Posts tagged partisan activities
Sen. Mike Lee spearheads efforts to block government workers from union activities while on the clock
April 9, 2025 // “Federal government unions are heavily involved in party politics,” National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix said in a statement. “They stage massive political protests, and contribute large amounts of money and manpower to influence elections. Employees of these unions should not have their salaries paid by American taxpayers.” Lee cited a 2016 report by the Office of Personnel Management that showed federal employees spent 3.6 million hours on union-related businesses, costing taxpayers more than $177 million. That number dropped to 2.6 million hours, costing $134.9 million, during the first Trump administration, according to Lee.
Opinion: Say it again, Supremes: Forced union dues in government are illegal
November 3, 2023 // Far from making sure that employees “clearly and affirmatively consent” before union fees are deducted from their pay, these states — under pressure from mobilized unions — deny them any independent workplace source of information about their right to refuse. Often new hires are simply given a dues-withdrawal form to sign along with all the other first-day paperwork. When disgruntled dues-payers later learn of their rights and seek to withdraw their agreement, they are routinely confronted with confusing rules intended to make it almost impossible to stop paying. The Freedom Foundation, a workers’ rights education and litigation institute, documents dozens of such cases in a recent Supreme Court filing.
Say it again, Supremes: Forced union dues in government are illegal
October 27, 2023 // Alaska’s largest public sector union fought the new system in court. In May, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled for the union and ordered the state to revert to the old system. Now the US Supreme Court is being urged to weigh in. If the Alaska Supreme Court decision stands, Janus will have been neutered. So the state of Alaska, 11 other states, and eight public policy institutes are saying to the justices, in effect: “You made your decision. Now enforce it.” Public sector workers who choose to support a union must be free to do so. Employees who choose not to must be equally free. The Supreme Court said as much five years ago, but it needs to say so again.