Posts tagged government union
REPORT: How government unions work against interests of private-sector unions, taxpayers
January 22, 2025 // First, there is no archetypal profit motive in the government sector. Congress passed laws promoting collective bargaining in the private sector to prevent the exploitation of workers by employers who were seeking to increase their profits through long work hours and poor working conditions.
Opinion: Six Ways to Hold Government Unions Accountable
January 10, 2025 // For generations, government unions have existed for their members to be organized and have a seat at negotiating tables. But for too long, the influence of those public employee unions has been less about negotiating raises and sick leave and more about funneling taxpayer dollars and volunteers toward partisan political activity that almost exclusively benefits the Left. Government unions should re-focus their energy and resources on their intended purpose: working on behalf of public-sector employees so those workers can do the job the American people hired them to do.
Opinion:The Fall of Florida’s ‘Zombie Unions’
December 26, 2024 // The Florida Education Association (FEA), which represents teachers and school staff, has lost about 13% of its members since 2023, according to a review of federal data by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. That’s because members in several school districts voted not to recertify their chapters, allowing them to disband.
Opinion: A kidnappers bargain: linking CT union and nonprofit interests
November 26, 2024 // Under Osten’s plan, state funding for certain nonprofits would automatically increase whenever state unions negotiate pay increases for themselves. At first, this seems like a solid strategy for ensuring that that nonprofits get funded. Actually, it is a clever tactic to turn nonprofit workers into a sympathetic de facto lobbying group for Connecticut’s dominant special interest — the government unions — despite having no other relationship to them. This alignment could incentivize nonprofits, which traditionally focus on service delivery, to shift towards advocacy for increased state spending —effectively lobbying for higher taxes and more government spending. What’s more, nonprofits would have a vested interest in supporting higher wages, regardless of the state’s fiscal condition or the actual needs of the programs they administer.
COMMENTARY: You Can’t Support Trump and Government Unions
November 21, 2024 // Trump and his allies have talked endlessly about the need to take on the “deep state” or “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C. Sometimes such talk veers into conspiracy-theorizing, but it’s certainly true that many federal bureaucrats are opposed to Trump and their obstruction can prevent him from governing as he was elected to govern. For years, conservatives have been raising the alarm about the constitutional problems that an entrenched, unelected administrative state presents when it hinders the elected leaders from making decisions. Government unions stand in the way of making many reforms to the civil service that Trump would like to see.
Commentary: 20 Years Later, Orange County is Still Dealing with ‘Legalized Corruption’
October 16, 2024 // Tom was not alone, of course. Too many of California’s 58 county boards of supervisors and 482 cities’ council members did – and still do – the same thing. And the liabilities are reflected when you review their annual comprehensive financial report rankings provided on the California Policy Center website. The lesson for voters is to elect individuals who have financial literacy, follow sound advice from accountants and actuaries, and emphasize timely transparency. Regretfully, too many are beholden to self-interested public employee union leaders who helped get them elected to their positions. And the annual comprehensive financial reports provide the accountability of the actions of prior elected officials. The impact of Wilson’s two votes will linger for decades.
Government Unions are Down — But Not Out
September 10, 2024 // For nearly a decade, the Commonwealth Foundation has tracked state-by-state changes in labor laws. Every two years, the Commonwealth Foundation releases its research on the ever-changing legal landscape for public sector unions, assessing each state’s efforts to promote public employees’ rights or cave to unions’ entrenched influence. This fourth edition examines government unions’ attempts, following Janus, to hold onto and expand special legal privileges under state laws. The research also highlights the states reining in government unions’ power and influence by empowering workers.
OPINION: Government unions are behind corrupt Oakland mayor
July 1, 2024 // Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was raided by the FBI last week as were two other homes owned by members of the Duong family. The Duongs own California Waste Solutions, a company that has a billion-dollar contract with the city. Thao is reported to have traveled to Vietnam at the Duong family’s expense last year. Since the raid, Thao’s lawyer and communications director both quit and her former chief of staff called on her to resign. Thao refuses to leave office, however, claiming that she is completely innocent and the victim of “right-winged forces” that are trying to take her down. Thao’s political troubles did not start with the raid. Thanks to rising crime, a weak economy, and a huge budget deficit, Thao was already facing a recall election set for this November. As bad as Thao has been in office, though, there still is a good chance she will hang on to power.
Democrat Party’s Embrace of Union Tactics Emboldens Corruption
February 9, 2024 // The Biden administration’s green-lighting of Big Labor’s thuggish tactics has only served to exacerbate union corruption. In 2023, the Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) conducted 155 criminal investigations into union activity, handing down 39 indictments and 57 convictions. Union crimes the OLMS prosecuted include petty theft, embezzlement, racketeering, and falsifying records.
Wisconsin’s Anti-Union Model Faces Reckoning as Top Court Shifts
December 12, 2023 // “They’ve been trying to overturn it through the legislature and the ballot box and have been wholly unsuccessful,” said Brett Healy, president of the conservative John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, which estimates Act 10 has saved taxpayers $16.8 billion as of this year. Act 10 also made it easier for school districts to fire low-performing teachers and retain good ones, said Walker, now president of the Young America’s Foundation, a conservative activist organization for youth. The former governor pointed to the state’s standardized test scores and graduation rates, which typically meet or exceed national averages. “We’ve seen tremendous success,” Walker added. “All the attacks they said at the time, how this would devastate schools, proved be just that—attacks. They don’t match reality.”