Posts tagged Supreme Court

    Op-Ed: Public employees deserve truth from union officials

    June 24, 2025 // Pueblo’s contract isn’t even the worst offender in Colorado. The Denver Housing Authority’s contract, enacted this year, says that its 300-plus employees must be full, dues-paying members of the union, AFSCME Local 535. If enforced, the requirement could be one of the most egregious violations of public employees’ rights of free speech and association anywhere in the country. With some union officials unaware of — or unwilling to comply with — dettled law, it’s more important than ever for public employees in the state to understand their rights under union representation.

    Nearly 1 in 3 Illinois school contracts mislead teachers about fees they owe

    June 18, 2025 // Seven years after they were freed from being forced to pay unions, at least 267 of Illinois’ 866 school districts still have “fair share” language in their teachers union contracts. Those contracts are wrong and should be fixed so teachers get the truth about their pay.

    Opinion — Medicaid Is A Slush Fund For Labor And The Left

    June 10, 2025 // Stripped of this Medicaid-funded, taxpayer-underwritten war chest and forced to support their failed candidates and causes solely through voluntary donations from people who actually agree with them, unions and their pet politicians would face an even bleaker future than the one already confronting them. The law has always intended for Medicaid payments to be made directly and in full to Medicaid providers, but government unions have figured out a way to use it as a slush fund for Left-wing politics. President Trump has the ability to end this scheme by implementing a rule change to uphold the integrity of federal Medicaid laws and stop the diversion of Medicaid funds to unions.

    Op-ed: Virginia Must Clarify Its Labor Laws

    June 9, 2025 // The ideal outcome for Virginia would be to repeal the Democrats’ 2020 law and return Virginia to being one of the few states that outright prohibit collective bargaining in the public sector. North and South Carolina have for decades, and Utah joined them with a new law signed by Governor Spencer Cox (R.) this year. But with Democrats currently in control of the Virginia General Assembly, a repeal effort would go nowhere. In the meantime, the proposed regulations are needed to make sure local government unions are following the law. Virginia is a right-to-work state with many strong protections for employees in unionized workplaces. Public employees deserve those protections just as much as private employees do.

    Whole Foods Union Certified by US in First for Amazon’s Grocer

    June 1, 2025 // Employees at the Philadelphia site voted 130 to 100 in January to unionize with the United Food & Commercial Workers union. Whole Foods argued the result should be overturned, alleging the union made promises and provided free car rides to workers that prevented a fair election, and that a ruling by the labor board’s Democratic members deprived the company of its rights. The union has denied wrongdoing.

    Op-ed: ‘We win, they lose’ GOP should use Reagan’s approach with unions

    May 23, 2025 // In the case of unions, that means fundamentally reforming the current labor model. This doesn’t mean going back to the bad old days, when unions were treated as a criminal conspiracy. But it does mean ending the legal favoritism that allows unions to coerce workers, control businesses and advance their selfish interests at the expense of everyone else. The Republican goal should be to make unions earnestly compete for workers’ support, with neither a monopoly in the workplace nor restrictions on workers’ ability to choose the union that’s best for them. When is the last time Republicans forcefully advanced such a principled vision? Even before the recent backsliding, Republican leaders rarely made the moral case against forced unionization. Sure, they broadly supported policies that would have empowered workers, and most Republicans still do. But with few exceptions, the party tip-toed around the real stakes. If union coercion is wrong, then anyone who loves freedom has a duty to fight it — without apology and without quarter.

    Op-ed: Colorado workers should know their rights

    May 22, 2025 // With the examples of Pueblo and Denver—and those in other states—in mind, Colorado employees would be wise to educate themselves on their rights under state and federal law regarding union membership and representation. With lawmakers determined to expand union power, it may be up to employees to ensure that union officials are also held accountable to the law.

    City of Everett Employee Slams AFSCME Union and City With Labor Board Complaints for Illegal Dues Seizures From Paycheck

    May 6, 2025 // “I exercised my constitutional right to stop my hard-earned money from going to the AFSCME union or its officials, but neither my employer nor the union is respecting my freedom” commented Davidsen. “I’ve made it clear that I don’t support the AFSCME union. Union bosses shouldn’t get to hold onto my money simply because my managers violated the law by continuing to take it after I demanded a stop.”

    Opinion: Unions’ victories shake Utah politics

    April 25, 2025 // Legislators will not go quietly into the night, allowing an activist judge to dismantle Utah’s school choice program. Expect legislation to shore up the program, and judges to once again be recipients of legislative ire. Pignanelli: Unless resolved soon, the role of public employee associations will be a feature in political party conventions and swing legislative districts. The Supreme Court’s ultimate ruling on the scholarship program could foster another constitutional ballot proposition.