Posts tagged Maryland
Nurse Files Federal Charges Challenging Union Policy that Conditions Contract Vote Participation on Signing Union Card
September 22, 2026 // Jennifer Delaney, a nurse at Ascension Health’s St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, has filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) challenging a common union boss tactic designed to coerce employees into signing union membership and dues cards. The charges were filed with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Delaney’s charges argue that when union officials block nonmembers from voting on contracts that will apply to them, the union violates the National Labor Relations Act’s (NLRA’s) prohibition on unions restraining or coercing employees’ Section 7 right to refrain from union membership. Though the NLRB has long looked the other way when union officials engage in such discrimination during contract ratification votes, the charges argue that the Board can no longer brush aside this clear violation of the text of the NLRA in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.
Powerful teachers’ unions share striking link with states struggling to teach kids to read
September 19, 2026 // Eight of the ten states to score among the worst in the Progressive Policy Institute’s (PPI) assessment of early-literacy policies were home to powerful teachers' unions. Among the top 60% of states in terms of early-literacy policy scores, only four had strong teachers' unions. Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Indiana, all Republican leaning states with weak unions, were among the states with the best literacy outcomes. Maine, New York, Illinois, Hawaii, Washington and Rhode Island, blue states, were among the worst.
Report: The Battle for Worker Freedom: Grading State Public Sector Labor Laws
September 10, 2026 // Union executives are prioritizing recruitment. The fastest-growing category of public sector labor legislation expands collective bargaining into new workplaces. On the strength of these new laws, union executives are slowly replacing their membership losses since 2018. From 2018 to 2025, the country’s four largest government unions report a net decline in membership of 87,919, or 1.3 percent. However, they also report a collective gain of 232,502 members, or 3.5 percent since 2024. This report awards full letter-grade increases to Idaho (now A) and Louisiana (now B) due to their adoption of pro-worker labor reforms this past legislative session. However, the drops in grades—Nebraska (D), Nevada (D), and Rhode Island (F)—are the result of these states prioritizing union executives over workers and enacting laws helping unions recruit, politick, organize, and strike. Thirteen states now have an “A” or “A+” grade—up from twelve in the previous edition of this report—while six states earned an “F”—up from five over the same time period. Overall, the research finds 25 states fall below a “C.”
Labor Day: Americans Flee Forced-Unionism States and Move to Right-to-Work States
September 6, 2026 // Among the top ten growth states in the U-Haul index, nine have a Right-to-Work law that protects workers from being forced to pay dues to union bosses as a condition of employment. -Among the bottom ten states in the U-Haul index, NONE has a Right-to-Work law. All are forced unionism states. -Of the 25 top ranked cities in the U-Haul Growth Index, 24 are located in Right-to-Work states.
Blue-Collar Jobs Are the New Flashpoint in Data-Center Fight
September 3, 2026 // During construction, data centers need people who can pour concrete, wire electric panels and install equipment like power generators and chillers to keep servers cool. Once the centers are built, they don’t employ as many workers but provide steady streams of tax revenue to fund local schools and other projects. Some locals have opposed the tax breaks that attract the investment, prompting some states to pause or claw them back. The build-out has pushed Meta Platforms and other tech companies to invest in training skilled workers. OpenAI, Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft also have partnerships with unions and have highlighted worker shortages as a key bottleneck for the U.S. in the AI race.
Maryland Union Leader Convicted of Defrauding Union To Enrich Herself
September 3, 2026 // Goodwin served as the president of the AFGE local 2419 union from January 2017 to August 2019. At the time of her service, the union represented approximately 500 federal employees of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As part of the fraud scheme, under Goodwin’s authority, the union transferred approximately $1 million received from NIH from multiple employee grievance lawsuits into the local 2419 bank account. She then used her power as signatory of the union bank account – which she retained as part of her scheme to defraud the union even after her tenure as president had expired in 2019 – to transfer the money to a sham consulting company that she owned.
NY drops union deal on latest I-81 contract to better chances with Trump
August 19, 2026 // New York state will not require contractors on a $2.1 billion Interstate 81 contract to hire union workers for the first time on the largest ever transportation project in the state. The DOT has dropped the project labor agreement it used for the first half of the I-81 project as a preemptive measure to get approval from President Donald Trump’s administration, state and federal officials said.
‘One flag for each laid off dev:’ Union workers stage unmissable protest for Xbox boss Asha Sharma
August 13, 2026 // In July, Sharma confirmed plans to eliminate 3,200 jobs across Microsoft's video game division by the end of the current fiscal year—starting with immediate cuts at major studios including Obsidian, id Software, and ZeniMax Online Studios. It marked the fifth round of mass layoffs at Xbox in three years. "We heard that Microsoft leadership was coming to our office this week, and decided to make our presence visible at the office to show how our developers have been impacted by these devastating layoffs," said Hahn. "To show our presence, we put up posters around the office, but we were immediately told by management we couldn't have posters facing the outside of our cubes. Then, we brought in balloons so that they could see we were here, but inside our cubes this time. A separate team of laid off developers planted flags outside, one flag for each laid off dev.
Baltimore museum workers’ union push dissolves
August 7, 2026 // Teamsters Local 570 disclaimed its interest in representing Baltimore Museum of Industry workers in February 2026. The union lost support roughly a year after workers voted 14-8 to join in January 2025.
Lockheed Martin settles on terms with union workers as military buildup boosts production
July 14, 2026 // Highly skilled workers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. feel valued after about 5,000 members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 776 ratified the contract, union representatives said. The contract — which started on June 15 and continues until June 18, 2030 — calls for wage increases between 4% and 6%, increased vacation time and no mandatory overtime schedules. It also includes a $6,000 bonus and retirement benefit improvements.