Posts tagged free speech
CT’s ‘captive audience’ law challenged in federal lawsuit
November 2, 2022 // Connecticut’s ban on “captive audience” meetings, which unions say are used to thwart organizing, is unconstitutional and a preemption of federal labor law, a coalition led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Hartford. The lawsuit, joined by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and trade groups representing retailers and others, says the ban violates free-speech and equal-protection rights under the Constitution by “chilling and prohibiting employer speech” with their workers. The defendants in the lawsuit are Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo of the state Department of Labor, the department itself, and Attorney General William Tong. Chris DiPentima,
Freedom of Speech? Not if the National Labor Relations Board Gets Its Way
October 31, 2022 // Amazon unionization efforts recently failed in Albany, NY in October. Workers said no by an almost 2 to 1 margin. In total, less than a quarter of all employees voted for representation by the Amazon Labor Union. Shortly after, the union withdrew its petition to try to organize a California warehouse. It also lost a second vote in Staten Island in May. Amazon workers are clearly saying no to unionization. The NLRB and unions are responding by threatening a bedrock constitutional right of all Americans.
Voters agree: There’s nothing wrong with employer meetings on unionization
October 13, 2022 // Employers are legally prohibited from interrogating, threatening, or making promises during union organizing efforts, which is when many of these EMUs occur. By contrast, unions have little to no restrictions on their speech, including what they can promise to potential members, making the need for EMUs even more important.
Union Refuses To Aid Teacher Who Faced Termination for Criticism of Woke Training
August 15, 2022 // A Connecticut gym teacher says his school threatened to fire him after he criticized its mandatory diversity training on "exploring privilege." But when he filed a grievance against the school, the local teachers' union dismissed the complaint without explanation. John Grande filed the grievance against Hartford Public Schools for what he called targeted discipline—including threats of termination and further "Sensitivity Awareness" training—but the American Federation of Teachers Local 1018, which has jurisdiction over this arbitration process for teachers, rejected his plea, his attorney told the Washington Free Beacon. Grande, who has been a gym teacher for 30 years, said the union retaliated against him for refusing to join the labor group. The training included an activity for teachers to split into groups and discuss their privilege in eight categories: class, ability, race, gender/sex, sexuality, nationality/citizenship, religion, and "other." Hartford Board of Education,
Too radical or not radical enough? US’s top labor lawyer in the spotlight
August 8, 2022 // The top lawyer at the body charged with enforcing US labor law has been hailed as a champion by some and as a “radical” by her opponents. For others involved in the white-hot world of union organizing, she has not gone far enough. Abruzzo’s bona fides are clear. She has repeatedly urged the NLRB’s five-person board to adopt new policies that would make it easier to unionize. She wants the board to prohibit so-called captive audience meetings in which Amazon and many other companies require employees to listen to anti-union speeches from managers and consultants. She wants the board to require employers to grant union recognition once a majority of workers sign cards saying they want a union.
How a Liberal State Defies the First Amendment
July 12, 2022 // Frank Ricci — a retired firefighter and former president of the New Haven Firefighters Local 825, and now the Yankee Institute’s Fellow of Labor & Special Initiatives — says that opt-out windows “equate to a dues grab where the union picks the pockets of their workers who are trying to leave.” Besides the money, it’s about power: The “small print of membership cards,” Ricci says, “are designed to trap the worker into membership.” The tactics result in “defying the Janus decision and increasing the union’s political power.” Michael Costanza, Constitution State Educators, Christina Corvello,
Opinion: Why I put my job in the Allentown Symphony on the line to not pay union dues
May 20, 2022 // The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that public-sector employees can’t be forced to pay a union as a condition of employment. I’m relying on that precedent, and representation from the Fairness Center, a nonprofit law firm, to defend my rights against those who would misuse their power and deny them.
WITH THE RULES OF THE GAME CHANGED, UNIONS ARE DETERMINED TO CHEAT
April 18, 2022 //
Lawsuit claiming public-sector employees must be informed of Janus rights dismissed
April 12, 2022 // Judge John F. Kness of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed an Illinois teacher’s lawsuit claiming that, under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, public-sector unions are obligated to inform prospective members of their right not to join or pay fees to a union.
Indiana Leaders Safeguard Free Speech for Teachers
April 7, 2022 // In legible, 14-point bold text will be these words: The State of Indiana wishes to make you aware that you have a First Amendment right…to refrain from joining and paying dues to a union.