Posts tagged Public Employees
Op-ed: 8 years after Janus, unions are still trying to keep workers in the dark
July 6, 2026 // The National Education Association’s headquarters dues revenue fell from $370 million in fiscal 2017 to an inflation-adjusted $310 million five years later — a decline in real terms of about 16 percent. Nationally, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show public-sector union density slid from 33.9 percent in 2018 to 32.2 percent in 2024, before edging back up to 32.9 percent last year. States that gave workers more direct control over their own dues saw the effect even more clearly. After Florida ended government payroll deduction of union dues in 2023, the Florida Education Association lost more than 20,000 members in a single school year. When workers must actively choose to pay, rather than having dues quietly deducted by default, a meaningful share of them chooses not to.
Maryland board rules state violated bargaining agreement with union
July 6, 2026 // The Maryland Public Employee Relations Board said the Department of Budget and Management failed to bargain in good faith with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 3 when it denied access to information about telework eligibility. The board, in a ruling issued Wednesday afternoon, ordered the state to provide the requested information in 14-days. The decision marks another bump in what has been an uneven relationship between Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and the union that represents 50,000 workers statewide — more than half of those working in state government positions.
WATCH: Eight years later, quiet opt-out rules can’t stop millions saved in union dues
July 1, 2026 // But according to Washington Policy Center’s Director of the Center for Healthcare and Worker Rights Elizabeth New, many employees still don’t understand they have an “opt out” option. “A lot of workers still don't know about this right. It isn't included on required workplace posters about a worker's rights. It's not listed on a state website where other rights are listed," said New in a Thursday interview with The Center Square. "So, if your membership is truly voluntary, and we care about all workers' rights, employees should receive neutral information about membership before a union gives them paperwork to sign up.”
Op-ed: New federal rule exposes rift between unions and their members
June 23, 2026 // If the rule takes effect as scheduled, union members can look forward to more detailed information about their unions’ sources of revenue and the management of union investments and assets. They will be able to differentiate between union expenditures for political purposes and lobbying. Similarly, they will be able to see how their union allocates resources to representing them in contract negotiation and administration versus unionizing new workplaces or industries.
Commentary: NY unions put a target on my back — for helping their members escape
June 22, 2026 // A few days ago, at the tail end of its legislative session, Albany lawmakers passed a bill giving Attorney General Letitia James sweeping new powers to investigate and fine any organization — even those based in other states — for communications she determines to “falsely impersonate” a union. The fine is $1,000 per incident: $1,000 for every mailer or email my group, the Freedom Foundation, sends to tens of thousands of workers annually. The bill claims it’s meant to stop the impersonation of union representatives, but its real purpose is to stop groups like mine from telling public employees what their unions don’t want them to know: That they have a constitutional right to decline union membership and dues without losing their jobs.
Opinion: How a century-old railway law sows modern transit havoc
June 4, 2026 // As private commuter rail operations went bust over time and became absorbed by state agencies such as New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, they still mostly remained under RLA jurisdiction. This peculiarity has proven disastrous. Ordinary economic constraints no longer apply to union negotiations. The need to remain profitable is gone, and with it the danger that management would order a lockout in the middle of a contract dispute. But the right to strike has remained. It gives the unions license to make unreasonable demands, knowing that the people on the other side of the table could squeeze taxpayers and riders for more money.
New website empowers public employees to challenge corporate unions
May 30, 2026 // That’s where Empowered Employees comes in. The new website walks public service employees through three primary pathways to remove a poorly performing union: Decertification: With a majority vote of employees in a secret-ballot election, a union can be dissolved outright, allowing for direct employer relationships and greater flexibility. Forming an independent, local union: Independent unions are self-governing, provide employee control, lower dues, and can be formed by a core group of leaders. Disaffiliation: This process lets a local union sever ties with national affiliates, retaining its status and assets, but may face procedural challenges.
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.