Posts tagged free speech
Op-ed: Stanford’s Graduate Student Union Tries to Stifle Dissent
September 4, 2025 // At the University of Chicago, graduate students in a similar position have taken their union to federal court, arguing that forced support of the union violates their constitutional rights. In Graduate Students for Academic Freedom v. Graduate Students United, the plaintiffs—including Jewish students—say they are being compelled to fund a union that promotes the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, a stance they view as antisemitic. The graduate unions at both Stanford and Chicago are registered as local chapters of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, a national union that funds progressive activism.
Rhode Island Employer-Sponsored Meetings Ban Law Now in Effect
August 25, 2025 // The new law prohibits employers from holding mandatory worker meetings to explain what unionizing will mean for the business from an employer’s perspective. This also means labor organizers will have an unchallenged narrative on unionization. Identical laws in Connecticut, Minnesota, and other states face legal challenges citing the law is superseded by the National Labor Relations Act as well as federal labor law precedent. Rhode Island’s new law is likely to face a similar challenge, something NFIB and other organizations warned when lawmakers considered these bills
Bid Protests Offer a Way Around PLAs, But Will a Slow, Steady Precedent Win the Day?
June 25, 2025 // The OMB memo instructs federal agencies to maintain the labor pact requirements but also points to a Federal Acquisition Rule provision that provides an exception to the PLA requirement for large construction projects when its use would substantially reduce the number of bidders and impact the price. But it has left neither contractor groups nor NABTU happy. "To that extent this isn’t what we hoped for, it is definitely better than what was in place with the Biden administration,” Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and workforce at AGC told ENR. “In addition, given the recent court decisions, it is hard to see how the administration will be able to impose a mandated PLA without facing successful bid protests."
Freedom Foundation Sues California Public Employment Relations Board
March 18, 2025 // “The Public Employment Relations Board is trampling on free speech and workers’ rights, all to protect union interests,” said Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe. “By enforcing these unconstitutional statutes, they are silencing the Shasta County Board and preventing public employees from receiving crucial information about their rights.” “These laws do a real disservice to public employees, forcing them to rely solely on unions for information that the unions have no intention of providing,” said Freedom Foundation Litigation Counsel Ravi Prasad. “Workers deserve the truth about their options. But these statutes ensure that workers only hear unions’ perspectives on the merits of union membership, while silencing any public employer who disagrees. This is textbook viewpoint discrimination.”
Op-ed: Josh Hawley’s union-friendly bill may open the door to right-to-work
March 17, 2025 // Hawley, who opposes right-to-work laws, may be inadvertently laying the groundwork for a national version of that same policy, protecting private-sector workers across America from getting fired for not paying union fees. Hawley’s Faster Labor Contracts Act—which the Teamsters union has already endorsed—is billed as a means of stopping employers from delaying negotiations with labor unions. Under current law, businesses and unions are required to negotiate in good faith, and there’s no deadline for an agreement because workers and job creators need time to reach the best deal.
BACKGROUNDER: Senator Hawley’s PRO Act Lite
March 14, 2025 // Senator Josh Hawley’s proposed “framework” for reforming America’s private-sector labor law is, in reality, a repackaged and slimmed down version of the radical left’s Protecting the Right to Organize (“PRO”) Act and Warehouse Worker Protection Act (“WWPA”). Instead of proposing meaningful reforms to protect the American Worker—by leveling the playing field between unions and business—it does the opposite at every turn. This “Pro Act Lite” may be a slimmed down version of Big Labor’s original, but it still packs the same harmful consequences.
Construction groups decry PRO Act’s reintroduction
March 13, 2025 // “The reintroduction of the PRO Act displays continued disregard for the livelihoods of small business owners, employees and independent contractors,” said Swearingen. “While Congress has long rejected the PRO Act and its provisions, these legislators continue to pursue failed policies and attack business models and fundamental freedoms that have fueled entrepreneurship, job creation and opportunity for the American worker.”
Op-ed: Protect American workers: How Trump’s team can fulfill his promise
March 6, 2025 // Regulatory reform is needed at three federal agencies that oversee labor laws and regulations: the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At the Labor Department, the administration should remove the economically inept "environmental, social and governance" investment criteria and instead protect workers’ retirement savings. Investment managers should be prohibited from advancing political agendas that reduce pension returns. The administration should guarantee workers freedom of information and transparency, so union members know how their leaders are spending dues.
Free Speech Under Fire: How Restricting Employee Meetings on Unionization Prevents Workers from Making Informed Decisions
February 13, 2025 // I4AW’s report, “Free Speech Under Fire: How Restricting Employee Meetings on Unionization Prevents Workers from Making Informed Decisions,” provides a point by point rebuttal of the NLRB’s flawed claims as to why, in Amazon.com Services LLC, the NLRB incorrectly overruled its 1948 decision in Babcock & Wilcox Co., and held that an employer cannot compel employees to attend a “captive audience meeting.”
Right-to-work facts vs. myths
February 12, 2025 // What’s become evident over the decades is that right-to-work laws are associated with statistically significant gains in employment, particularly manufacturing employment, job opportunities, population growth and economic growth. If New Hampshire adopts a right-to-work law, we would expect to see improvements in all of those areas, along with an improvement in state business tax revenues resulting from the additional business activity. As for freedom vs. coercion, workers have First Amendment rights not to associate with or fund membership organizations that they choose not to join. If workers want to join unions, they should be free to do so.