Posts tagged Freedom Foundation
As Federal Cash Flows to Unions, Democrats Hope to Reap the Rewards
February 13, 2023 // In places like West Virginia, money from three major laws passed by Congress is pouring into the alternative energy industry and other projects. “I think it’s a renaissance for the labor movement,” said one union official. Beyond the inflation act, Democrats, with help from a few Republicans, were able to add prevailing wage requirements to the semiconductor bill. And both the Energy and Transportation Departments are making clear that access to unions, payment of prevailing wages and commitments to local hiring will be big advantages for competitive bidders seeking infrastructure and highway electrification projects, though Republican governors like Joe Lombardo in Nevada are trying to block some of those requirements.
Unions Are Stealing Dues Through Forgery. The Supreme Court Must Step In.
February 12, 2023 // The Freedom Foundation, a national union watchdog group, has filed about a dozen cases where unions allegedly forged people’s signatures in order to keep taking money from their paychecks. It’s an issue that has become so pervasive the Supreme Court must eventually step in and correct the 9th Circuit’s decision.
DEMOCRATS AIM TO REPEAL MICHIGAN’S “RIGHT-TO-WORK” LAW
February 7, 2023 // Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Hillsdale, pointed to a 2022 study from the Mackinac Center, a right-leaning Michigan think tank. The study found that counties in “right-to-work” states had higher employment levels compared to bordering counties in non-“right-to-work” states. “Because of our unusual peninsular geography, relatively few communities in Michigan border another right-to-work state, leaving us to bear the brunt of such a policy change,” Fink said.
Supreme Court Misses an Opportunity to Protect Workers from Public-Sector Unions
January 26, 2023 // The Supreme Court decided today that it will not grant certiorari in the case Wright v. SEIU Local 503, one of several union-forgery cases currently working their way through the court system. By not hearing the case, the Court is allowing confusion about public-sector workers’ constitutional rights to persist. The Freedom Foundation, a conservative union-watchdog group, has found about a dozen cases where unions allegedly forged someone’s signature in order to keep taking money from their paycheck. Though it may seem like a simple question, lower-court rulings have failed to address the issue head-on.
Legislative staffer unions percolate beyond D.C.
January 26, 2023 // Part of its argument is that the legislative union would violate the separation of powers because it would be overseen by Oregon’s Employment Relations Board, a part of the executive branch. “All of its members are appointed by the governor, so it's controlled by the executive branch, and that subjects the legislature to the executive branch in a specific way,” Freedom Foundation attorney Rebekah Millard told POLITICO.
Why labor’s surging popularity isn’t translating to union membership
January 25, 2023 // One legal catalyst for the decline in union membership was a 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court in 2018, which said that unions could no longer force workers to pay dues. Since then, the Freedom Foundation, an anti-union group, says it’s helped 133,000 workers leave public-sector unions. Meanwhile, the public sector has lost workers amid a labor shortage. The unionization rate dropped in this area from 33.9% in 2018, to 33.1% in 2022, an all-time low.
Teachers are fleeing partisan unions that some say undermine public education
January 11, 2023 // Teachers are fleeing unions in droves, citing the political partisanship of the organizations that charge $750 to $900 a year in membership fees. The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers lost a combined total of 59,000 union members during the 2021-22 school year. And they lost 82,000 members the year before.
Government Unions Can’t Keep Forcing Public Employees to Pay Up
December 22, 2022 //
Teachers are fleeing partisan unions that some say undermine public education
December 20, 2022 // Teachers are fleeing unions in droves, citing the political partisanship of the organizations that charge $750 to $900 a year in membership fees. The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers lost a combined total of 59,000 union members during the 2021-22 school year. And they lost 82,000 members the year before.
Why Oregon Teachers’ Union Has Lost 20 Percent of Its Membership
December 13, 2022 // All told, the union’s active membership has dropped below 80 percent. “If OEA wants to blame someone for those defections, its leaders need only look in the mirror,” said Freedom Foundation Oregon Director Jason Dudash. “Our teacher outreach has been increasingly successful, but the arrogance of the unions themselves was a big help.” Until 2018, Oregon was one of 23 states without right-to-work protections for government workers, meaning teachers and thousands of other public employees were required to financially support union activities.