Posts tagged Transparency
Report Shows Extent of Tax Dollars Spent on Public-Sector Unionism
January 17, 2025 // The results of the 2024 presidential election were a repudiation of Biden’s “most pro-union administration in American history,” in favor of one that sides with actual workers, as opposed to union bosses. Congress has every right to demand oversight over the expenses of the executive branch, especially when taxpayer dollars are funneled to union bureaucrats that are working in the interests of themselves and not the American people.
(I4AW) Report Shows Extent of Tax Dollars Spent on Public-Sector Unionism
January 17, 2025 // After the last official report was compiled in 2019, the OPM stopped reporting the hours and costs involved in union-related “official time” despite repeated calls from House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx for President Trump’s 2018 Executive Order to be honored. Pushback continued in 2023 when Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) directed a letter to the OPM querying why the website reporting page went missing in July of that year, only to be told the site was undergoing “maintenance”. In March of last year, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) introduced legislation entitled the Taxpayer-Funded Union Time Transparency Act which called on a return to reporting on the part of the OPM regarding time spent on collective bargaining. In August, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced a bill entitled the No Union Time on the Taxpayer’s Dime Act to curtail union activities by federal employees during work hours. All these attempts to increase transparency for taxpayers were roadblocked by Democrats in Congress and even now, the site still has not re-emerged – making I4AW’s report even more critical.
I4AW Report: Transparency Needed in the Process of Federal Collective Bargaining
January 14, 2025 // I4AW’s report, titled “Transparency Needed in the Process of Federal Collective Bargaining,” reveals that likely hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are spent each year on costs associated with the process of collective bargaining between the federal government and labor unions.
Biden administration scrubs union accountability site
December 30, 2024 // “Federal union executives have taken advantage of the four years under the Biden administration, which adopted a ‘whole of government’ approach towards promoting and entrenching unions in the federal bureaucracy, to attempt to insulate themselves from a second Trump term,” Max Nelsen, a labor policy expert at the Freedom Foundation, told The Center Square. As The Center Square previously reported, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has for years updated a website to track union’s “official time.”
Florida Continues to Lead the Nation on Labor Reform and Worker Freedom
December 10, 2024 // In 2023, Gov. DeSantis led the effort on a transparency bill (SB 256), otherwise known as the Teachers’ Bill of Rights. Our organization, Workers for Opportunity, was proud to help support this legislation through testimony before the Florida Legislature, newspaper essays helping explain the legislation and other advocacy efforts. We also utilized educational materials provided by The James Madison Institute.
UAW’s response to monitor at issue in federal court hearing
November 30, 2024 // At issue is the scope of the monitor’s ability to fully review information from the union under a consent decree issued after the long-running corruption scandal that sent former top union officials and auto executives to prison. Attorneys on Tuesday described about 570 redacted documents and text messages connected to UAW President Shawn Fain as being among the issues.
Seven More Chicago Teachers Union Members Join Efforts to Demand Missing Audits
November 25, 2024 // “Hardworking, dues-paying members deserve financial transparency,” agreed plaintiff Bridget Cuevas, who has been a CTU member since 2012 and is one of the four union members who initially filed suit. “The Chicago Teachers’ Union is failing its 25,000 members—and millions of Chicago taxpayers—by withholding years of legally required audits. All our clients are asking for is transparency. If CTU has nothing to hide, why not just produce the audits?” said Dean McGee, Senior Counsel for Educational Freedom at the Liberty Justice Center.
California: San Mateo County deputies union alleges retaliation behind leader’s felony arrest
November 15, 2024 // On Tuesday, the union along with the San Mateo County Organization of Sheriff’s Sergeants condemned Tapia’s arrest, saying it has “all the earmarks of whistleblower retaliation” in the wake of a report also released Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors compiled by a retired judge that investigated complaints by the union against civilian chief of staff Victor Aenlle.
Union drive at Wells Fargo heats up as employees allege intimidation tactics
October 21, 2024 // After Wells Fargo was mired in a 2013 scandal over employees who opened millions of fake banking accounts, the bank created a new centralized unit to review customer complaints and employees’ allegations of workplace abuses. Now, however, that team is upended by its own turmoil as its members have accused bank officials of aggressively trying to block a unionization drive and firing employees in retaliation for their efforts to organize.
Union Members Right to Know Act would protect union-worker rights and promote transparency
October 6, 2024 // The Union Members Right to Know Act would guarantee that all workers represented by a union know that they can demand that their dues be used only for collective bargaining purposes or other services essential to unions’ ability to function and generally keep the lights on. It allows workers to prevent their hard-earned dollars being diverted to pay for political activities that they do not support.