Posts tagged Public Employees
Op-ed: This LIRR Strike Should Be the Last
May 20, 2026 // Public employees in New York do not have the right to strike. The RLA, however, supersedes state law, effectively granting the railroad’s workers this right. Much has changed over a century, and this exception should no longer apply. In 1966, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority absorbed the LIRR, making the railroad a public employer. In 1980, federal courts rejected an attempt to enforce New York’s strike prohibition, in part because the LIRR was still hauling freight at that time. It no longer does. Nonetheless, the federal exemption has proved a powerful tool for the LIRR’s unions. Each time their labor contracts come up for negotiation, these groups threaten LIRR riders, and New York governors, with stoppages. They’ve carried out the threat before, most recently in 1987 and 1994.
Spanberger vetoes bills allowing public employees to collectively bargain working conditions, wages
May 18, 2026 // Spanberger first sought amendments to Senate Bill 378 and House Bill 1263, which one of the bill’s carriers, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surrovell, D-Fairfax, characterized as “a total rewrite.” On Thursday, Surovell confirmed the governor told him in a private call she planned to veto the measure. The proposal, backed by the Virginia Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and various labor groups, would expand on a 2020 law that permits local government employees in Virginia to opt-in to collective bargaining if their localities allow it.
Op-ed: Unions are acting as a toll booth on the road to unaccountable single-party power
May 8, 2026 // Unions do not write personal checks. They collect dues from membership — teachers, construction workers, public employees — then steer voluntary PAC contributions through ActBlue, the Democrats’ preferred fundraising apparatus. The tilt is so extreme it would embarrass a slot machine. The National Education Association’s PAC raised nearly $27 million in the 2024 election cycle, virtually every dollar aimed at electing Democrats. The four largest government unions — the NEA, the American Federation of Teachers, AFSCME, and the Service Employees International Union — spent more than $700 million on election-related activity in the 2021–22 cycle alone, with 96 percent flowing to Democratic candidates and organizations. That is not grassroots democracy — it is a toll booth on the road to single-party rule.
Unions Leverage Retirement Funds for Political Agendas
May 5, 2026 // The new report “Unions and ESG: From Worker Representation to Shareholder Activism,” explains how organized labor backs Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing principles. Under ESG principles, fund managers no longer make investment decisions based solely on financial returns for their clients, instead considering unrelated environmental and social issues such as climate policies and corporate diversity efforts.
One of Oregon’s Most Powerful Unions Is Rebelling Against Democrats
April 23, 2026 // Although many donors contribute to individual candidates, OEA sends most of its legislative contributions to caucus leaders, who distribute the cash to candidates in tight races. That ensures maximum influence with leaders, who in turn decide which bills get hearings and who gets committee chairmanships. (A 2012 study by the Fordham Institute ranked OEA the second-most powerful teachers union in the country—only the Illinois teachers union ranked higher.) In addition to large and steady contributions, OEA also developed a reputation for punishing Democrats who failed to fall in line, as Sollman is now learning. One infamous example still echoes nearly two decades later.
How Representative Are Pennsylvania’s Public Sector Unions?
April 21, 2026 // In one sense, this is a small ask of union officials, who are already legally bound to fairly represent all employees once the union is certified as representative of a given workplace—whether those employees voted for the union or sign up to become union members. In most states with unionized government workplaces, state agencies, counties, and cities can withdraw recognition from a union and refuse to bargain if they doubt that the union truly represents a majority of their employees. Yet, according to election data obtained by the Commonwealth Foundation, many of Pennsylvania’s government unions won the right to represent workplaces (or “bargaining units”) without majority support from employees. In fact, public records from 302 government union representation elections, conducted from 2011 to 2025, reveal that one in every seven unions won without majority support.
Commentary: Nilesh Umapathy: SB 1296 is about accountability — not anti-unionism
April 9, 2026 // The PERC ruling shows what happens when someone pushes back — the union is forced to open its books and cover the member’s legal costs after it tried to silence them. Critics of SB 1296 will no doubt raise concerns, but most will miss the point. This is not an anti-union coalition. LaBedz herself is not anti-union. She is a member who was punished for exercising her rights. This is a coalition demanding accountability.
Is Union “Dues Skim” Coming to Virginia?
April 8, 2026 // There are many reasons why Governor Abigail Spanberger should veto the collective bargaining bill headed to her desk, a bill requiring local and state governments to bargain with union bosses even if less than a majority of public employees want the union or the bargaining. There is the fact that it will force major spending increases on local governments, just as it added $350 million to Richmond City’s costs when that city voluntarily approved collective bargaining four years ago, and to Fairfax County, which giddily adopted collective bargaining, only to find it’s driven a $300 million shortfall this year.
Op-ed: Blue States Are Insulating Unions From Debate
April 8, 2026 // My research shows that teachers and other public-employee unions have long been state-subsidized political actors. Beginning in the 1970s, many states adopted labor laws and bargaining arrangements that made it cheaper and easier for these unions to recruit members, collect dues and mobilize members in politics. Those policies gave unions a built-in advantage. Reform groups—including parent activists, school-choice advocates and the Freedom Foundation—must organize and compete from the outside. By contrast, public-sector unions operate from the inside, with advantages created by the state itself. For example, in most states, public-sector unions aren’t required to win re-election and instead get the privilege of representing all employees (even dissenters) year after year.
Op-ed: Florida made public-sector unions more accountable — Oregon did the opposite
April 7, 2026 // In 2023, Florida passed a law requiring a recertification election for public-sector unions that fail to maintain the support of 60 percent of their dues-paying membership. What followed was revealing. Between June 2025 and January 2026, there were 218 such recertification elections in Florida. In 192 of them — 88 percent — fewer than half of eligible employees bothered to vote. Under existing rules, the unions were certified anyway. For example, at the University of South Florida, exactly 41 employees out of 2,169 eligible cast votes for union representation. Nonetheless, the union now holds exclusive bargaining authority over all 2,169. At Florida A&M, three votes out of 202 eligible employees had the same effect. In one Broward County unit, two votes bound 51 employees to their union. The new bill will change that.