Posts tagged pro-worker
Teamsters turn their back on Kamala Harris
September 22, 2024 // For the first time in decades, the American union has not endorsed the Democrats.
Pro-Worker, Not Pro-Union
January 31, 2024 // What the Right has often overlooked in this debate is that the protection of independent-worker status can be coupled with a revamping of worker-benefit options. Lack of benefits is frequently cited as the main drawback of independent work. Republicans could burnish their pro-worker credentials, while protecting businesses from reclassification and other draconian left-wing policies, by proposing a flexible benefit setup for contractors and gig workers that has features similar to a SEP-IRA. It would use a system of employer contributions while giving workers the ability to make pre-tax contributions of their own. The funds could be used for benefits such as paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, or even health insurance, some of which could be purchased through newly created worker-benefit exchanges that act as brokerages for the benefits. Benefit-flexibility concepts can be applied as well to retirement savings, even those of noncontract workers. The current system largely relies on employer-based retirement plans, but many workers find it difficult to roll old retirement accounts over to new jobs. That has led to a proliferation of abandoned “orphan” accounts. Automatic portability for retirement accounts would make it possible for more workers to take their accounts with them to new jobs. Also due is a nuanced rethinking of noncompete agreements in labor contracts. While libertarian notions of the freedom of contract have long led right-leaning policy-makers to resist the imposition of restrictions on contractual arrangements, recent years have seen more free-market proponents question the efficacy of noncompetes with respect to their impact on worker freedom and earnings.
Op-ed: Workers need empowerment, not more Bidenomics failures
September 7, 2023 // The act would restore the flexibility workers deserve. Finally, the bill protects workers from being forced to undermine their own deeply held beliefs. Unions can spend workers’ dues to support politicians and political causes without expressed approval from each member. The Employee Rights Act requires unions to get workers’ permission before spending their hard-earned money on partisan politics. The American people overwhelmingly support every provision of the Employee Rights Act — including those in union households. They want to unleash workers, not shackle them with the demands of special interests, and they’re looking for leaders who put workers first.
Pro-Union Advocates Push to Fill NLRB Vacancy for Wrong Reason
August 22, 2023 // Union officials are seemingly concerned her absence will thwart the advancement of a pro-union agenda. As one labor leader lamented, it is “certainly in the interest of the unions … to have a functioning board with good, strong, pro-worker advocates. The NLRB is supposed to make it easier for workers to organize, not harder.” There are two problems with such complaints from union leaders. The first is that being pro-union is not the appropriate role for the NLRB, which is supposed to be neutral, not biased in favor of unions. Yet, it is a common misconception that even President Biden repeated by saying, “the policy of the federal government has been to encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining, not to merely allow or tolerate them.” Related National Labor Relations Board Says Profanity in the Workplace Is Just Fine As a recent report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute notes, “the claim that the NLRA [National Labor Relations Act] was meant to encourage unionization is contrary to the repeated claims of the late Sen. Robert Wagner, a New York Democrat and author of the law.” Instead, the NLRA attempted to strike a balance between providing the right to bargain collectively through a union while at the same time ensuring workers are free not to do so either.
Michigan Democrats want to make it easier to give to unions (who give to Dems)
May 24, 2023 // Democrats-backed legislation would allow unions to collect political contributions from members via payroll deduction The legislation would reverse restrictions put in place by Republicans Unions typically donate to Democrats and have given big to the party since it took control of Lansing this year. Public resources — such as fees associated with administering the deduction program — would also be allowed to be used for payroll deductions as long as unions reimburse the costs. Employers are already allowed to deduct income tax withholdings, Social Security, overpayments and more from employees’ wages and benefits under federal and state law. They can also deduct payments for health benefits and charitable donations with employee consent.
Employee Rights Act Is Back
April 25, 2023 //
Debunking Democrats’ Union Myths
September 14, 2022 // American headlines are saturated with an outpouring of pro-union activity and support; major news outlets claim that interest in union organizing is increasing at companies across the country. In reality, a slim percentage of America’s workers are interested in joining a union even as Democrats and the Biden administration assemble task forces and mandate union support. To help cut through the nonsense spread by the Left, we separate myth from fact:
California: Anti-worker or pro-worker? Why labor unions are fighting over a housing bill
May 12, 2022 // Under Wicks’ bill, developers would have to pay union-level wages — which are common to builders of exclusively affordable housing, but rare among market rate developers. Projects larger than 50 units would require health benefits for workers and contractors would need to request the dispatch of apprentices, but if they’re unavailable, the project would move forward anyway.
N.C.’s Right to Work law turns 75, experts weigh in on workers’ rights
March 16, 2022 // The Right to Work law, approved in 1947, outlawed requiring union membership as a condition of hiring or of continued employment. It bans the idea of a “closed shop,” in which union membership is a necessary part of getting and keeping a job. The law also bans a “union shop.” In that scenario, an employer can hire nonunion workers, as long as those workers join the union within a certain period. The law also prohibits the mandatory collection of union dues by employers through payroll deductions.
Pro-Worker, Pro-Growth Making Right-to-Work Permanent in North Carolina
March 9, 2022 // It is simply unfair for unions to demand payment for workers as a condition of employment. A right-to-work law protects workers against such compulsion. The time is now for North Carolina to solidify its right-to-work law in the state constitution. Otherwise, we may be just one election away from it being overturned.