Posts tagged Janus
Commentary: When Wokeness Implodes: An Irony-Steeped Showdown in Florida, Echoes of Janus v. AFSCME, and a Fresh Start for Florida’s Public Employees
July 3, 2023 // In an environment of “wokeness,” the NEA—one of the largest teachers’ unions in the country—is tasting a bitter concoction of its own brewing, served up by its ideological kin, the Saint Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE). The SPFE has declared a boycott of the NEA’s 2023 Representative Assembly in Orlando, Fla., in response to the NAACP’s travel advisory warning of Florida’s purported hostility toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals. This irony-steeped drama unfolds alongside the fifth anniversary of Janus v. AFSCME, a landmark ruling that strengthened public employees’ rights by allowing them the freedom to choose whether to join and pay dues to a union. Federal reports show a drop in the NEA’s membership of more than 200,000 workers (7.6 percent) since the Janus decision. The Freedom Foundation, in that same period, has assisted more than 143,000 government employees in opting out of their unions. This legacy of empowerment starkly contrasts with the NEA’s current predicament, where ideology appears to overshadow dialogue and mutual respect.
Federal court hands down a major conviction of corrupt union bosses
July 2, 2023 // "LEEBA inflicted severe damage on its members over the years, to the point that it created division, disgust and disdain," said Bruce Mateer, a former member of the union. "Thanks to LEEBA, we have one of the worst-paid police departments in the entire state of New York and we lack proper retirement benefits. LEEBA is supposed to serve their members, but both contracts that LEEBA signed did not meet their members’ needs." Labor unions are supposed to have one simple function: represent their workers during negotiations with management and try to get the best deal possible. Kenneth Wynder and his cronies are unfortunately just the latest in a long tradition of union bosses who decided to make enriching themselves their No. 1 priority.
Five Years Later, Janus Is Decimating Government Unions
June 30, 2023 // Government unions never should have exercised so much control over so many people for so many years. The Supreme Court righted this wrong in 2018, and five years later, more than a million public sector workers have exercised their freedom, keeping at least $720 million of their hard-earned money every year. These numbers are all but certain to grow over the next five years. Perhaps by the 10th anniversary of the Janus decision, government unions will admit how much they’re hurting and change to a less partisan and more effective model of member persuasion.
Frank Ricci: Five Years After Janus
June 30, 2023 // Following the decision and decreased national interest, laws meant to obscure union members’ rights have been adopted. As a result, public sector union management across the country has hesitated to inform employees of their rights, fearing they will receive charges from local labor boards. At the state level, unions have used their political clout to ban captive audience meetings where the employer shares their position on a topic and to bar management even from attending union orientation sessions. This allows the unions to utilize so-called “dark patterns” — techniques that lock members into deliberately deceptive contracts designed to deprive them of their rights.
CELEBRATING THE HISTORIC JANUS DECISION FIVE YEARS LATER
June 27, 2023 //
Commentary: The Left and their Union Masters
June 27, 2023 // Since Janus, government employee unions have lost nearly 800,000 members, taking with them billions in dues revenue that can never again be used to fund a machine that suppresses the rights of its own members in order to advance policies that rob the rest of us our God-given freedoms.
Teachers, why are you still union members when you don’t have to be?
June 23, 2023 // One of the best alternatives is the Association of American Educators (AAE). AAE is the United States’ largest nonunion organization of teachers. AAE is a nonpartisan group that works directly on behalf of teachers and, most importantly, the interests of their students. Moreover, AAE membership provides superior benefits to those of teachers’ unions at a fraction of the cost of union dues.
JANUS V. AFSCME AT FIVE: GOVERNMENT UNION MEMBERSHIP AT RECORD LOWS
June 21, 2023 //
Public-Sector Union Membership Down 10 Percent Since Janus
June 20, 2023 // Maxford Nelson of the Freedom Foundation, a conservative union-watchdog group, has crunched the numbers and found that 733,745 workers have left the four largest public-sector unions since the Janus decision, which is a decline of about 10 percent. Those four are the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
5 years after Janus ruling, 22% of government employees opt out of unions
June 20, 2023 // “We estimate that union revenue is down $733 million annually, based on the estimated 1.2 million government employees who have resigned or declined union membership,” reports Jarrett Skorup, author of the study.