Posts tagged Janus v. AFSCME
Union Power Slips as Percentage of Union Jobs Declines
February 6, 2024 // “Increasingly, Americans realize they can negotiate their own workplace terms without handing over part of their hard-earned paycheck to a union boss who probably doesn’t even know their name,” Ashley Varner of the Freedom Foundation told The Center Square. “Government employee unions are highly political organizations that aren’t held accountable to a profit-margin or a consumer base and government workers are seeing they get more value from keeping those union dues dollars in their pockets to put more gas in their cars and more food on their family dinner table.”
NYC profs see Supreme Court as ‘only hope’ in fight with ‘antisemitic’ teachers union
January 26, 2024 // In 2021, one such teachers union, Professional Staff Congress/CUNY (PSC), adopted a "Resolution in Support of the Palestinian People" which the group of six professors viewed as antisemitic, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel. These professors chose to then resign from the union, but under state law are still required to affiliate with and be represented in bargaining by that same union. "My family and I suffered severe anti-Semitic harassment and persecution at the hands of the Soviet Union for over fifteen years," professor of mathematics Avraham Goldstein said in a statement. "I hoped it was all in my past. But now I am forced to associate with a union that makes anti-Semitic political statements in my name without my permission or consent."
CALIFORNIA: 2023 WAS A YEAR OF TRANSFORMATION
January 22, 2024 //
Some Workers Try to Free Themselves from Unionization, Biden Officials Try to Dragoon More In
January 5, 2024 // If the union loses the election, it often files an “unfair labor practice” charge against the company, seeking to invalidate the election. It used to be that after such a charge (assuming that an NLRB administrative law judge found it credible, which was usually the case), the remedy would be to order a new election. But now, the NLRB is making the remedy an order that the union has “won” and that the company must bargain with it. (Compulsory bargaining is another concept that’s contrary to the freedom that common law protected.) That was the ruling in I.N.S.A, Inc. This is “administrative law” at its worst. Under the Constitution, Congress, not unelected bureaucrats, is supposed to make the laws. But Biden’s pro-union appointments to the NLRB are determined to make the law under the guise of “interpreting” the NLRA. This ruling will lead to more compulsory unionism.
Union membership is plateauing among California state workers, data show. Here’s why
December 23, 2023 // Across state government, just over 64% of employees paid union dues in October, according to the most recent available data from the State Controller’s Office, which deducts dues from union members’ paychecks. That’s down less than 0.5% from last October. The state’s total number of rank-and-file employees increased by about 1,580 people from October 2022. Meanwhile, the number of dues-paying members increased by just under 330 employees. These trends buck previous years’ patterns, which saw decreases in total staff as well as dues-paying members.
Commentary: Public Employees Leaving Their Unions in Record Numbers
December 18, 2023 // Regardless of when the Supreme Court decides to weigh in on the corrupt unions and complicit left-leaning judges thumbing their noses at the 2018 ruling, people are choosing to exercise the rights recognized in Janus.
Mackinac Center Asks Supreme Court to Clarify Janus Decision
December 15, 2023 // The Supreme Court decided in Janus that public sector workers cannot be forced to support a union’s political speech as a condition of keeping their jobs. This decision protected millions of workers’ First Amendment rights. But the Mackinac Center recognized that the Janus ruling could do even more. Shortly after the court ruled, the Mackinac Center launched Workers for Opportunity, an initiative to advance the worker freedoms outlined in the case. In the years since, WFO has educated workers and lawmakers across the nation on what Janus requires. For one thing, public sector workers should only be considered to have waived their First Amendment right not to join a union if they do so with knowing, informed and regular consent.
STOCKTON INTERPRETER’S LAWSUIT SHOWS HOW FAR CSEA WILL GO TO MAKE AN EXAMPLE OF DISSENTERS
December 7, 2023 // To justify its actions, the union claimed Baker had signed a subsequent dues-authorization form in 2020 that included the opt-out window provision. But when she asked to see the document, the union refused. Through her attorneys, Baker was finally able to negotiate a settlement with CSEA in July 2022. Under its terms, her CSEA membership and dues deductions would stop immediately, and she would be reimbursed for the dues that had been deducted from her pay since April. In return, Baker agreed to release CSEA, its officers and agents from any and all claims, demands, obligations or causes of action through the date of execution of the settlement agreement, including claims for legal fees. The union also acknowledged for the first time that Baker had not been a member since April 2022 and enclosed a copy of the dues authorization she had allegedly signed two years earlier.
Recent Legal Battle Latest in War to Protect the American Worker
December 6, 2023 // To justify its actions, the union claimed Baker had signed a subsequent dues-authorization form in 2020 that included the opt-out window provision. But when she asked to see the document, the union refused. After being forced to hire an attorney, Baker was finally able to negotiate a settlement with CSEA in July 2022. Under its terms, her dues deductions would stop immediately, and she would be reimbursed for the dues that had been deducted from her pay since April. The union also acknowledged for the first time that Baker had not been considered a member since April 2022, which was news to Baker. CSEA also enclosed a copy of the dues authorization she had allegedly signed two years earlier. The document had an e-signature rather than a “wet signature,” and Baker denies ever having approved it.
RECORDS CONFIRM RUMORS OF PERSONNEL TURMOIL AT WFSE
November 29, 2023 // As of August 2023, the number of state agency workers represented by WFSE—its pool of potential members—had increased to 38,872, but its dues-paying membership had still shrunk to 23,303, leaving it with a membership rate of only 58 percent. Unless WFSE embraces values like transparency and customer service instead of secrecy and partisan politics, it should expect more of the same no matter who sits atop the organization.