Posts tagged first responders
5.9% of Washington Workers Are Union Members, 6th Most in the U.S.
June 9, 2025 // Union membership in the United States has declined to its lowest point in decades. In 1979, unions represented 24.1% of the American workforce. By 2024, that share had fallen to just 9.9%, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and UnionStats. In absolute terms, this represents a drop of roughly 6.7 million members—from a peak of 20.9 million in 1979 to around 14.2 million in 2024.
Norfolk City Council denies collective bargaining request from Police Benevolent Association
November 29, 2023 // Councilmembers Courtney Doyle, Mamie Johnson, Danica Royster, Martin Thomas and Mayor Kenny Alexander voted to adopt the measure declining collective bargaining. Councilmembers Andria McClellan, J.P. Paige and Tommy Smigiel voted against the ordinance. The ordinance included that City Council decline collective bargaining “at this time” and also included the creation of at least four “employee committees,” which will meet with the city manager. Input from the employee committees will be factored into City Council’s budget discussions, according to city documents.
This Labor Day, ask yourself: Are unions living up to their promises?
September 4, 2023 // Good people across the country may believe that handing more power to public sector union executives will fix teacher shortages or improve ineffective government programs. Instead, these good people should reflect this Labor Day and ask themselves whether public sector unions have lived up to these promises over the past 50 years. They should also ask how we can hold union executives accountable and improve how public sector unions work. Unfortunately, anyone trying to advance ideas to improve public sector unions soon discovers union executives aren’t interested. Public sector union executives will go to war to ensure they keep their power — even at the expense of the employees they purportedly represent.
Fairfax Co. first responders vote to unionize for the first time in 40 years
November 22, 2022 // Firefighters and paramedics in Fairfax County, Virginia, became the first group in 40 years to unionize Friday, after members totaled more than 3,300 24-hour days of mandatory overtime in just one calendar year. The vote was announced by the union in a press release, stating that the roughly 1,500 emergency personnel would be the first public sector employees in over four decades to enter a collective bargaining agreement. Until 2021, employees in the public sector couldn’t legally unionize. That changed in Fairfax County in early 2022, when the jurisdiction passed an ordinance that allowed state employees to collectively bargain.
Ex-Detroit Firefighter of the Year sentenced for embezzling $200K in union funds
May 26, 2022 // Verdine Day, 62, was sentenced to one year in prison and $220,043.65 in restitution to the DFFA, as well as two years of supervised release on her conviction for bank fraud as charged in an information filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
First responders across Illinois seeking freedom from unions
February 8, 2022 // Paramedics and EMTs at the Galesburg Hospitals Ambulance Service are seeking to exercise their right to vote Teamsters Local 627 out of power at the workplace, a growing trend around the country.