Posts tagged union organizing
Podcast: Championing Worker Freedom Across The States: Alan Jernigan and Vincent Vernuccio on ALEC TV
August 23, 2025 // As debates over worker rights ripple across the country, one message continues to echo from state to state: workers deserve the freedom to choose the work arrangements that fit their lives best. But how should lawmakers turn that principle into policy?
Sen. Hawley Introduces Bill to Raise Minimum Wage to $15
June 10, 2025 // Some business advocacy groups still oppose minimum rate hikes, including Hawley's proposed bill. "This proposal would more than double the minimum wage and slash over 800,000 jobs," Rebekah Paxton, research director at the Employment Policies Institute, said in a statement to The Hill. "An overwhelming majority of economists agree that drastic minimum wage hikes cut employment, limit opportunities for workers and shutter businesses."
Misread: How Legal Authorities Allowed Tyranny of the Minority to Subvert Worker Enfranchisement
June 10, 2025 // It is time to bring worker enfranchisement to unions across the country. In a new report co-published by Institute for the American Worker and Mackinac Center, author Steve Delie outlines how union organizing should be held to a higher threshold, requiring unions to win a majority of all employees at a job site or, at a minimum, require a quorum of those workers to vote in order to organize them. Delie shows the current majority of votes approach is contrary to the plain language of the National Labor Relations Act, the federal law that governs private sector unions. The NLRA clearly requires a “majority of the employees in a unit” to certify a union.
CT Lawmakers Find the Line Between Governing and Union Organizing — and Cross It
May 19, 2025 // Standing alongside Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) and Rep. Nick Gauthier (D–Waterford), and Sen. MD Rahman (D-Manchester), Sen. Kushner made it crystal clear where her priorities lie — not in brokering solutions, but in prolonging standoffs. “We’ve been fighting for Senate Bill 8,” she told the crowd, referring to her legislation. She framed it to protect workers — but in reality, it’s designed to help unions hold the line longer by forcing employers to bankroll the strikes being waged against them. Describing the bill as a response to a supposedly broken federal labor system, she even falsely claiming that “we don’t even have a Federal Labor Board” — using that to justify why Connecticut needs to “do everything” to support strikers, including paying them not to work.
Gov. Jared Polis’ coming labor bill veto will strain Democrat’s labor ties — and set stage for ballot fight
May 15, 2025 // Polis has said that Colorado’s 81-year-old labor law has worked well and that he wants maximum employee input in negotiating union dues. He added Thursday that he wanted a deal that would bring stability to business-labor relations in the state, referring to fears that a change to the status quo would usher in a tug-of-war over competing ballot measures and legislation. Asked about Polis’ skeptical views of SB-5, Dougherty said those were concerns “that were not relayed to us when he was running for governor.”
Chairman Walberg Investigates DHS Program Abuse for Union Organizing
May 3, 2025 // “The Committee has seen examples of union organizers exploiting the deferred action program contrary to Congress’s intent. In one such example, a national trade union flyer posted online suggests that union organizing is the first step in accessing deferred action. The flyer suggests that a grant of deferred action is a reward, stating that a grant of deferred action is a ‘WIN’ for the employee. The flyer further states at the top in bold capital letters: ‘DEFERRED ACTION = WORK PERMIT FOR 2 YEARS + SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.’ Instead of protecting immigrant workers from retaliation, outside groups seem to be interested in subverting deferred action to push unionization.”
GOP Unveils Bill To End Taxpayer-Funded Union Organizing
April 8, 2025 // Lee and Cline’s No Union Time on the Taxpayer’s Dime Act would end the practice of “official time”— paid time given to federal employees to perform union duties during work hours and using government office space. This practice costs taxpayers more than $100 million annually, according to data from the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
OPINION: Restaurants get a preview of regulation under Trump
December 18, 2024 // Under McFerran’s leadership, the board also greatly altered the organizing process. Previously, employees had to request permission from the NLRB for a vote on unionizing. Now a shop is assumed to be unionized if a majority of the workers so much as express a preference for union representation. A vote is held only if the employer seeks it as a way of keeping the union out. And if the NLRB decides the business is trying to nudge workers toward a "No" vote, it can scrap the election and recognize the union with a vote never being held.
Pa. bill would give Uber, other app drivers benefits, but critics say they would lose more
October 6, 2024 // For years, labor advocates like the NELP have challenged app-based companies’ assertion that their drivers are independent contractors, arguing instead that they meet the threshold of being full-fledged employees covered by state unemployment and workers’ compensation and potentially be eligible for employer-sponsored healthcare and other benefits. Companies like Uber have argued that drivers are contractors because they aren’t required to accept any specific fare, and many prefer the flexibility of working gig-to-gig.
Union Election Requests Hit Their Highest Level In A Decade
July 18, 2024 // Workers file petitions with the labor board when they want to hold a vote on whether to unionize, typically after a strong majority of workers have signed union cards. Employers can also request an election be held after workers have demanded a union be recognized. The labor board said unions have won 79% of the elections so far this fiscal year when workers have filed the petitions. Unions have prevailed in 70% of the cases where employers filed the petitions.