Posts tagged pro-union legislation
Op-Ed: Union membership is now political. So can the government still require people to associate with a union?
July 10, 2024 // Since then, employees have argued that exclusive union representation does violate the First Amendment. Exclusivity saddles them with the “services” of nakedly political bargaining agents. Lower courts have turned those arguments aside mostly because of an older case, Minnesota Board for Community Colleges v. Knight, which suggested that exclusive representation was okay in the public sector. Knight seemed to say that when the government bargains about working conditions, it can choose its own bargaining partner. And if it chooses one exclusive union to bargain with, that choice burdens no one’s associational rights. But whether or not that’s what Knight meant, the decision has no bearing on private-sector bargaining. In the private sector, the government does not choose its own bargaining partner; it imposes one on private parties. And some of those parties object to their unions’ political views—views that are increasingly central to unionization itself. So private-sector bargaining raises a different question: can the government force private citizens to associate with a union when that union’s core purpose is increasingly political? (Elsewhere, I have argued at greater length that it cannot.)
Opinion: Biden adds to his ‘Bidenomics’ flop: This new rule throws wrench in popular gig economy.
January 22, 2024 // Biden promised to be the “most pro-union president you’ve ever seen,” so he needs to reward all those campaign donations. And Biden’s doing it regardless of the impact on the economy. Independent contractors cannot be unionized, so the more companies lean on these workers, the less ability unions have to organize. It’s really that simple. The Biden administration is trying to sell its new rule as a way to protect workers and make it easier for them to qualify for benefits such as overtime pay and paid time off.
Big Labor is Targeting Banks and Credit Unions??
March 28, 2022 // Recent successful efforts by big labor to organize and unionize bank and credit union workers in New York, Washington, Oregon and California, highlight the financial industry’s vulnerability. Of course, supervisors and managers are generally prohibited from assisting and excluded from forming a labor union under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), nearly every other type of employee in the private sector is generally free to organize and bargain collectively with their employer and engage in other protected concerted activities related to terms and conditions of employment, or choose to refrain from such activities. Being simply employed by a bank, credit union or other financial institution does not prevent the worker from forming or joining a union under the NLRA.
House-Passed ‘America COMPETES Act’ Contains Union Neutrality, Card Check and Binding Arbitration
February 7, 2022 // The COMPETES Act contain provisions of the PRO Act, as well as the now defunct Employee Free Choice Act
House Democrats Sneak Pro-Union Measure Into Anti-China Bill
February 3, 2022 // House Democrats on Tuesday tucked an amendment into a bill aimed at helping American businesses compete with China that would bolster unionization efforts at manufacturers that receive government grants.