Posts tagged lawsuit
Tennessee Teachers’ Union Drops Lawsuit Demanding Right To Deduct Fees From Paychecks
August 16, 2023 // The law prohibits paycheck deductions and also bumps the minimum salary for a teacher to $50,000 by the 2026-2027 school year. Before the union withdrew its suit, the court said the union's arguments were unlikely to succeed. "We hold that the Plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits of either claim," the court said. "Plaintiffs have failed to show that the Act substantially impairs either set of contracts implicated by the change in the payroll deduction process." The union originally argued that the law was unconstitutional.
FREEDOM FOUNDATION WINS $75,000 FROM SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY IN PUBLIC RECORDS CASE
August 11, 2023 // Last November, the Superior Court of San Bernardino County agreed the Freedom Foundation was entitled to the contact information for county employees— information already freely provided to the unions — and ordered the county to compensate the organization for the costs incurred in the lawsuit. During the entire ordeal, county officials continued to drag their feet and cause needless — and expensive — delays. “The meter was running,” said Eric Stahlfeld, the Freedom Foundation’s chief litigation counsel. “The longer the case dragged on, the more time we spent on it and the higher their bill kept getting. “In cases like this, government agencies know they’re playing with house money,” Stahlfeld explained. “They couldn’t care less how much the process costs or how long it takes. That’s why ordinary people either don’t bother suing the government or don’t stick with it very long. They don’t have endless streams of money to pay lawyers.”
Judges block Tennessee law banning teacher group from deducting member dues from paychecks
July 3, 2023 // The group’s lawsuit contends that combining the two changes into one bill violates a single-subject requirement for legislation under the Tennessee Constitution. The challenge calls for a judge to leave the pay raise in place, but block the deductions ban. The association says the ban will cost the group money and diminish its own revenues, which come entirely from member dues.
Rail workers protest after they say company fired 31 workers for joining union
June 30, 2023 // The lawsuit established a timeline showing how the employees say this all played out. It reads, “Back in April, the Railroad Engineering Services employees voted 39 to 9 to join the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division.” It goes on to specifically reference a group known as “Tie Gang 2,” which it said included 31 of the most passionate union supporters. Fast forward to May, it says the BMWED sent RES its intent to negotiate a first contract. Three days later, it said the Tie Gang 2 was called into a meeting, told it was being disbanded, and that all 31 employees were being fired.
Labor union challenges constitutionality of debt limit law
May 10, 2023 // The union’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, says the debt limit statute allows the president to cancel government spending that’s been approved by Congress, and that violates the separation of powers. The lawsuit states that the union does not seek to challenge the “controversial proposition” that Congress can limit the country’s debt. But it contends that “Congress may not do so without at least setting the order and priority of payments once that limit is reached, instead of leaving it to the President to do so.” “Nothing in the Constitution or any judicial decision interpreting the Constitution allows Congress to leave unchecked discretion to the President to exercise the spending power vested in the legislative branch by canceling, suspending, or refusing to carry out spending already approved by Congress,” the lawsuit states.
Sysco Picketing Lawsuit Hinges on Standard for Secondary Strikes
April 18, 2023 // The conflict arose earlier this month after Sysco workers in Indiana and Kentucky went on strike over wages and retirement benefits. Sysco workers belonging to Teamsters Local 117 in Washington state followed suit, exercising a clause of their contract that allows them to refuse to cross a “lawful, primary picket line,” according to court records. In a complaint filed in US District Court for the Western District of Washington, Sysco Seattle argued that the workers there couldn’t join the picket because its operation is a separate entity from Sysco Louisville and Sysco Indianapolis.
Michigan House passes right-to-work repeal in party-line vote
March 10, 2023 // Repeal bills still need to pass the Michigan Senate and be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to become law News Story Michigan House passes right-to-work repeal in party-line vote Repeal bills still need to pass the Michigan Senate and be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to become law By James David Dickson | March 8, 2023Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Wednesday night, the Michigan House passed two bills that would repeal right-to-work protections for union members. (Screenshot: Michigan House TV) By a 56-53 vote, with one Republican absent, the Michigan House on Wednesday approved both House Bill 4004 and House Bill 4005, which would repeal the state right-to-work law. House Bill 4004 would repeal right-to-work protections for public sector workers such as teachers. That bill is expected to face constitutional challenges if signed into law, given that it violates the protections for public sector workers recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME.
Rhode Island Teacher Unconstitutionally Forced to Choose Between Job and Union
January 10, 2023 // Despite glowing teacher evaluations, John Lancellotta, a public school teacher in Rhode Island, lost his job after exercising his First Amendment right to opt out of his union. By forcing John to choose between supporting the union and keeping his job, the school placed an unconstitutional condition on his employment.
CT’s ‘captive audience’ law challenged in federal lawsuit
November 2, 2022 // Connecticut’s ban on “captive audience” meetings, which unions say are used to thwart organizing, is unconstitutional and a preemption of federal labor law, a coalition led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Hartford. The lawsuit, joined by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and trade groups representing retailers and others, says the ban violates free-speech and equal-protection rights under the Constitution by “chilling and prohibiting employer speech” with their workers. The defendants in the lawsuit are Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo of the state Department of Labor, the department itself, and Attorney General William Tong. Chris DiPentima,
SEIU SUES OREGON EMPLOYEE FOR EXPOSING FORGERY
July 18, 2022 // Staci Trees, an employee of Oregon Department of Transportation, resigned her union membership in December 2020, only to learn that SEIU intended to keep deducting regular dues from paychecks, claiming she had signed a membership agreement authorizing it to do so. When she asked to see the document, however, it was so obviously a forgery that even SEIU couldn’t defend its authenticity. Rebekah Millard, Gov. Kate Brown,