Posts tagged political agenda
Five Years after Janus, Government Unions Are Weaker — and More Desperate
July 5, 2023 // When SEIU HCII, which operates across four states, is removed from the picture, the overall public-sector-union membership in Illinois has decreased by over 10 percent. These declines are not isolated to a single entity but spread across all public employers, with teachers’ unions such as the Illinois Education Association and Illinois Federation of Teachers losing a combined 9.4 percent of their members or fee-payers. AFSCME Council 31 — the union that represented Janus — has seen an 18.5 percent drop. A significant decrease in union membership is a sign that workers are exercising their Janus freedoms. It also means that $25 million didn’t flow into government-union coffers in 2022. This is a financial blow to a movement that’s accustomed to having huge cash reserves to fund the politicking that gets the union bosses exactly what they want. Such a dramatic shift illustrates how many government workers feel underrepresented by their unions, pushing them to distance themselves from groups now charging more and delivering less. Which points up another consequence of Janus: Government unions are in a fight for their lives. Desperation has made them even more polarizing, extreme, and political — and greedy.
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES OPT OUT IN RECORD NUMBERS
December 15, 2022 // Momentum from the Freedom Foundation’s record-breaking October propelled California to its largest one-month opt-out total ever in November. A jaw-dropping 1,398 public employees submitted request forms during the month to the Freedom Foundation’s California team. As more and more workers at every level of government come to understand the right-to-work protections affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSME (2018), anew wave of independent-minded thinking has arisen.
Viewpoint: Let Oklahoma teachers control their own paychecks
April 28, 2022 // Our state can begin by solidifying some basic facts. Oklahoma teachers have First Amendment rights. They get to choose whether to join, or remain a member of, a union. And they decide for themselves whether part of their hard-earned paycheck goes to support a union.
MORE THAN 38,000 WORKERS HAVE LEFT GOVERNMENT UNIONS IN ILLINOIS
April 15, 2022 // The unions’ own federal reports show 9% of workers have chosen to break away from unions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME. More than 38,000 state and local government workers across Illinois have chosen not to join or pay a government union since the U.S. Supreme Court restored that right in 2018 in Janus v. AFSCME.
Video: Why Are Labor Unions Targeting Youth?
March 15, 2022 // Labor unions have one major motivator for growing their ranks: money. The steady drop in membership has meant a drop in the amount of dues unions take in. And unions losing money is bad news for their allies on the political Left, who rely heavily on the funding they receive from unions each year.