Posts tagged pensions
Special Feature: How Public Employee Unions Built California’s Most Powerful Political Machine
July 13, 2026 // In California, public employee unions are often among the most influential organizations helping determine who becomes governor, mayor, county supervisor or school board trustee. They endorse candidates. They contribute millions of dollars to campaigns and independent expenditures. They provide campaign volunteers, voter outreach, mail programs, and political infrastructure that many candidates could not easily replace. By the time contract negotiations begin, the relationship between labor and management has often existed for months or years. That does not mean elected officials simply surrender to union demands. Many negotiate in good faith and work hard to protect taxpayers while fairly compensating public employees. But in government, the officials responsible for approving compensation packages are frequently supported by the same organizations representing the employees who will benefit from those agreements.
PECO worker strike ends: IBEW Local 614 wins pensions, retirement medical, wage hikes
July 7, 2026 // The new contract guarantees cash balance pension plans, full retirement medical coverage, and significant wage increases for all IBEW Local 614 members, according to the press release. The agreement also allows members to see any doctor for medical certifications, requires 24-hour notice for mandatory overtime in the call center, and doubles upgrade pay for members doing work outside their usual job duties.
PECO workers strike as power outages hit Pennsylvania
July 7, 2026 // Severe storms have caused widespread power outages in Pennsylvania, while over a thousand PECO workers remain on strike for a third day, with negotiations ongoing.
Opinion: Big Labor, DEI and the GOP
July 6, 2026 // These Republicans are promoting much more than the FLCA’s mandated arbitration after 120 days of collective bargaining. The bill gives the whip hand to unions in negotiating labor contracts, and along with that comes the left-wing cultural agenda that unions like the Teamsters and the SEIU have adopted. Take DEI—diversity, equity and inclusion—which unions have made part of their social-justice mission and collective-bargaining agreements. The General Teamsters Local Union No. 174 made DEI a feature of its negotiation with the Port of Seattle. The Writers Guild of America, East, included DEI targets for the hiring process and a formal diversity committee in its bargaining with Vox Media.
Op-ed: A GOP Gift to the Cultural Left
June 15, 2026 // We wonder if Republicans know what they’ve voted for—and not merely on wages or pensions. Unions, allied with Democrats, have long supported a progressive agenda that includes collective bargaining for abortion coverage and transgender healthcare. The model language the AFL-CIO recommends to local chapters says “all health plans offered to bargaining unit members shall cover comprehensive . . . reproductive healthcare services, including contraceptives, abortion services . . . and gender affirming care.” In 2012 the Service Employees International Union unanimously approved a resolution “calling on local unions to bargain for trans-inclusive healthcare.” The NewsGuild of New York/Communications Workers of America said in 2022 it “unequivocally supports access to abortion as a healthcare right.”
Commentary: The Blue-State Delusion Over Unions
May 31, 2026 // Salaries at the Long Island Rail Road—a commuter-train system that connects suburban residents to New York City—now average $121,646, which is 50 percent more than the median household income in New York City ($80,483). Work rules entitle engineers to double or even triple pay when they drive different types of trains on the same day or when they deliver a train to the maintenance yard after driving passengers. Last year, more than 300 LIRR workers each earned $100,000 in overtime—in addition to their base pay. Those extra wages in turn inflate their pensions, which they can take at the age of 55 after 30 years of service. All of this is as good for union members as it is unimaginable for most American workers. But taxpayers and commuters are the ones who pay for those generous compensation packages, and it’s reasonable to wonder whether they are getting a fair deal.
Op-ed: Kathy Hochul’s Get-Past-November Budget
May 28, 2026 // Now for the category of making the state less affordable: Democrats reversed some of the state’s 2012 pension reforms. Teachers hired since those reforms will now be able to retire at age 58, instead of 63. The budget also slashes employee contributions to their pensions, and allows police and firefighters to count more overtime pay toward their pension calculations. These pension sweeteners are expected to cost the state and local governments $557 million a year. That will invariably mean higher taxes down the road. Democrats are helping Mr. Mamdani pay for them by allowing the city to re-amortize its pension liabilities, which will save $2.3 billion between this and next year while increasing costs in the long run by $5 billion.
After dodging massive strike, a major NYC union struggles to dodge criticism about how it represents workers
April 21, 2026 // Online, members have also been outspoken, with many venting their grievances against the union in the comments sections of building service workers’ posts. “It’s unfortunate because the union representation is lacking,” one user wrote on TikTok. “For the OGs we see every contract the same ole song. Shame on them, living it up with better pensions than the ones who built this union.” Another commenter spoke directly about raises disappearing into increased union dues.
Wisconsin Reined in Public Sector Unions. Now Those Reforms Are in Jeopardy.
April 12, 2026 // According to a recent analysis by the Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR), Wisconsin has seen the sharpest decline in union membership rates of any state in the country over the past 40 years. While the number of union members has declined nationwide in recent decades as America has transitioned to a more service-based economy, Wisconsin's decrease has been particularly notable, especially since it historically had been one of America's most unionized states. Act 10 played a large role in the drop. Wisconsin's public sector union membership rates saw "by far" the largest decline—at close to 29 percent—of any state, according to CEPR's report. "Wisconsin's steepest losses," the report notes, "coincided with the 2011 passage of Wisconsin Act 10."
Opinion: Teacher’s union lies to extort billions from taxpayers
April 7, 2026 // The unions insist that the state needs to “fix” the pension rules because, they say, reforms enacted for future employees in 2009 and 2012 (the latter commonly called “Tier 6”) have made it harder to attract and keep good employees. This is a remarkable claim that crumbles under inspection. New York state government set a record for the most employees hired in 2023, only to smash it in 2024. So much for that recruitment problem.