Posts tagged Nebraska
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.”
Premier-Midwest, Teamsters strike sees ‘a little movement’; Some boycotting distributor
August 19, 2026 // Keith Gamerl, business agent at Teamsters Local 554, told KETV Tuesday there was "a little movement" at discussions a few weeks ago, but healthcare remains a "sticking point." The union had previously said the company was not coming to the table. Since Feb. 2, Teamsters union members have been sitting and picketing outside the Sarpy County facility.
AFP Mobilizes Grassroots in Key Districts to Oppose the Faster Labor Contracts Act
May 18, 2026 // “This bill puts a 100-day stopwatch on one of the most consequential decisions a workplace ever makes — and then hands the final call to a stranger who has never set foot inside the building. That isn’t fairness, and it isn’t faster bargaining. It’s rushed bargaining, with an outside arbitrator deciding pay, schedules, and working conditions for people whose jobs and businesses they don’t know,” said Austen Bannan, labor policy fellow at Americans for Prosperity. “Workers deserve a contract they can actually live with — not one written under an artificial clock that benefits union leadership the moment the ink dries, because that’s when dues start flowing. AFP activists are showing up in Nebraska and Pennsylvania this week to tell Reps. Bacon, Bresnahan, and Fitzpatrick what real workers in their districts are saying: oppose this bill, and don’t sign the discharge petition,” Bannan continued.
Beer distributor strike affects Omaha bar deliveries
February 17, 2026 // Kurcz said the bar stopped purchasing from the distributor when the strike began and is running out of existing stock. “Basically running out of the stock of what we did have and kind of having to transition more to just other products that aren’t carried by Premier and whatnot,” Kurcz said.
‘Guest worker permit’ bill draws labor union support, opposition from Nebraska’s labor commissioner
February 11, 2026 // A Nebraska “guest worker permit” bill for undocumented immigrants drew support Monday from the bulk of public testifiers, while the biggest pushback came from Nebraska’s labor commissioner and the proposer’s fellow lawmakers. State Sen. Dunixi Guereca of Omaha told the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee that the Guest Worker Permit Act he introduced would set up a legal framework for undocumented immigrants to work in Nebraska — provided the federal government allows it. State Sen. Dunixi Guereca stands along South 24th Street in his South Omaha district in 2025 with business owner Martha Barrera. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner) He called Legislative Bill 879 a “trigger law,” meaning that Nebraska would be ready to go if given the green light by the feds, but he said it would not bypass federal authority or grant a legal status.
NALC President Michelle Simmons Pleads Guilty to Crimes
October 14, 2025 // Michelle Simmons has left a negative mark on the NALC union as Branch 390 President, after pleading guilty ot failing to maintain and retain union records.
ALEC Releases Landmark State Labor Policy Rankings: States That Work
June 12, 2025 // ALEC’s new report also profiles states like Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee that have taken bold steps to protect private sector workers’ right to cast secret ballots in union elections. Meanwhile, states like Nebraska, Florida, and Louisiana also receive recognition for passing Universal Recognition laws that ensure licensed workers can continue their professions without red tape after relocating.
Sanders introduces bill to raise minimum wage to $17 by 2030, benefits nearly 22 million Americans
April 10, 2025 // Joining Sanders on this legislation are Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). More than 85 organizations endorsed the Raise the Wage Act of 2025, including Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AFL-CIO, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Equal Pay Today, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), National Education Association (NEA), National Employment Law Project (NELP), The National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), One Fair Wage, Oxfam America, Patriotic Millionaires, UNITE HERE, United Autoworkers (UAW), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United for Respect, and United Steelworkers (USW).
Making the Plains Great Again: Dealing the NEA Defeats in Two States
February 5, 2025 // The Center for Independent Employees’ (CIE) ongoing “Brushfires of Freedom” campaign in Kansas has spilled over into Nebraska, as CIE assisted teachers with removing the National Educators Association from three school districts in the two states at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025.
Minimum wage increasing in nearly half of states, including Nebraska
January 14, 2025 // The minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour. In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Nebraska, Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to significantly increase their minimum wages this year.