Posts tagged Republicans
We’re Suing to Stop Unions from Stealing from Home Caregivers
August 4, 2025 // This isn’t the first time that Michigan caregivers have been targeted by unions seeking to skim dues off their stipends. Democrats put in place the same unjust policy in 2005, and the Service Employees International Union went on to take an estimated $34 million from home caregivers in just six years, before Republicans repealed it. But this time, caregivers like Tammy hopefully won’t have to wait for a change in power. The courts can protect them.
Pay caps are a ‘slap in the face’ for some in Capitol Police
July 17, 2025 // The department has a biweekly pay cap of $8,680 and an annual cap of $225,700, set by the Capitol Police Board. That limits what officers can make by working overtime — and in some cases, means they pull long hours without being paid like it. One officer described the scene earlier this month, as the Senate wrapped up Republicans’ mammoth reconciliation package. “What we’re struggling with right now is this pay period, the Senate’s been in for three straight days, working 24 hours a day. … Everyone’s got to work overnights,” said the officer, who was granted anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.
Republican senators unveil “portable benefits” bill for gig workers
July 7, 2025 // Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-L.A.) unveiled a bill on Monday that would make it easier for companies to offer benefits to gig workers without making them full-fledged employees. Why it matters: As more Americans turn to gig work and self-employment, there's a growing push to get them access to things like paid sick leave, health insurance and retirement benefits. Zoom in: Called the Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers Act, the bill is part of legislative package from Cassidy, along with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Both also plan on unveiling related bills Monday.
Following layoff announcements, Sharp medical office workers unionize
July 7, 2025 // The election took place by mail from June 9 to 30 to join the union, which represents 120,000 healthcare workers across California. The medical office workers at all six offices known as SharpCare in Coronado, Chula Vista, La Mesa, San Diego, Santee and Spring Valley join 6,000 Sharp workers across the region — including more than 650 earlier this year.
Civil service, federal union provisions removed from Senate reconciliation bill
July 2, 2025 // The Senate Budget Committee’s latest version of the legislation also no longer contains previous proposals to charge federal unions for use of official time; impose a 10% fee on federal payroll deductions; require feds to pay $350 to file with the Merit Systems Protection Board; give bonuses to “cost cutters” in the federal workforce, or eliminate funding for electric vehicles in the U.S. Postal Service’s fleet.
Senate Referee Rejects Federal Workforce Measures in GOP Bill
June 25, 2025 // The decision by the Senate parliamentarian complicates Republican efforts to weaken some federal workforce protections. Measures that would have raised pension contribution rates for workers who don’t agree to become at-will employees and would have charged federal labor unions cannot pass as part of the larger bill without Democratic support. The parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, found that the workforce provisions violate Senate policies that limit what can be passed through the budget process known as reconciliation. Her ruling means Republicans would need 60 votes for the measures to pass the Senate—a likely insurmountable hurdle as the GOP holds 53 seats.
‘With you or without you’ – The growing rift between unions and Democrats
June 21, 2025 // O’Brien said that, during a meeting he had in the summer of 2024 with unnamed Democratic senators and three other major union leaders, he opposed bringing up the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act for a Senate vote ahead of the election. This was despite the PRO Act being a wish list of union priorities. O’Brien assumed that a vote at that time would have been an act of political theater, not a serious bid to get the legislation through the Senate. That would have suited Democrats, who could claim that they voted in support of unions, without actually benefiting them. “They wanted to introduce the PRO Act, and I’m like, ‘It’s never gonna pass,’” O’Brien told Walsh. “I had a sidebar with these three other general (union) presidents and I said, ‘They’re using this as an issue to weaponize it.’” O’Brien said that the “weaponization” of the legislation made it politically toxic and therefore impossible to get enough bipartisan support.
Wisconsin gig workers could become independent contractors under bill headed to governor’s desk
June 19, 2025 // Drivers for transit apps like Uber or DoorDash would be given more flexibility, but they'd also be exempt from worker's compensation or minimum wage requirements
Labor Watch: Republicans and the Teamsters, a Bad Relationship
June 12, 2025 // By ingratiating itself with the intellectual successors of the Eisenhower-era “eastern Republican group,” both policy advocates like American Compass and officeholders like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), the Teamsters hope to break the Taft-Hartley Consensus and secure major privileges for itself and all the other unions that are openly Everything Leftist. American Compass argues to force effectively every single American worker to accept a union contract and a union-dominated workplace, whether they want one or not. Sen. Hawley hopes to resurrect Barack Obama’s not-so-free-choice legislation. Sean O’Brien is more than happy to provide presenting sponsorships or small campaign contributions to his former adversaries as they make mistakes made first long ago. The rest should learn from history so as not to repeat it.
Commentary: Workers Need More Transparency from Unions
June 5, 2025 // We’re not labor experts or lawyers. We’re too busy doing our day jobs. Unions should be required to disclose a lot more information. Things such as who funds unionization drives, which other unions or groups they’re affiliated with, and whether they’re paying workers to push unionization. This information could have changed the outcome at my old Trader Joe’s store. The best system would equip workers with the facts well before they’re expected to vote. If workers unionize, unions should be required to more regularly provide some of this timely information. Additionally, the Department of Labor should publish the data more often and in a more user-friendly format. For instance, at my old store, we didn’t know that the union officers would be taking salaries from the union — we only found out 18 months later, and we had never agreed to them, which upset many of my co-workers who had supported unionization.