Posts tagged Labor Law
Special Feature: How Public Employee Unions Built California’s Most Powerful Political Machine
July 13, 2026 // In California, public employee unions are often among the most influential organizations helping determine who becomes governor, mayor, county supervisor or school board trustee. They endorse candidates. They contribute millions of dollars to campaigns and independent expenditures. They provide campaign volunteers, voter outreach, mail programs, and political infrastructure that many candidates could not easily replace. By the time contract negotiations begin, the relationship between labor and management has often existed for months or years. That does not mean elected officials simply surrender to union demands. Many negotiate in good faith and work hard to protect taxpayers while fairly compensating public employees. But in government, the officials responsible for approving compensation packages are frequently supported by the same organizations representing the employees who will benefit from those agreements.
Op-ed– MY TURN: Washington’s one-size labor law doesn’t fit Alaska
July 9, 2026 // Forced arbitration doesn’t resolve disputes. It delays them and adds uncertainty to project timelines that are already difficult to manage. For the major energy and infrastructure projects Alaska is now positioned to advance, that uncertainty isn’t just an inconvenience. It could be catastrophic. America needs bold steps toward a more robust energy future, and shortsighted federal mandates stand in the way of that.
The Texas Case That Could Bring Down the NLRB
June 13, 2026 // That’s the reality of a May decision by a U.S. district court in Fort Worth in the case Aunt Bertha v. National Labor Relations Board. The court ruled that the NLRB – the main government agency overseeing union organizing and collective bargaining in the private sector – is unconstitutional on multiple counts. This case seems destined to head to the Supreme Court, and if it does, Congress may have to rewrite federal labor law to meet workers’ needs in the 21st century.
JD Vance Courts Sean O’Brien and the Teamsters
June 1, 2026 // Mr. O’Brien is desperate for a win in Washington to sell to his 1.3 million members as he runs for re-election. Some Republicans in Congress seem eager to give him one—maybe two—as they seek to burnish their bona fides as defenders of the working class. These Republicans are doing more to help Democrats—the primary beneficiaries of Teamster campaign donations—than workers. The Teamsters’ membership has shrunk by nearly half since the 1970s amid a broader decline in organized labor. Technology has improved productivity. At the same time, jobs have migrated to states with right-to-work laws, which prohibit unions and employers from making union membership a condition of employment. The Teamsters have also lost rank-and-file support. Between 2016 and 2025, members filed 373 petitions to decertify the Teamsters, according to Reason magazine. Some 60% of the decertification elections succeeded. You can’t blame union members for wearying of paying dues that bankroll Democratic candidates and lavish lifestyles of union leaders. In the 2023-24 election cycle, 92% of Teamsters PAC donations to federal candidates went to Democrats, as did 91% of the union’s contributions to party committees.
U.N. top court says workers have the right to strike under main labour law treaty
May 26, 2026 // The United Nations's highest court on Thursday said workers and unions have a right to strike under the main international labour law treaty, in an advisory opinion that could influence labour laws around the world.
Why Are Republicans Looking To Pass Obama-Era Forced Unionization Bill?
May 20, 2026 // Instead of contract bargaining, there would be “binding arbitration.” For 90 days, unions and employers would come to the table as normal and work toward an agreement. After that, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service could be called in to “mediate” the talks for an additional 30 days. If no agreement was reached, the agency gained the power to convene an arbitration panel that would write up a contract that bound both the union and the employer for two years. EFCA made unionization faster, but only by taking away checks that workers and employers had on union bosses. Today, unions are still pushing for the “binding arbitration” half of EFCA. It’s on the smorgasbord of provisions in the so-called PRO Act, a union-backed bill supported by all but a few congressional Democrats, and it’s central to the Faster Labor Contracts Act.
Littler Lightbulb – March 2026 Employment Appellate Roundup
April 21, 2026 // This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment and labor law developments in the federal courts of appeal in the last month.
Op-ed: A bipartisan bill that would hurt employers and unions
April 12, 2026 // The bill would mandate that workers sometimes be subjected to labor contracts that they never vote for. The idea is to reduce the amount of time it takes between a union being recognized as the collective bargaining agent in a workplace and the enactment of an agreement. The National Labor Relations Act requires recognized unions and employers to negotiate in good faith, but it does not say how long that negotiating may last. In some cases, it can last years.
US court nixes NLRB ruling allowing for unionizing without elections
March 10, 2026 // A U.S. appeals court has ruled that the National Labor Relations Board overstepped its powers when it issued a major ruling requiring employers that violate labor laws during union organizing drives to bargain with unions even when workers vote against joining them. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 ruling, opens new tab on Friday called the board's 2023 decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific "rulemaking under the guise of an adjudication" that went far beyond the NLRB's authority to issue fact-based rulings and specific remedies in individual cases.
Vernuccio, Institute For The American Worker on The William Wallis for America Show
March 10, 2026 // Vernuccio, Institute For The American Worker on The William Wallis for America Show Vinny Vernuccio is the President of The Institute For The American Worker. In this interview at The Pelican Institutes Solutions Summit he talks about legislative ideas he is working on in DC to help the average American Worker.