Posts tagged government employees
Governor Hochul Announces Five-Year Labor Agreement with Civil Service Employee Association
June 1, 2026 // The agreement includes increases in salary for employees in each year of the agreement. The agreement also includes paid prenatal leave, increases in location pay and health insurance changes that reduce costs for employees by eliminating certain co-pays and minimizing reliance on out of network providers. CSEA represents New York State employees in four bargaining units. The contract agreement must be ratified by CSEA rank and file members.
Disregard for students showcased in Sheridan teacher strike
May 27, 2026 // The Sheridan teachers did have a legal right to strike, but not a morally justifiable one. They seriously disrupted the lives of innocent schoolchildren and their parents, holding them hostage to the union’s demands. When a grocery union strikes, customers can do business elsewhere. However, teachers are government employees within a school district that has a monopoly on publicly-funded education. And unlike private sector employers, Colorado school boards can refuse to allow a union. In 2012, a new Republican majority on the Douglas County School Board decertified its teacher union when the collective-bargaining agreement expired. (A new Democrat majority on the DougCo school board will likely welcome the union back with open arms.)
Spanberger vetoes bills allowing public employees to collectively bargain working conditions, wages
May 18, 2026 // Spanberger first sought amendments to Senate Bill 378 and House Bill 1263, which one of the bill’s carriers, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surrovell, D-Fairfax, characterized as “a total rewrite.” On Thursday, Surovell confirmed the governor told him in a private call she planned to veto the measure. The proposal, backed by the Virginia Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and various labor groups, would expand on a 2020 law that permits local government employees in Virginia to opt-in to collective bargaining if their localities allow it.
Opinion: Teacher’s union lies to extort billions from taxpayers
April 7, 2026 // The unions insist that the state needs to “fix” the pension rules because, they say, reforms enacted for future employees in 2009 and 2012 (the latter commonly called “Tier 6”) have made it harder to attract and keep good employees. This is a remarkable claim that crumbles under inspection. New York state government set a record for the most employees hired in 2023, only to smash it in 2024. So much for that recruitment problem.
Harris County becomes first in Texas to allow employees to organize with new ‘consultation policy’
March 19, 2026 // Harris County commissioners voted 3-1 Thursday to let many county workers choose a labor organization to advocate for workplace policy changes, elevate grievances and make recommendations to Commissioners Court. The "employee consultation policy" does not permit employees to engage in collective bargaining, which state law blocks most government employees in Texas from doing. Government employees in Texas cannot strike.
Opinion: Workers say ‘I like unions, I just don’t like my union’ — here’s what they’re discovering
February 28, 2026 // "I like unions. I just don’t like my union." Time and time again, I hear this sentiment from employees nationwide. Most will express frustration with their union officials, who’ve disappointed or even mistreated them and other members. Some tell me how they tried and failed to improve their own union from within. They imagine there’s a better union out there — one where union officials actively improve the workplace and help employees achieve some measure of personal freedom.
California union pushes work-from-home bill as Newsom calls state employees back to the office
February 10, 2026 // The legislative proposal by the California union known as PECG would require state agencies to offer telework options “to the fullest extent possible” and mandate they disclose how much money they save by allowing remote work.
Unions skeptical of potential Healey plan to offer buyouts to state employees
November 5, 2025 // Local 509 SEIU, which represents 8,600 employees that fall under the executive branch, most of whom are human service workers, sent a memo to its members on Friday saying that the administration “has presented all state worker unions, including Local 509, with a proposal to reduce the number of full time employees across the Commonwealth.” The new of potential buyouts was first reported in The Boston Herald. “The Commonwealth has proposed $10,000 for a voluntary resignation and $20,000 for retirement. Our understanding is that when these positions become vacant, they would not be backfilled and would be eliminated,” the memo says. SEIU President David Foley said he and other union officials who represent the over 45,000 executive branch workers in Massachusetts were immediately concerned about the idea, especially since the Healey administration chose last month not to adjust its revenue estimate despite raising alarms that they can no longer reliably depend on federal revenues and reimbursements.
Number of federal employees exiting government this year continues to grow
October 27, 2025 // The number of federal employees exiting the government this year continues to grow. The Partnership for Public Service has added thousands more to its running tally of how many feds have left their jobs since January. The latest estimate surpasses 211,000 employees who are either already gone, or who may exit soon.
How are unions pushing back against Trump’s attacks on labor and layoffs?
October 21, 2025 // Unions are battling the administration in federal courtrooms nationwide, after filing dozens of lawsuits to try to halt attempts to shed hundreds of thousands of government employees, strip collective bargaining rights from over a million workers, and gut some federal agencies. On Wednesday, they made a significant breakthrough: Judge Susan Illston, of the US district court’s northern district of California, granted a temporary restraining order blocking Trump’s latest mass layoffs from the government shutdown.