Posts tagged state governments
Special Feature: How Public Employee Unions Built California’s Most Powerful Political Machine
July 13, 2026 // In California, public employee unions are often among the most influential organizations helping determine who becomes governor, mayor, county supervisor or school board trustee. They endorse candidates. They contribute millions of dollars to campaigns and independent expenditures. They provide campaign volunteers, voter outreach, mail programs, and political infrastructure that many candidates could not easily replace. By the time contract negotiations begin, the relationship between labor and management has often existed for months or years. That does not mean elected officials simply surrender to union demands. Many negotiate in good faith and work hard to protect taxpayers while fairly compensating public employees. But in government, the officials responsible for approving compensation packages are frequently supported by the same organizations representing the employees who will benefit from those agreements.
Op-ed: Does Big Labor Truly Represent the American Worker?
September 3, 2025 // But recent Bureau of Labor Statistics reports indicate that less than one in ten workers, and less than one in 16 workers in the private sector, are union members. Meanwhile, almost half of union members work for state, local, and federal governments, even as less than 15 percent of all workers in the U.S. work for government. Perhaps unsurprisingly given that career path, the Union Membership and Coverage Database estimates that union members are more likely to be college-educated than the workforce as a whole.
Governments should protect workers, end cozy relationship with political allies
July 1, 2025 // Unions already collect hundreds of dollars — or more — each year from each member. They should be using that money to support members during strikes, not expecting employers to pay workers not to work. The misguided policy will likely raise costs for public and private employers, harm the majority of workers in the state and weaken the state’s unemployment insurance fund. The government should be neutral between employers and labor, not serve as muscle to force employers to finance a de facto strike fund on behalf of political allies. If lawmakers and public employers truly cared about fairness for workers and the disadvantaged who lose jobs, they’d stop helping unions build political war chests and start giving workers full transparency and choice.
REPORT: How government unions work against interests of private-sector unions, taxpayers
January 22, 2025 // First, there is no archetypal profit motive in the government sector. Congress passed laws promoting collective bargaining in the private sector to prevent the exploitation of workers by employers who were seeking to increase their profits through long work hours and poor working conditions.
Opinion: States should protect caregivers’ Medicaid funds from union skims
June 27, 2022 // Yet, while a number of states including Michigan have taken action to prohibit the dues skim, a May rule by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reversed a Trump administration effort to stop the skim nationally. A separate 9th Circuit decision last week also continues to allow unions to trap home care providers into paying them. Robert and Patricia Haynes, cerebral palsy, Gov. Rick Snyder, Harris v. Quinn, Cindy Ochoa, most pro-union president ever,
‘It’s About Defending My Rights’: Musician Who Refused Union Membership Sues Gov’t-Funded Orchestra
April 21, 2022 // The American Federation of Musicians, which represents the orchestra's local union, has spent more than $259,000 on federal candidates since 2016—roughly 98 percent of which went to Democrats.
In a case that could be destined for the Supreme Court, Allentown Symphony musician says he shouldn’t have to pay union dues to perform
April 15, 2022 // “Our client’s goal is to make sure that Janus is expanded to all of the bargaining units that are covered by the Supreme Court decision,” said Nathan McGrath, president of The Fairness Center, a public interest legal group that represents those who object to mandatory public-sector union membership.