Posts tagged Transparency
Commentary: A Cautionary Moment for Union Transparency as Former NJEA Leader Seeks a National Role
December 17, 2025 // Most notably, a pair of New Jersey teachers have filed suit against the NJEA and its former leadership, alleging that millions of dollars in mandatory dues were used for political activities—including a nearly $50 million governor’s race—without meaningful member consent. These allegations are serious. They speak not only to how decisions were made, but to whether educators had clear information about how their own money was being deployed. At the same time, the New Jersey Policy Institute has filed complaints with both the IRS and the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, asking regulators to examine whether the union’s funding structures and political accounts complied with federal and state rules.
Teamsters Accuse Henry Ford Health of Unfair Labor Practices Amid Strike
November 21, 2025 // The union president added that the unilateral declaration of “impasse” is unlawful and “comes well before bargaining over contract terms is finished.” Henry Ford Health responded to these accusations by doubling down on its claims that union leadership is perpetuating the strike to push a national agenda as they choose to "strike indefinitely." The health system said it ended last year with a $53 million loss and the Teamsters’ proposals would “further contribute to that unsustainable financial model, jeopardizing our ability to continue to care for the community.”
AFP Backs Transformative Labor Reform Package from Chairman Cassidy (LA) Senate HELP Committee Members
November 10, 2025 // “Americans for Prosperity thanks Senators Cassidy, Scott, and Tuberville, as well as the Senate HELP Committee, for advancing a package of reforms that will help us lead the global economy in the 21st century by empowering every worker. We do this by modernizing rigid, dated labor laws that fail to give workers the voice and transparency they deserve. These reforms will provide workers with greater choice and opportunities in the workplace to unleash prosperity and take advantage of our evolving and innovative labor market,” Austen Bannan, Employment Fellow, Americans for Prosperity.
Commentary: Trumpworld thinks overturning this Biden labor rule gives GOP a double-digit midterm elections boost
October 29, 2025 // Only 22% of respondents in Fabrizio’s poll supported the NLRB’s 2023 rule “that allowed unions not to use secret ballots,” with 64% opposed. Fabrizio wrote that Republican Congressional candidates “would benefit significantly from supporting overturning this unpopular rule.” “The initial generic ballot is a statistical dead heat, 44% Democrat – 43% Republican (D+1), but if the Republican candidate supported overturning the NLRB rule so workers could once again rely on secret ballots when voting to unionize, the Republican pulls into a 47% – 36% (R+11) lead, a 12-point shift,” the memo reads. “Among Swing voters, the Republican goes from 1-point ahead to 17-points.”
Opinion: My teachers union calls it representation. I say there are $114 million reasons to sue them
October 28, 2025 // But during the current election cycle, I learned that the NJEA quietly sent more than $40 million from our dues to a political action committee — without the knowledge or consent of members, and without a shred of transparency. Even worse, union officials used that money — including my money — to serve themselves. Those funds fueled former NJEA President Sean Spiller’s failed gubernatorial run, while he was still president of the union. Even when it was quite clear that Spiller had no chance of winning (he ended up finishing a distant fifth in the Democratic primary), PACs supporting him recklessly burned through piles of our dues money as Spiller was on the campaign trail — all while he somehow also served "full-time" as union president, collecting his enormous salary and benefits package from that job.
Major federation of unions calls for ‘worker-centered AI’ future
October 15, 2025 // The AFL-CIO represents the UAW and dozens of other unions and wants more collective bargaining and state bills regulating AI.
85% of Americans Want Union Transparency. Connecticut’s Labor Dept Says No
October 5, 2025 // Connecticut tried to close that gap. The state enacted Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-77, requiring any union with more than 25 members to file verified annual financial reports with the CTDOL. The statute’s intent is straightforward: protect workers from abuse, make sure dues were spent responsibly, and give members the right to demand audits. Yet the safeguard has little force today. In an Aug. 8 letter to state Senators Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield) and Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott), Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo described §31-77 statute as “redundant” and “burdensome” — and announced the department’s decision not to enforce it. That choice effectively renders the law optional.
Denver library staff fight to unionize amid budget cuts
September 29, 2025 // Many library workers on Wednesday said library staffers are burning out from huge workloads, including caring for homeless or immigrant patrons. “A lot of people know that a lot of library staff are not fairly compensated,” said Jeremey Bongers, an activities coordinator at the library. “There's a lot of the work that people are doing in the vein of social work that is not recognized.”
New York Foundation for the Arts Workers Move to Unionize
September 14, 2025 // Workers at the nonprofit New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) are moving to unionize through Local 2110 of the United Auto Workers (UAW). Never before in NYFA’s history have its workers led such an initiative. The nonprofit offers grants to artists and institutions, though it is even more well-known in the New York art world for the classifieds section of its website. Staff members there said they decided to push for unionization due to a lack of transparency, unfair wages, and unsustainable working conditions.
Spokane County library district unionizes, citing scheduling concerns
September 9, 2025 // Spokane County Library District is one of the last nonunionized public library districts in the state, according to Council 2 Director Michael Rainey. Unions are typically certified 60-90 days after filing for union recognition. Once the union is certified, the library district will meet with union members to start negotiations for the employees' first contract, which will likely include issues like scheduling concerns and compensation.