Posts tagged Public Employees
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.
Opinion: Unions are on a comeback. Americans are paying the price.
April 2, 2026 // So far, the union comeback has mostly been confined to courthouses and state legislatures. Membership hardly budged last year, rising from 9.9 percent of U.S. workers in 2024 to 10 percent in 2025. Yet if more states continue to mandate collective bargaining for public-sector workers — or decide to repeal right-to-work statutes for the private sector — rates can be expected to rise in those jurisdictions. If workers at a unionized shop are forced to pay dues regardless of their membership status, more will opt in as the financial incentive to remain unorganized slips away.
As Michigan’s childcare costs rise, workers debate risks of unionizing
March 31, 2026 // Instead of childcare workers unionizing against owners, the model most commonly seen in childcare unions across the country is owners unionizing against their state, as Henderson is advocating for — specifically, childcare owners who receive state reimbursement payments for care they provide low-income families and therefore can be considered state employees. The purpose is to get more robust and permanent public dollars through contract negotiation to fund things providers say they can’t currently afford because of limits on their revenue, like higher wages, insurance benefits, and overall more stability for the struggling industry. Critics of this model say childcare providers shouldn't be considered public employees just because they receive payments from the state or put in a position where they may feel they have to pay union dues. They also say the fractured layout of the industry doesn't lend itself well to unionization and could create division among already under-resourced owners and staff.
NIPSCO union employees authorize strike in weekend vote
March 31, 2026 // But when the clock strikes midnight March 31, union negotiators will either get a contract extension, agree to work without a contract while negotiating continues, get locked out by the company or go on strike, he said.
Wisconsin saw steepest decline in union membership over 40-year period, report finds
March 30, 2026 // . “The only thing they could bargain on was their pay, and that was limited by law to never exceed the rate of inflation.” All of that, paired with a new requirement for every union to hold a recertification vote every year, means “many, many public-sector unions simply vanished,” Heywood said.
Op-Ed: Are unions intentionally exploiting the language barrier?
March 26, 2026 // They don’t know dues are voluntary. They don’t know they can stop payments. They don’t even know they have a choice. And just as importantly — they’re too often made to feel like they shouldn’t ask.
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.