the bargaining unit, and the union must represent them all, including at any disciplinary hearings they may face.

    What Settlement of Vaccine Mandate Case Says About Corruption of Teachers Unions

    June 2, 2023 // But a second lawsuit by the teachers is pending, one that has garnered little media attention but may have greater long-term implications. That lawsuit also was filed against the Barrington Education Association, which brazenly abandoned these three dues-paying union members. In the same case earlier this spring, the three teachers’ attorney, Gregory Piccirilli, filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claim against the Barrington teachers union, an affiliate of the National Education Association.