Posts tagged Public Sector Workers
Opinion Editorial Board ‘Ha! She has been supporting the thing she despises this entire time.’
May 4, 2026 // Adding to their contempt for Carter, the union continued to fight her in court. Finally, last week, the case came to a close when Carter received almost $950,000 in damages from Southwest and the TWU. Carter was only able to afford this lawsuit because of pro bono representation by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. How many other Southwest flight attendants have had their money used for political activism they oppose by a union that hates their beliefs?
Union membership rate 10.0 percent in 2025
April 26, 2026 // The union membership rate of public-sector (government) workers, 32.9 percent in 2025, continued to be more than five times higher than the rate of private-sector workers. The public-sector union membership rate increased by 0.7 percentage point over the year. The union membership rate continued to be highest in local government, which employs many workers in heavily unionized occupations. The union membership rate in the private sector (5.9 percent across all industries) was unchanged over the year. Industries with some of the highest unionization rates in 2025 included transportation and utilities, 14.3 percent, and construction, 11.1 percent. Among the lowest unionization rates were financial activities, 1.5 percent, professional and business services, 2.1 percent, and leisure and hospitality (which includes food services and drinking places), 3.0 percent.
Teachers union flexes on New York state budget: pension boosts or bust
April 1, 2026 // The UFT and other teacher unions are focused on lowering the age when someone can retire without penalty. Under Tier IV, public employees including teachers can retire at 55 if they’ve worked for 30 years. Under Tier VI, an employee must work until 63 in order to retire without losing half of their pension award. Opponents say there’s scant evidence that pensions are contributing to recruitment and retention challenges. Tier VI required employees hired after its 2012 enactment to contribute to the cost of their retirement for the duration of their employment, instead of just the first 10 years. It also set a later retirement age — all measures that are saving state and local governments an estimated $80 billion through 2042.
How CA state worker unions have fared since landmark SCOTUS decision reshaped membership
March 17, 2026 // According to eight years of data obtained from the State Controller’s Office on the number of dues-paying state workers, some unions have slowly bled members since the Janus decision. For other bargaining units, the membership level has dropped 20% over that period. Labor groups representing peace officers and prison staff, however, hardly saw a change pre- and post-Janus. And still other units have increased the percentage of workers who pay monthly membership dues, the data revealed. Nearly 10 years before the Janus decision, the public’s approval of unions hit a historic low. In 2009, Americans’ approval ratings dipped below 50% for the first and only time since the public opinion polling company Gallup began assessing ratings of labor unions in 1936. In the years since, the public’s opinion of labor unions has improved substantially. Last year, 68% of Americans reported approval of unions.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis backs a new bill targeting unions; those who support him won’t be affected
March 3, 2026 // In 2023, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 256, a measure designed to attack public sector unions by making it harder for them to collect dues, while simultaneously forcing them to show that at least 60% of their members were paying their dues. Any union that failed to meet that 60% threshold faced a decertification vote.
Feds warn Oregon, other states, on paying unemployment benefits to striking workers
January 15, 2026 // “An individual who is on strike must engage in activities that demonstrate to the state (unemployment insurance) agency that he or she is able and available for work and actively seeking work under state law,” Michelle Beebe, head of the U.S. Employment and Training Administration, wrote in a note to Oregon and other state agencies last week.
Education and Workforce Committee Passes 3 Bills to Expand Flexibility, Boost Earnings, and Hasten Back Pay
November 25, 2025 // On Thursday, the House Education and Workforce Committee passed three bills to boost flexibility, wages, and efficiency for workers. These three bills would modernize the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act to provide flexibility for workers, simplicity for tipped employees, and more efficient resolutions to payroll errors. Importantly, none of these provisions will cost taxpayers a single dime because they simply remove unnecessary barriers to flexibility and higher pay. In fact, at least one of the bills would likely save taxpayers from unnecessary administrative costs.
Testimony: Rachel Greszler: Labor Law Reform Part 1: Diagnosing the Issues, Exploring Current Proposals
October 10, 2025 // SummaryToday’s challenges—from the rise of artificial intelligence to the expansion of independent work and the growing demand for flexibility, autonomy, and new skills—necessitate modernized labor laws that are pro-worker and pro-employer, regardless of the type of workplace. Heavy-handed government interventions and attempts to bring back the 1950s’ ways of work are not the answers. American labor laws should preserve the freedom, dignity, and opportunity that make American work exceptional.
Commentary: When fighting Trump, take union claims with a grain of salt
October 7, 2025 // Government unions faced another momentous reform seven years ago when the Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME. The court held that public sector workers have a First Amendment right to completely withdraw from union membership and dues. In essence, the court created a nationwide right-to-work law for all public sector workers, including teachers, police officers, firefighters, and all other federal, state, and local government workers. No longer would they have to join or pay a union to keep their job. Government unions hated this ruling, of course. In a desperate attempt to sway the Supreme Court, union-paid prognosticators predicted massive negative economic effects if the court ruled against unions.
US union membership declining in ‘right-to-work’ states, report reveals
September 8, 2025 // Right-to-work laws allow workers represented by unions to stop paying dues for the services and benefits they receive through union representation, depleting resources from labor unions. Public sector workers in all 50 states have also had their collective bargaining rights stripped through the imposition of right-to-work laws by the US supreme court’s 2018 decision Janus v AFSCME. In 2024, states that protect collective bargaining saw an increase of nearly 10,000 union members, compared with the loss of 200,000 union members in states with right-to-work laws.