Posts tagged New York
Editorial: Randi Weingarten’s book sleaze might mean the end of corrupt teacher-union power
July 13, 2026 // Under Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Rick Allen (R-Ga.), the committee is following up on Post reporting on dubious transactions uncovered by the Freedom Foundation that amount to hundreds of thousands of AFT dollars spent to help produce the book Of course, that’s just a fraction of how union higherups profit from members’ dues: Weingarten’s pay is now $470,000 a year, not to mention ample perks. Maybe she’s worth it — to the union itself, at least: She’s been a Democratic Party powerbroker for decades, using that influence to protect the power of the AFT and its larger ally, the National Education Association.
Hochul Extends Program to Hire Government Workers Faster. Mamdani Opts Out.
July 9, 2026 // But opting into NY HELPS could risk blowback from city unions like DC37 and the United Federation of Teachers, which are generally allied with the pro-labor mayor and were among the unions that sued to block Adams’s attempt. “We have thousands of workers already on the civil service list who have taken the exams, who have gone through the process of paying the fee, who have taken all the necessary requirements to qualify,” DC37 executive director Henry Garrido said of NY HELPS at an April City Council hearing. “It’s not fair to those people who have done so.”
Opinion: The Faster Labor Contracts Act could enable antisemitism
July 8, 2026 // The FLCA’s cure is worse than the disease, and in today’s union environment, the disease is increasingly political. According to a recent study by the Gevura Fund, “Combined [National Education Association] spending on political activities, lobbying and contributions to outside organizations totals approximately $175 million in FY2025, nearly four times the $45 million spent on direct member representation.” The National Education Association is a public-sector teachers’ union, but its conduct represents a broader pattern, considering how politicized unions have become. The FLCA would essentially fast-track union contracts built on ideological activism rather than workers’ rights.
The moment tensions erupted between UAW’s Fain, federal monitor
July 8, 2026 // The expletive-laden discussion from February 2024 — details of which have never before been reported — is newly relevant after the court-appointed monitor, Neil Barofsky, released his latest blistering report about the union last month. It described how Fain, who is up for reelection this fall, had retaliated against union Vice President Rich Boyer, improperly used his authority to benefit his fiancée and her sister, and destroyed evidence including text messages.
Op-ed: Why teachers unions fear, and fib about, new federal program
July 7, 2026 // Perhaps the unions are right to be scared. Anything that introduces competition into the educational landscape threatens their monopoly. When you read between the lines of Weingartner and Pringle’s letter, you can almost hear the death rattle. But in the end, this isn’t about the unions. This is about kids who deserve a high-quality education regardless of their household income or zip code. And anybody who gets between them and their parents would be wise to choose their words more carefully.
Labor Watch: St. John’s Sues New York, Suit Against Rutgers Unions Dismissed
July 6, 2026 // The bargaining rights of faculty at religious colleges have fluctuated in recent years. The Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board decided in 2020 that religious institutions are exempt from its jurisdiction, reversing an Obama-era precedent that determined employees who do not perform religious work at religious institutions, like faculty members, can unionize. However, religious institutions have always been able to voluntarily recognize and bargain with faculty unions, as St. John’s did in 1970 when both its American Association of University Professors chapter and Faculty Association union were formed.
Op-ed: 8 years after Janus, unions are still trying to keep workers in the dark
July 6, 2026 // The National Education Association’s headquarters dues revenue fell from $370 million in fiscal 2017 to an inflation-adjusted $310 million five years later — a decline in real terms of about 16 percent. Nationally, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show public-sector union density slid from 33.9 percent in 2018 to 32.2 percent in 2024, before edging back up to 32.9 percent last year. States that gave workers more direct control over their own dues saw the effect even more clearly. After Florida ended government payroll deduction of union dues in 2023, the Florida Education Association lost more than 20,000 members in a single school year. When workers must actively choose to pay, rather than having dues quietly deducted by default, a meaningful share of them chooses not to.
Dream Team of Three Congressional Primary Winners Joins UAW Union Rally for Columbia University Researchers
July 5, 2026 // Three recently elected Democratic nominees for Congress — Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez and Brad Lander — spoke at a Tuesday rally for CPW-UAW Local 4100, the union that represents 1,600 postdoctoral workers at Columbia University. The lunchtime rally was held in a pedestrian plaza outside the university’s massive medical center in Washington Heights. Drawing over 200 participants, it took place on the day CPW-UAW’s current contract was set to expire and right before a bargaining session between the union and Columbia. As of Wednesday afternoon, the university and the union have yet to settle on a new contract.
Pennsylvania minimum wage bill stalls in state senate amid push for $15 an hour
July 1, 2026 // Citing the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office, many GOP members say an increase in the minimum wage would result in layoffs, reduced hours, increased costs to customers, and the destruction of small businesses. At this point, House Bill 2189 remains in the Senate but off the table and unlikely to be debated or voted on—at least for now.
Kavin: How To Be An Anti-Socialist
June 26, 2026 // If moderate Democrats want to distance themselves from the party's socialist surge, a good place to start is by protecting independent contractors.