Posts tagged private sector
Philly-Area Dometic Employees Slam UAW Union with Federal Charges for Illegal Threats Linked to Strike
March 12, 2024 // Seven employees of auto accessory manufacturer Dometic’s Philadelphia-area factory have filed federal charges against the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 644 union, maintaining that union officials ignored their requests to resign union membership during a strike, and are now unlawfully imposing internal union discipline on them. The workers, Nancy Powelson, Eric Angell, Joseph Buchak, Mario Coccie, Md Rasidul Islam, James Nold, and Robert Haldeman, filed their charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 4 with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “The Union’s act of summoning Charging Party to attend an internal Union trial for post-resignation conduct interferes, restrains and coerces Charging Party in the exercise of…[NLRA] Section 7 rights, in violation of Teamsters Local 492 (United Parcel Service)…and Section 8(b)(1),” the employees’ charges explain.
Big Labor’s death knell in Michigan
February 26, 2024 // The percentage of workers who are in a public or private sector union has collapsed. Almost 60% of government employees (a total of 350,000 people) used to be union members. Today, about 180,000 (or 39%) choose to remain. Public sector workers, unlike their counterparts in the private sector, are still free to leave their union under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME.
‘All-of-government’ approach undermines workers’ free choice
February 15, 2024 // As punishment for the “offense” of simply not being organized by a union, these employers face particular hostility from the supposed arbiter of private-sector labor relations, the National Labor Relations Board. Now packed with pro-union Biden appointees, the Board continues to issue decisions that appear singularly focused on increasing union power without regard to their impact on workers or businesses.
5 States That Have America’s Strongest Unions
February 15, 2024 //
OPINION: The SEIU’s fake fast food union
February 12, 2024 // Struggling at the national level, the union turned to its legislative allies in California. It worked for several years to enact the so-called “Fast Recovery Act,” a scheme to create a new council that would regulate wages and working conditions for fast-food workers. The idea: Save the union the unproductive hassle of signing up new workers, and instead make all of them subject to a union-controlled government board. Though it took the union two legislative sessions to pass it, over fierce resistance from restaurants, it eventually got to the Governor’s desk in 2022. He signed it on Labor Day that year.
Opinion: School Choice Is the Solution to Teacher Strikes
February 10, 2024 // Last year 17 states expanded or enacted initiatives that make money available directly to parents to spend on alternative schools or educational paths for their children. Such programs work to break education monopolies by opening opportunities to all that are ordinarily reserved for the wealthy. Had parents in Newton had this option, they would have been able to avoid the disruption the strike caused. And the unions would have a weaker incentive to behave disruptively in the first place. A private-sector employer feels the pain of an employee strike because customers can find another place to shop for goods or services. Employees have skin in the game, too, because they risk loss of their paycheck and possibly getting fired. In the public sector, however, the customers—in this case families and children—are the only ones who feel the pain. The teachers get what they want, every time. The result is a vicious circle. Teachers unions periodically hold children’s education hostage in exchange for ransom payments from taxpayers. The unions are never fully held accountable for these disruptions. Nor do they ever allow meaningful change to the system. The Newton Public Schools spend almost $30,000 annually on each student. Families should be able to spend that money any way and anywhere they choose. Public schools would then have an incentive to cater to the needs of the people who pay teachers’ salaries.
Connecticut Union Membership at Three-Year High
February 2, 2024 // Nonetheless, there remains a possibility that they adhere to the initial strategy of adopting California’s emission regulations, which dictate that no new gas-powered vehicles can be purchased by the year 2035, with targeted annual mandates of electric vehicles (EV) sales beginning with 2027 model-year cars. Yankee Institute will be closely monitoring the progress of this potential bill and will keep you updated as the saga unfolds.
ACTING US SECRETARY OF LABOR JULIE SU ISSUES STATEMENT ON ANNUAL UNION MEMBERSHIP DATA
January 29, 2024 // “The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase in union membership, with 139,000 more union members in 2023 than in 2022, meaning this country has 400,000 more union workers than we had in 2021. The gains under the Biden-Harris administration underscore President Biden’s commitment to being the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history. “We have seen large private sector increases in unionization among health care workers, transportation and warehousing workers, and in educational services. These are workers who recognize that they have power and are organizing to use that power. Workers in health care, auto manufacturing, transportation, entertainment and more have delivered big wins at the bargaining table in the past year.
ILLINOIS STILL HASN’T FINALIZED CONTRACT WITH STATE WORKERS
December 18, 2023 // The contract negotiated between the state and AFSCME Council 31 was ratified by members in July. But the final contract has yet to be released, meaning taxpayers don’t yet know how much it will cost them. Little-known government union fact: When government workers ratify a union contract, they don’t necessarily see the exact contract. That’s what happened earlier this year when Illinois state workers ratified a contract between the state and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, the union representing them. The language of the contract itself wasn’t final, but the state and union had agreed to the terms.
Commentary: ‘Worker’s Choice’ Is the Way Forward
December 13, 2023 // Employees trapped in union contracts need true freedom in the workplace, or what advocates have long called “worker’s choice.” That’s why on Wednesday, Rep. Burlison will introduce The Worker’s Choice Act of 2023. It would give workers a real alternative to union membership. Under this reform, employees at unionized companies could still become union members with union contracts. But if they opt out of union membership, they would negotiate contracts directly with their employers, as workers at nonunion companies do. The legislation wouldn’t affect non-right-to-work states, where workers are still required to pay union fees. It also wouldn’t apply to railroad and airline employees, who are required by federal law to pay union fees, or to government employees, who would qualify for worker’s choice only via state law. Every worker would win under this policy. Those opting out of union membership could negotiate the contract that’s best for them.