Posts tagged New Jersey
New Jersey: Kim Kavin: Carveout Chaos Ahead
October 2, 2026 // Anderson is the founder of Freelancers Against AB5, the leading advocacy group in California that is still trying to figure out how to get that state’s ABC Test law repealed. She is currently a Future of Work Fellow with the Institute for the American Worker in Washington, D.C., an excellent program about labor and employment policy that I completed earlier this year. And, Anderson and I both testified before Congress on this issue in 2023, when her testimony included the following passage, some three years after California’s ABC Test law and a cleanup bill that followed it had gone into effect:
Union workers accuse N.J. mayor of targeting members in wave of layoffs
September 17, 2026 // “We cannot spend what we do not have or continue practices that our finances cannot sustain,” Hyatt said. “We must make difficult choices today to protect the financial health of our Township tomorrow.” Hyatt submitted a 2026 layoff plan to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, with notifications posted in municipal buildings and township departments.
NJBIA: Latest Independent Contractor Carve-Out Bill Highlights Fatal Flaws of New ABC Test
September 15, 2026 // The rule, strongly opposed by NJBIA, New Jersey's business community, New Jersey freelancers and legislators from both sides of the aisle, has been paused until Oct. 1 to give NJDOL and lawmakers time to work out any needed statutory changes. But as there are only 16 days left until the rule takes effect and no statutory changes have been made, NJBIA has launched a grassroots campaign to urge Gov. Mikie Sherrill to delay the implementation of the rule until July 1, 2027. Further, Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-22) has also formally requested the Sherrill administration to pause the rule.
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.”
NJ remains one of nation’s most unionized states, Rutgers report finds
September 9, 2026 // The researchers estimate New Jersey has about 22,000 more union members than in a previous Rutgers study. But the share of workers belonging to unions slipped slightly because nonunion employment grew faster. New Jersey's average unionization rate was 15.47% from 2023 through 2025, ranking sixth-highest among the 50 states and well above the national rate of about 10%.
‘Severe Adverse Impact’
September 8, 2026 // Scutari’s action is good news for independent contractors like me. He is showing leadership on this policy issue in response to all the independent contractors and the broader business community who continue to stand in fierce opposition to the rulemaking, which attempts to impose the Labor Department’s own interpretation of regulatory language that defines who can legitimately earn income as an independent contractor throughout the state.
NJEA Appears to Concede Some Recent Use of Teacher Dues Was Political, Says NJ Policy Center
September 7, 2026 // “Our client’s IRS complaint appears to have forced the NJEA to finally report its most recent contributions to Garden State Forward as political activity. That is a major step toward the transparency that our client seeks for New Jersey teachers and taxpayers,” said Nathan McGrath, President and General Counsel at the Fairness Center. “But the shift also makes it harder for union officials to explain to their members and the IRS why they failed to report tens of millions of dollars in past contributions as political activity over the previous decade. Our client welcomes this news but insists that the NJEA must come clean about its prior reporting, too.”
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.
Teachers union launches Target boycott over ICE operations in Minnesota
August 30, 2026 // The American Federation of Teachers calls its campaign “Shop Smart, Support Working Families.” AFT President Randi Weingarten says supporters should shop elsewhere if Target does not take the stronger public stand the union has requested.
Commentary: And Now, Chicago
August 28, 2026 // These “core services” bills are yet another variation on trying to achieve the goals that unionists detailed in 2018, when they called for “admittedly radically different” policies to try and shift entire industries into unionizable employee status. You don’t have to be a genius to anticipate that more “core services” bills are about to pop up in more cities soon.