Posts tagged right-to-work
Trump needs a pro-worker head of Labor Department — not a union lapdog
June 10, 2026 // The right choice for labor secretary is the one right under President Donald Trump’s nose. That’s Keith Sonderling, who is now the acting labor secretary. He is pro-right to work. He will fight against the trial lawyers and the militant union bosses who have been hostile to Trump, even as rank-and-file union workers embrace Trump’s America First agenda. Sonderling is right that “Trump is the greatest president for American workers, including union workers,” in history. Not too many union leaders believe that, which is why upwards of 90% of their donations typically go to Democrats.
Labor Department toughens union transparency rules
June 9, 2026 // The purpose of the changes (and less substantial changes to the LM-2 for unions reporting receipts of $350,000 to $39,999,999) are to carry out the purposes of the LMRDA (and the consensus principle it codified): Ensure union members, prospective union recruits, and the public can appropriately track the use of member dues and compulsory fees required of workers in non-right-to-work states.
Economically Devastating Rent-Seeking in America’s Labor Markets
June 9, 2026 // Nowhere is rent-seeking more pervasive—or more costly—than in America’s labor markets. From compulsory unionism to occupational licensing, prevailing-wage laws, gig-worker reclassification rules, and strategic minimum-wage campaigns, concentrated interest groups (often unions and incumbent professionals) routinely use state power to extract “rents” from workers, employers, taxpayers, and consumers. These are not abstract economic theories. Rent-seeking is an everyday mechanism that distorts wages, limits opportunities, and transfers trillions of dollars every year, creating harmful economic inefficiencies penalizing employees, employers, taxpayers, and consumers. Compulsory Unionism: The Textbook Case of Labor-Market Rent-Seeking Compulsory unionism
JD Vance Courts Sean O’Brien and the Teamsters
June 1, 2026 // Mr. O’Brien is desperate for a win in Washington to sell to his 1.3 million members as he runs for re-election. Some Republicans in Congress seem eager to give him one—maybe two—as they seek to burnish their bona fides as defenders of the working class. These Republicans are doing more to help Democrats—the primary beneficiaries of Teamster campaign donations—than workers. The Teamsters’ membership has shrunk by nearly half since the 1970s amid a broader decline in organized labor. Technology has improved productivity. At the same time, jobs have migrated to states with right-to-work laws, which prohibit unions and employers from making union membership a condition of employment. The Teamsters have also lost rank-and-file support. Between 2016 and 2025, members filed 373 petitions to decertify the Teamsters, according to Reason magazine. Some 60% of the decertification elections succeeded. You can’t blame union members for wearying of paying dues that bankroll Democratic candidates and lavish lifestyles of union leaders. In the 2023-24 election cycle, 92% of Teamsters PAC donations to federal candidates went to Democrats, as did 91% of the union’s contributions to party committees.
Alabama Sherwin-Williams Production Site Workers Win Vote to Eject Boilermakers Union Bosses
May 27, 2026 // Employees at a Sherwin-Williams Packaging Coatings Group production facility have freed themselves from the unwanted “representation” of International Brotherhood of Boilermakers union officials. The workers’ effort was spearheaded by Jacob Miller, who filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), seeking a “decertification” election to end the Boilermakers’ exclusive bargaining powers over the workers. Miller’s petition was filed with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
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.
Despite Arizona Dispensary Employees’ Landslide Vote to Remove UFCW, Union Bosses Seek to Overturn Election Result
May 14, 2026 // Employees of Curaleaf Camelback Dispensary overwhelmingly voted United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 99 union bosses out of power at their workplace. Dispensary employee Jennifer Mooney, who filed a petition for her coworkers with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last month, led the workers’ effort. The petition sought a “decertification” election to terminate the status of UFCW Local 99 as the workers’ exclusive “representative.”
OPINION: You shouldn’t get fired for opting out of a union
May 8, 2026 // You don't restore workers' rights by letting employers fire them for making the "wrong" decision about union membership. And yet that's precisely what Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) has promised to do if he gets elected governor in November. As reported in The Nevada Independent, Ford promised during a podcast late last year that he would get rid of Nevada's "right-to-work" law that was passed in 1953. "I ain't waiting," Ford told union leaders hosting the podcast at the time. "It can be done legislatively. They can send me a bill. And if they send it to me, I'm signing it."
Workers Voted on Decertifying Unions 1,600 Times in the Past Decade. Teamsters Are the Most Common Target.
May 5, 2026 // Dozens of union decertification elections are held in workplaces across America every year, according to data collected by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The Teamsters are often the target. Of the 1,620 decertification elections that the NLRB tracked between 2016 and 2025, more than 23 percent sought to end Teamsters representation. The 373 decertification petitions targeting the Teamsters during that period were more than twice the number filed against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which had the second most.
OP ED: The FCLA is a Bad Deal for Both Workers and Employers
May 4, 2026 // This bill presumes that employers are acting in bad faith, but the National Labor Relations Board already has the authority to prosecute employers who genuinely refuse to bargain. This legislation goes far beyond existing law and creates an entirely new and unnecessary federal apparatus. For an employer who shows up to negotiate in good faith, that presumption is both unfair and costly. West Virginia is a right-to-work state — one that believes government should stay out of private-sector negotiations. The FLCA moves us in exactly the opposite direction.