Posts tagged state law
Furloughed federal workers face delays getting unemployment pay during shutdown
November 4, 2025 // The specifics vary. Massachusetts has a high-end weekly benefit of $1,105 per week for up to 30 weeks. In Mississippi, it’s no more than $235 weekly for up to 26 weeks. Roughly half the states pay less than $600 a week maximum, according to U.S. Department of Labor numbers. Not everyone gets the maximum weekly rate. Some states offer fewer than 20 weeks. And the limits can grow in some states when unemployment rates are particularly high. Around the nation’s capital, the maximum weekly payment is $444 in Washington, D.C., $430 in Maryland and $378 in Virginia. In Texas, where Avila-Thomas lives, the weekly maximum is $605, for up to 26 weeks.
Georgia sets the national standard for pro-worker leadership
September 2, 2025 // Rep. Rick Allen, from Georgia’s 12th congressional district, recently re-introduced the Employee Rights Act—the single most important pro-worker in America today. The Employee Rights Act is full of reforms that would protect and strengthen workers’ rights. Building on Georgia’s state policy, it would require the secret ballot for all unionization elections in America—no more card check. It would also protect workers’ privacy by letting them determine what personal information unions can access. And in the 26 states like Georgia with right-to-work laws, the Employee Rights Act would let workers who opt out of union membership negotiate their own contracts—something they’re currently banned from doing.
Trump’s Labor Department proposes more than 60 rule changes in a push to deregulate workplaces
July 22, 2025 // The U.S. Department of Labor is aiming to rewrite or repeal more than 60 “obsolete” workplace regulations, ranging from minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with disabilities to standards governing exposure to harmful substances.
Complaints allege Idaho school districts’ collection of union dues violates state law
March 23, 2025 // According to Freedom Foundation research, Idaho school districts collected at least $4.4 million in union dues from the paychecks of about 5,000 teachers’ paychecks in 2023 alone. The funds are divided among the district affiliate, the statewide IEA, and the Washington, D.C.-based NEA, which received about $1.1 million of the dues collected that year. Using government records, the complaints document how the NEA spends tens of millions of dollars on political activity and lobbying each year, including $1.8 million spent on Idaho since 2018 including, most recently, a $20,000 contribution to Idaho Students First, a political committee focused on backing the union’s preferred state legislative candidates in the 6th District in the 2024 general election. Bonneville, Caldwell, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Falls, Kuna, Lake Pend Oreille, Marsing, Middleton, Mullan, New Plymouth, Post Falls, Shelley
Texas State Employees Union workers rally for higher wages following return-to-office mandate
September 18, 2024 // Over 50 UT workers from the University’s chapter of the Texas State Employees Union rallied for a $10,000 across-the-board wage increase on Friday at the West Mall and along Guadalupe Street. The union said the University has not acknowledged the union’s demands since its last rally in March, where members delivered a petition to the University for a $10,000 across-the-board raise. Meanwhile, the return-to-office mandate compounded with higher costs of living in Austin puts more strain on workers’ wages, union members said.
State of the unions: 8 facts you need to know about unions in Colorado
August 8, 2024 // Colorado is a modified “right to work” state because, under the state’s Labor Peace Act, workplaces with unions may hold a second election to become an all-union workplace. If at least 75% of eligible workers approve its Labor Peace Act election, the workplace becomes all-union, meaning every worker must join the union and pay dues. The act was passed in 1943 as a compromise between unions and business owners. In 2023 and 2024 to date, nine Labor Peace Act elections have been held — six won and three lost, according to the Colorado Fiscal Institute.
Be Careful, Mr. Trump—Big Unions Aren’t Your Friend | Opinion
March 14, 2024 // Like virtually all his fellow union bosses, O'Brien is desperate to put an end to state Right to Work laws so that unions can force workers across the country to pay dues. That is why he's suggested to Trump that if he opposes Right to Work, an endorsement might be possible. So far, Trump hasn't taken the bait. Instead, he's simply making the case that O'Brien should endorse him because life was better for all workers under his administration. Most media reports about the Teamsters' RNC donation failed to mention that the same Teamsters PAC also sent checks to the Democratic National Committee's convention fund, the DNC Legal Fund, DNC Building Fund, and to both the Democrats' House and Senate campaign committees.
Commentary: One proposal to modernize labor laws would benefit women; another could set them back decades
May 5, 2022 // The PRO Act seeks to regress to the 1950s workplace that denied workers the flexibility needed to balance work/life demands. The ERA would preserve the gains women have made and provide important rights of autonomy, privacy, and opportunity for women and men alike.
LAWSUIT ALLEGES TEAMSTERS REFUSE TO ACCEPT PACKAGES CONTAINING MEMBERSHIP CANCELLATIONS
April 22, 2022 // But a federal lawsuit and request for a preliminary injunction filed on April 20 allege three different Washington Teamsters’ locals conspired to deny workers by the crudest of measures — brazen refusal to accept mail.
National Right to Work Foundation Defends Michigan Right to Work Law Against Union Boss Forced Fee Scheme
March 31, 2022 // National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys filed an amicus brief in the Technical, Professional and Officeworkers Association of Michigan (TPOAM) v. Daniel Lee Renner case currently before the Michigan Supreme Court. In the case, Saginaw County employee Daniel Renner is contesting a union scheme designed to eliminate the Michigan Right to Work law’s protection against forcing employees to pay dues or fees as a condition of employment.