Posts tagged Randi Weingarten
COMMENTARY: The SEIU and the Teamsters Changed to Lose
January 16, 2025 // Give O’Brien credit as an adversary; he is at least trying something new, even if it is for the same old Big Labor policy program of forced dues, forced representation, rigid work rules, and government control of the economy. His shift in tone—only tone—has already paid dividends for him and his fellow union bosses, including such left-wing luminaries as Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, in the coming second Trump administration.
American Federation of Teachers spends little on teachers, lots on staff
December 4, 2024 // The American Federation of Teachers’ recent federal filing showed just 36% of the national union’s spending was on representing teachers. More than two-thirds of its own employees made six-figure salaries.
News outlets push pro-union stories while taking undisclosed cash from organized labor
November 25, 2024 // For instance, Courier Newsroom, which runs a dark money-funded network of left-leaning publications operating out of 11 swing states, received $500,000 from the NEA and $35,000 from the AFT between 2022 and 2024. Following the donations, Courier’s outlets in Arizona, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Texas all published stories portraying the NEA favorably.the funding arrangement
Will Trump’s Labor Secretary Pick Be a Big Win for Public Sector Unions?
November 22, 2024 // Politico reported earlier this week that Chavez-DeRemer was "in the mix" to run the Labor Department, and she has the backing of some high-profile labor union leaders including Teamsters President Sean O'Brien. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), tweeted approvingly of Chavez-DeRemer's consideration for the job on Thursday. The outpouring of support for Chavez-DeRemer from labor unions probably reflects her record as one of the most pro-union Republicans in Congress. She's one of three House Republicans to endorse the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), a grab bag of big labor agenda items that would extend some of California's awful independent contractor regulations nationwide, abolish so-called "right to work" laws in the 27 states that have passed them, and expand the powers of the National Labor Relations Board, among other things.
Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer is not qualified to be Labor Secretary
November 22, 2024 // Chavez-DeRemer represented her northwestern Oregon district for a single term before narrowly losing her re-election bid this year. Prior to that she was a mayor of a town of 25,000 people for eight years. She has no particular background in union-related activity as a worker, activist, or attorney aside from serving on the Education and the Workforce Committee during her single term in Congress. During that brief period, she did not distinguish herself on labor-related issues. She is, in short, not qualified for the position of Labor Secretary.
Op-Ed: Follow Trump 45 Labor Policy, Not the Teamsters Union
November 21, 2024 // By pushing Rep. Chavez-DeRemer for secretary of labor, O’Brien is essentially asking the winner of the 2024 presidential election to concede to the loser on one of the most important pieces of domestic legislation after the winner has already won in exchange for nothing. Rather than taking labor policy advice from a union boss, President Trump would do much better to follow the example he himself set in his previous term.
Largest Public Sector Labor Unions Unite to Get Out the Vote in Battleground States
October 23, 2024 // This joint action represents a significant escalation of labor's political engagement, with the unions pooling resources and mobilizing their combined membership of several million workers and includes people of all backgrounds working across the public service – as nurses, child care providers, sanitation workers, first responders, teachers, education support professionals and higher education workers, among others.
Union leaders come together for Harris
October 21, 2024 // Some of the nation's largest unions are launching a new get-out-the-vote effort to support Vice President Harris. AFCME President Lee Saunders and AFT President Randi Weingarten join The Weekend to discuss their efforts to win in key states.
Commentary: There will be strikes this school year, and union-endorsed candidates won’t care
September 17, 2024 // Pringle has pledged to pour resources into campaigns “from the school board level all the way up to the presidency.” The NEA’s campaign war chest is formidable. Politico reported in 2020 that the NEA ran “a massive member campaign for [President Joe] Biden with digital organizing, phone banking, texting, virtual rallies and car caravans.” During its last reported fiscal year, the NEA spent $50.1 million on political campaigns and lobbying and directed a considerable portion of the $126.3 million allocated to “contributions, gifts, and grants” to political causes. Normally, Pringle keeps a low profile — her latest raucous rant aside. In contrast, AFT President Randi Weingarten revels in the spotlight and regularly reveals her political agenda.
Chicago teachers’ union claim that Black kids cannot pass standardized tests doesn’t go over well with mom
August 14, 2024 // Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, was asked by a Black radio station last week about public school students' declining reading and math scores. Specifically, criticism that Gates was advocating to boost teachers' contracts with money that would be better served addressing student achievement. She responded that gauging student achievement through testing was the problem.