Posts tagged Public Sector
CONNECTICUT: Senator’s Dual Roles Raise Ethical Questions Amid Legislative Decisions
April 29, 2024 // Citing the need to pay people “a fair wage and a fair pension,” Sen Hochadel argued that the state must provide higher wages — which already exceed the private sector — to address state job vacancies. This stance suggests a dual agenda: to attract job candidates to the state and swell the ranks of her union with more dues paying members. During her remarks, the Senator acknowledged her members, expressing appreciation for their contributions to the state of Connecticut and urged her colleagues “to vote yes.” While this advocacy may not be surprising, she also serves as the president of the Connecticut American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — one of the unions involved in the negotiations. AFT represents a broader group than just teachers. The union also includes dues paying members who are state employees in the executive and judicial branches, as well as staff at state colleges, universities and UConn Health.
Labor Union Strike Activity Increased 280% in 2023
March 20, 2024 // Crucially, the BLS data do not capture all strike activity because BLS only includes strikes involving 1,000 or more workers lasting at least one full shift. For example, a six-week strike involving 750 Temple University graduate student workers was not captured in the 2023 data, because it did not meet the BLS size limitations.
Big Labor’s death knell in Michigan
February 26, 2024 // The percentage of workers who are in a public or private sector union has collapsed. Almost 60% of government employees (a total of 350,000 people) used to be union members. Today, about 180,000 (or 39%) choose to remain. Public sector workers, unlike their counterparts in the private sector, are still free to leave their union under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME.
Union truckers circle Capitol to protest labor legislation
February 23, 2024 // SF 2374 “is nothing more than a technical cleanup to legislation passed in 2017,” Dickey said in his statement. “Last year, 41% of Iowa public sector workers that had union representation did not have a voice due to a loophole in the legislation passed in 2017. If the public sector employer and the union are following the law, nothing will change for them.” The legislation has cleared the Iowa Senate’s Workforce Committee, which Dickey chairs. It is eligible for debate by the full Iowa Senate. It must also be approved by the Iowa House and signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds before it would become law. Rep. Dave Deyoe, a Republican from Nevada who chairs the House’s Labor and Workforce Committee, said lawmakers have been aware of the lack of recertification elections by bargaining units for years, and that it has been a concern for Republicans who passed the 2017 law. Deyoe said it will be up to Republican House leaders whether to take up the bill if it is passed out of the Senate.
5 States That Have America’s Strongest Unions
February 15, 2024 //
Massachusetts Teachers Illegal Strike Wave Rolls On
January 17, 2024 // Public school workers can’t legally strike in Massachusetts—but Andover’s is just one of a series of school unions that have struck over the last four years, defying the ban, and in some cases paying heavy fines as a result. The Massachusetts Teachers Association is pushing for legislation that would legalize public sector strikes after six months of bargaining.
Commentary: Public Employees Leaving Their Unions in Record Numbers
December 18, 2023 // Regardless of when the Supreme Court decides to weigh in on the corrupt unions and complicit left-leaning judges thumbing their noses at the 2018 ruling, people are choosing to exercise the rights recognized in Janus.
Biden’s labor proxy war against DeSantis
November 22, 2023 // Su is abusing her discretionary power under the Federal Transit Act. Yet if her actions are allowed to stand, labor unions may come to regret it. Future administrations may interpret the “fair and equitable” provision to require that states enact policies like Florida’s. States such as California, New York, and Illinois may suddenly find themselves out billions of dollars unless they stop giving unions unfair advantages and start protecting public-sector workers’ rights. Those states would surely argue that the Federal Transit Act doesn’t grant the secretary of labor such sweeping authority, but if that’s true, then the Biden administration’s assault on Florida is equally wrong.
Janus had a large impact on union membership, five years later
November 22, 2023 //
From Hollywood to auto work, organized labor is flexing its muscles. Where do unions stand today?
November 9, 2023 // There are also limits for organizers under current labor law. That means that what worked in auto workers' labor campaign, for example, may not look the same or be possible in other industries. Larger, more established unions typically have more bargaining power — and that's reflected in new contract wins seen today. “We have a labor law that was designed in the era in the 30s and 40s, when auto plants of 10,000 workers (were organizing)," he said. Starbucks is “split into these small coffee shops of 15 workers. ... They need to join together to have any kind of bargaining power against a big employer. But our labor law isn’t structured to help them do that,” Colvin said. Service jobs can also be hard to organize due to part-time work and high turnover rates. The same can be said for Amazon warehouses, where there have been pushes for unions.