Posts tagged lobbyists
Commentary: JOHN STOSSEL: Unions Wanted To Help Freelance Workers. Now They Lost Their Jobs
April 17, 2024 // Vox called the law “a big win for workers everywhere.” Ha! A few months later, Vox media layed off hundreds of freelancers. “They expected that all these companies were going to reclassify independent contractors as employees,” freelance musician Ari Herstand told me. “In reality, they’re just letting them go!” Herstand was dismayed to learn that when he wants other musicians to join him, he could no longer just write them a check. “I have to put that drummer on payroll, W2 him, get workers’ comp insurance, unemployment insurance, payroll taxes!” he complains. “I have to hire a payroll company.”
Commentary: When Unions Play Politics
December 22, 2023 // Nearly 96 percent of union PAC spending went to support Democratic candidates and organizations for use in federal and state campaigns. Meanwhile, membership dues support a thriving ecosystem of progressive-oriented organizations, which is hardly reflective of the range of viewpoints represented within membership. However, even workers ideologically aligned with union executives may resent their money going to political projects in other states. Nearly 60 percent of all state-level PAC spending went to five states: Illinois ($27.9 million), California ($24.9 million), Minnesota ($13.2 million), Pennsylvania ($12.1 million), and Washington ($7.5 million).
OREGON: Portland teachers union reaches tentative deal
December 3, 2023 // The tentative agreement includes a 13.8% cost-of-living increase over three years, creates new class-size thresholds, increases planning time, and provides additional support for mental and behavioral health. At the end of the three-year contract, more than 50% of district teachers will be making over $100,000. During the strike, union members rallied outside the homes and workplaces of school board members, as well as the Oregon Convention Center. A leader of another top union in Oregon who asked to remain anonymous said it isn’t surprising that PAT chose to act aggressively. They explained, “PAT is to the left of OEA [Oregon Education Association].”
California lawmakers to let legislative staffers unionize
September 22, 2023 // “Unionizing staffers in legislative offices makes no sense because it creates more problems than it solves,” says Brigette Herbst, senior organizing director for AFFT and a former state legislative staffer. “How does unionization work with the long and unpredictable hours during a legislative session? How will elected officials handle untrustworthy staffers? Union organizers haven’t answered these important questions.” Herbst also raised concerns about unions’ connection to lobbying. Legislative staff often meet with lobbyists (including union lobbyists) on behalf of the lawmakers they work for, and Herbst believes that could result in an unfair allocation of state resources.
Unions have enough power in Albany; legislative staff shouldn’t unionize
August 5, 2022 // But a legislative staffers union isn’t the answer to problems in Albany, and the simple reason is politics. Public-sector union officials who collectively bargain with the government are negotiating with the very people they help elect. Now add another layer to that – union officials negotiating with the people they help elect who then vote on the laws for the rest of the state. Imagine I’m a newly elected state senator. I won a hard-fought and ugly election against the incumbent, and now I’m reporting to Albany to set up my office and learn the ropes. Without unions, elected officials are free to choose their staff, and these staffers are at-will employees – meaning that if elected officials don’t feel their staff are trustworthy, or are doing a good job, they can terminate them. Upon arriving in Albany, I meet my new staff and am surprised to learn that because the collective bargaining agreement says so, my new staff is my former opponent’s old staff. The very staff that worked hard to ensure I wasn’t elected. Can I trust them? I now have no choice.
Hill staffers are organizing. What could their unions look like?
February 9, 2022 // Amid ‘overwhelming’ response, staffers run up against convoluted structure of Congress