Posts tagged Public Employees
Public employee unions push to sweeten retirement
March 15, 2026 // At a massive rally in Albany, public employees attacked Tier VI, the state law that restricts pensions for workers under the age of 63. Fiscal conservatives argue that unions want taxpayers to pay them more for working less. The unions counter that it’s a matter of fairness — and it’s making it hard to recruit talent.
Public payroll deductions for union fees stand after House fails to override Gov. Gordon’s veto
March 14, 2026 // An effort to override Gov. Mark Gordon’s veto of a controversial bill to block public employers from administering voluntary payroll deductions for union membership fees failed to receive the necessary two-thirds vote Wednesday in the House. Proponents of House Bill 178, “Public unions-transparency and dues withdrawal limitations,” sponsored by Lusk Republican Rep. JD Williams, had two primary arguments: It’s not the proper role of public employers to facilitate deductions when it comes to certain unions, and providing the service is an improper expense.
Willamette Week: Impending PCC strikes might be testing ground for new benefits law
March 10, 2026 // Last year Oregon became the first state in the nation to pass controversial legislation allowing workers on strike to collect unemployment benefits. The law went into effect Jan. 1. Two unions of employees working at Portland Community College could go on strike next week.
Vernuccio, Institute For The American Worker on The William Wallis for America Show
March 10, 2026 // Vernuccio, Institute For The American Worker on The William Wallis for America Show Vinny Vernuccio is the President of The Institute For The American Worker. In this interview at The Pelican Institutes Solutions Summit he talks about legislative ideas he is working on in DC to help the average American Worker.
Ct. Employees Sue Unions for Ignoring Financial Disclosure Law
February 27, 2026 // According to the lawsuit, Connecticut unions to which the law applies have not filed the required reports for decades. Meanwhile, the state’s labor commissioner has said that the agency is choosing not to enforce this statute. The plaintiffs, criminal justice professor Earl Ormond and corrections officer Ryan Bilodeau, are asking the court to step in and require their unions to comply with the law. Their lawsuit could affect most of Connecticut’s more than 100,000 public employees.
Freedom Foundation Challenges Oregon’s Unconstitutional Speech Law in Federal Court
February 17, 2026 // “We made a strong constitutional case today. HB 3789 uses undefined terms and severe financial penalties to target speech the unions don’t like,” said Freedom Foundation Litigation Counsel Rebekah Schultheiss. “The First Amendment doesn’t allow that, and we’re confident the court will recognize this law for what it is.” The law, which took effect on Jan. 1, allows unions to sue the Freedom Foundation for “impersonating” a union.
William F. Buckley’s Forgotten Contribution to the War Against Union Oppression
February 17, 2026 // In his 1970 lawsuit, Buckley noted that he joined AFTRA when the show was launched in 1966 because union membership and dues were a condition of employment imposed by New York’s WOR-TV, where the show was produced, and its parent company, RKO General, Inc. Later, he came to resent having to support an organization whose values clashed with his own and sought to opt out — just as hundreds of thousands of public employees have since Janus v. AFSCME affirmed their First Amendment right to do so in 2018.
Va. leaders sound alarm on collective bargaining bill: ‘It will bankrupt local government’
February 13, 2026 // “This new bill wants to mandate collective bargaining and mandate what's called binding arbitration, which forces districts to pay a salary based on some unelected person who's an arbitrator who tells us what we have to do,” said School Board Chairman Babur Lateef. “And we don't agree with that. We don't believe that should be done for any school division in the state or any locality. We believe local governments should have the right to choose whether they want to collectively bargain or not, and it shouldn't be mandated. The current bill, as it stands, doesn't fund the mandate, so the state wants to mandate it, but they don't want to pay for it. If this bill passes, it will be the single largest tax increase in Virginia history, because all of the responsibility for these payments and salaries will be on the localities, local taxpayers, property taxes, and everyone in communities, and it will bankrupt local governments and bankrupt school divisions.”
Commentary: Another favor for unions — at the expense of taxpayers, workers
February 11, 2026 // Personal contact information that is required to be transmitted on a recurring schedule includes an employee’s name, work and personal emails, cell, work and home phone numbers, home addresses, date of hire, job title, rate of pay and work site. This is not a one-time compliance task. Even if the data exists, the mandate is a recurring export, verification and delivery obligation that consumes staff time and taxpayer money. This bill looks small on paper, but it creates a very real, ongoing workload for public employers.
Op-ed: AFSCME Let Me Down When I Needed Them Most
January 15, 2026 // I had paid the union thousands of dollars over the years and had never asked for a thing. But when I requested the union’s help to defend its own contract, it flat-out refused to process a grievance on my behalf. If I was shocked when the state broke the contract, I was outraged when my union rolled over and let it happen. I had to ask myself, if Council 13 wouldn’t even defend something as fundamental to a union as seniority, what other parts of the contract would it allow the state to trample?