Posts tagged Public Sector
Michigan earns ‘D’ in government union, worker freedom report
September 10, 2026 // The report called many of these actions taken by states and unions “anti-freedom” proposals which leave workers confused on their rights and obligations. “Union executives are spending tens of millions of dollars to rewrite the rules of the game and bolster their political machine in every state, at the expense of freedom for government employees,” Osborne said. “State lawmakers across the country must stand up against anti-freedom labor proposals to ensure that every American worker has the right to choose whether or not to associate with a union, without coercion or fear, and that their hard-earned dollars don’t fund a political agenda they don’t support.”
Report: The Battle for Worker Freedom: Grading State Public Sector Labor Laws
September 10, 2026 // Union executives are prioritizing recruitment. The fastest-growing category of public sector labor legislation expands collective bargaining into new workplaces. On the strength of these new laws, union executives are slowly replacing their membership losses since 2018. From 2018 to 2025, the country’s four largest government unions report a net decline in membership of 87,919, or 1.3 percent. However, they also report a collective gain of 232,502 members, or 3.5 percent since 2024. This report awards full letter-grade increases to Idaho (now A) and Louisiana (now B) due to their adoption of pro-worker labor reforms this past legislative session. However, the drops in grades—Nebraska (D), Nevada (D), and Rhode Island (F)—are the result of these states prioritizing union executives over workers and enacting laws helping unions recruit, politick, organize, and strike. Thirteen states now have an “A” or “A+” grade—up from twelve in the previous edition of this report—while six states earned an “F”—up from five over the same time period. Overall, the research finds 25 states fall below a “C.”
Editorial Board: Americans approve of unions. They just don’t want to join one.
September 9, 2026 // Gallup says 71 percent of Americans approve of labor unions, near a record high. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 10 percent of American workers are in labor unions, near a record low. What gives? The first issue is that Gallup wasn’t asking whether respondents wanted to join a union themselves. In 2022, Gallup found that unions had the same approval rating as they do this year, but it also asked nonunion workers how interested they were in joining.
Dues and don’ts: Large union, SEIU, targets Target
August 6, 2026 // Target employees are not SEIU union members. So targeting Target is not about members’ wages or working conditions. I hope SEIU realizes that damaging a company that employs more than 400,000 employees could harm those employees and prospective ones.
Op-ed: California doubles down on pension debt — and dares Congress to bail it out
July 23, 2026 // On July 1, California’s Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced AB 1383, a bill that guts the pension reform Sacramento passed in 2013 to keep its own promises honest. It would drop the public safety retirement age from 57 to 55, invent a new 3%-at-55 benefit formula, and let cities bargain away the cost-sharing rules that reform required. CalPERS already carries more than $179 billion in unfunded liabilities. California’s total state and local pension debt tops $200 billion. Sacramento’s answer, apparently, is to promise more.
The Teamsters’ Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern opposition sacrifices the wrong members
July 21, 2026 // As an initial matter, consider the composition of the Teamsters' 1.3 million members. Somewhere between 45% and 55% work in trucking, parcel, freight, and warehouse operations. Roughly 20% to 25% hold public sector jobs. Airline employees account for 8% to 10%. Manufacturing, healthcare, construction, and sanitation fill in another 15% to 20%. Rail workers? Just 6% to 10% of the total membership. Put differently, for every Teamster who works on the railroad, there are roughly six who drive a truck, load a parcel or work a warehouse. Now, the opposition begins to make more sense. It is not really about rail workers at all through this merger. It is about protecting the union's much larger trucking, parcel, and warehouse divisions from a strengthened rail competitor.
Why Connecticut unions are still endorsing Gov. Lamont despite public clashes
July 6, 2026 // Lamont is also campaigning on a record that includes signing worker-friendly laws establishing automatic increases to the state's minimum wage, expanding paid sick leave and providing workers up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, extending collective bargaining rights for public employees, banning captive audience meetings by employers, and strengthening labor protections for warehouse workers. Elliott voted for all those laws as a state legislator.
Op-ed: The right’s growing crackup over organized labor
May 14, 2026 // In the face of its growing crackup over organized labor, the Right is badly in need of developing a labor policy that is pro-worker without being pro-union. The best bet would be to coalesce around a flexible work agenda that empowers workers to achieve autonomy and agency in their employment arrangements. This policy agenda could take many different forms, but it might include championing the independent contracting status of gig workers while simultaneously expanding so-called portable benefit models that provide these workers with funds to access workplace benefits. This provides a more nimble, nuanced alternative to reclassifying them as employees or unionizing them. Or right-leaning politicians could seek to address issues like just-in-time scheduling, a common sore spot for workers in many industries, by striking a grand bargain with the business community regarding overtime averaging. By focusing on flexibility rather than cribbing the union political playbook, the Right can take a pro-worker stance without needing to fully repudiate its pro-business instincts.
Shrinking unions grasp hold of power through ESG activism
May 11, 2026 // Under the ESG pretense, unions are pushing shareholder resolutions that would ditch secret-ballot elections at companies. That’s a key labor demand because it enables unions to harass and intimidate workers into publicly signing cards in favor of unionization. Unions also push shareholder resolutions ordering companies to adopt “non-interference policies,” ensuring a business can’t talk to its employees about the downsides of unionization. Practically, unions promote these policies in two significant ways. The simplest approach is to use their own pension funds, which invest hundreds of billions of dollars, to demand that the businesses they invest in adopt pro-union policies. Union officials are also appointed to pension boards, where they directly support activist investment strategies based on ESG. Public pension plans have great clout thanks to the trillions of dollars at their disposal, enough to take significant ownership stakes in banks or investment funds. Either approach lets organized labor push shareholder proposals that tilt the scales in unions’ favor.
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.