Posts tagged public-sector union
Should Union-Backed Fraud Be Legal?
October 11, 2022 // Last week, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued rulings in cases brought by the Freedom Foundation alleging that government unions forged public employees’ signatures on membership agreements in order to continue deducting dues from their pay. Perhaps the most egregious of the decisions is found in Zielinski v. SEIU 503, in which SEIU forged Mr. Zielinski’s signature twice on two separate dues authorizations. These decisions essentially authorize government-employee unions to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME by engaging in state-sanctioned fraud.
OREGON STATE GOVERNMENT, SEIU ENGAGING IN STATE-SANCTIONED FRAUD
September 28, 2022 // “In Ms. Wright’s case, SEIU 503 forged the employees’ signature electronically,” continued Millard. “Despite the fact the court accepted that the forgery took place, the decision means neither the State of Oregon nor the Union have any constitutional duty to obtain consent from the employee.” The decision is an unadorned get-around of Janus, in which the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot force public employees to pay money to the union unless the employee provides affirmative consent in the form of a waiver of their First Amendment rights. Zielinski v. SEIU 503, Jason Dudash,
Teachers Win Eight-Year Battle with PSEA: Judge Says Pa. ‘Fair Share’ Law Unconstitutional
May 27, 2022 // Explaining the ruling’s significance, Nathan McGrath, president and general counsel for the Fairness Center, commented: “The judge unequivocally stated that Pennsylvania’s ‘fair share’ fee law is unconstitutional under Janus. To my knowledge, this is the first time a state court has issued such a ruling.”
ARE PRIVATE SECTOR UNIONS PASSÉ?
May 5, 2022 // Union membership is way down, and their collective future is not rosy.
At Ninth Circuit, Las Vegas Police Officer Defends First Amendment Right to Stop Funding Unwanted Union
April 22, 2022 // Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officer Melodie DePierro is challenging an “escape period” enforced by officials of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association (PPA) union as an infringement of her constitutional rights recognized in the 2018 Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision. DePierro ended her PPA membership in 2020.
Don’t Expect Unions To Make a Comeback
April 18, 2022 // The biggest problem for unions, it turns out, is that workers are making real progress without them
Lawsuit claiming public-sector employees must be informed of Janus rights dismissed
April 12, 2022 // Judge John F. Kness of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed an Illinois teacher’s lawsuit claiming that, under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, public-sector unions are obligated to inform prospective members of their right not to join or pay fees to a union.
CEA Union Officials Back Down after Teacher Exercises Rights
April 8, 2022 // With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Plainville Community School District educator Christina Corvello successfully exercised her First Amendment right to stop subsidizing the activities of a union she opposes.
CEA Union Officials Back Down after Plainville Community School District Teacher Exercises Right to Cut Off Dues
April 4, 2022 // Despite Connecticut Education Association (CEA) union officials trying to restrict the exercise of her right to a narrow span of days several months away known as an “escape period,” Corvello was able to opt-out of the union before the “escape period” and is no longer paying dues to the CEA hierarchy.
‘They Should Be Ashamed’: Understaffing at NYC’s Beloved Museum of Natural History Pushes Workers to Unionize
March 28, 2022 // The union campaign arrives during a wave of organizing at museums and other cultural institutions across New York City and the United States, such as the Guggenheim and the Art Institute of Chicago.