Posts tagged Transparency
US Department of Labor launches data visualization tool for union reporting forms, providing valuable insight on union spending
March 19, 2026 // The data visualization tool release follows the department’s launch of a modern open data portal at data.dol.gov that is providing more transparency and efficiency for users to access data related to the American workforce. Both updates help bring the department into alignment with the Federal Data Strategy established during President Trump’s first administration.
Letter to NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey: Refocusing Federal Labor Policy on Worker Choice and Due Process
March 11, 2026 // The Coalition to Protect American Workers (CPAW) and the Institute for the American Worker (I4AW) today sent a joint letter to NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey urging swift action to reverse Biden-era labor policies that erode worker choice, restrict employer free speech, and weaponize procedural tools to block workers from voting on their own representation. The letter urges General Counsel Carey to prioritize three reforms: cementing secret-ballot elections as the foundation of representation decisions; restoring Employer Meetings on Unionization so workers hear both sides before they vote; and ending blocking charges that freeze elections while investigations proceed.
Op-ed: Chicago Teachers and Students Deserve Better
March 8, 2026 // Concerns about oversight extend beyond the union itself. Reports from inspectors general in Chicago Public Schools have identified troubling issues, including fraud tied to falsified enrollment data in the American Indian Education program, which forced the district to repay $1.2 million in federal funds covering the years 2016 through 2023. Spending patterns have also raised eyebrows. District travel costs increased dramatically, from roughly $300,000 in 2021 to nearly $8 million in 2024, covering extensive travel and accommodations at a time when many families and educators were focused on recovering from pandemic learning loss. Meanwhile, student outcomes remain deeply concerning. Only about 18 percent of CPS students in grades three through eight are proficient in math, and just 31 percent are proficient in reading.
Ct. Employees Sue Unions for Ignoring Financial Disclosure Law
February 27, 2026 // According to the lawsuit, Connecticut unions to which the law applies have not filed the required reports for decades. Meanwhile, the state’s labor commissioner has said that the agency is choosing not to enforce this statute. The plaintiffs, criminal justice professor Earl Ormond and corrections officer Ryan Bilodeau, are asking the court to step in and require their unions to comply with the law. Their lawsuit could affect most of Connecticut’s more than 100,000 public employees.
Vernuccio Op-ed: Trump Reveals True Cost of Federal Collective Bargaining
February 23, 2026 // Bottom line: Taxpayers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year, not on core government functions, but simply dealing with federal labor unions. What, exactly, are they bargaining over? For the most part, federal unions can’t bargain over wages or benefits. Instead, as my organization has found, taxpayers are funding negotiations that neither benefit federal workers nor have anything to do with serving the public. Case in point: One federal union bargained with the government over whether employees could wear spandex to work. The union argued that wearing spandex was a fundamental right. Taxpayers covered the cost of such absurd discussions.
Commentary: NLRB General Counsel Denial Highlights Urgent Need for Labor Law Reform
January 13, 2026 // AFFT filed this case to defend a basic principle: workers must be free to decide whether to support or oppose unionization without coercion, intimidation, or political pressure. Those rights should apply equally, regardless of the political influence or ideology of the organization involved. This case is not just about the DNC or the New Georgia Project. It is about a system that grants unchecked discretion to a single political appointee, leaving workers with no meaningful recourse. That is not how a fair labor system should operate.
Op-Ed Aaron Withe: Public-Sector Unions Have a Transparency Problem
December 18, 2025 // California takes it a step further. State law actually prohibits public employers from informing workers of their constitutional right to opt out. The Freedom Foundation is challenging these “gag rules” in court on behalf of Shasta County. The government actively prevents workers from learning the truth because it serves union financial interests. If unions provided valuable services that members wanted, they wouldn’t need to ensnare people through intimidation and bureaucratic obstacles.
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.