Posts tagged wages
Weingarten Blames Screens, Not Herself, For Falling Test Scores
June 3, 2026 // The same union that lobbied to keep students off school grounds is now positioning itself as a champion of children’s well-being, pointing an accusing finger at Silicon Valley while the learning-loss data keeps compounding. The financial record makes that positioning even harder to stomach. A recent analysis of National Education Association and AFT federal disclosures by the Network Contagion Research Institute and the Gevura Fund – of which Tina Snider is president – found America’s two largest teachers unions spend roughly $4 on political activities for every dollar spent on direct member representation. The NEA alone reported more than $51.7 million in political spending in its most recent filing, plus another $123 million in contributions and grants, compared to less than $46 million on the collective bargaining its members thought they were paying for.
PECO union “overwhelmingly” votes to authorize strike as contract negotiations continue
June 2, 2026 // Members of the union representing about 1,600 PECO workers voted Saturday to authorize a strike. The move would give union leaders the power to call a work stoppage if ongoing contract negotiations fail to produce an agreement. A spokesperson tells CBS News Philadelphia the strike was "overwhelmingly" approved with 94% of the votes in favor. More than 1,000 members voted. As of now, there are no plans to walk off the job Saturday.
GM has two weeks before a strike could hit Silverado and Sierra production
June 2, 2026 // Dauch Corp is responsible for the production of axles and other driveline parts that are essential to the production of GM's truck lineup, which, as we know, are some of the most popular and best-selling models in the brand's lineup. According to the report, GM has about two weeks of axle inventory to keep building trucks unhampered; this was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter to Reuters. GM is said to be monitoring the situation closely and assessing any potential impact, while Dauch Corp called the work stoppage a disappointment.
Why “Pro-Worker” Policies Don’t Work
June 2, 2026 // As I explained at the Post, the policy implications of Engbom’s research and related analyses are clear: by making workers more costly to employers or less willing and able to switch jobs, government policies ostensibly intended to “protect workers” are actively harming them and the economy overall. Policymakers legitimately concerned with American workers’ earnings and well-being should therefore focus on fixing these policies and enacting new ones that enhance workers’ autonomy and mobility. Too often these days, “pro-worker” policies are anything but.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act disempowers workers
June 1, 2026 // The bill’s most obvious defect is its egregious misnaming. Whatever is produced by statutorily compelled arbitration cannot be correctly characterized as a contract at all. A contract results from parties negotiating, compromising, and voluntarily agreeing to terms each can accept. That process is precisely what gives contracts legitimacy and durability. The Faster Labor Contracts Act abandons that principle. Under its framework, if the parties fail to reach agreement within the prescribed period, federal arbitrators impose terms neither side may actually want. This is not a contract; it is coercive government regulation.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act Is a Backdoor for Union Leadership’s Political Agenda
May 28, 2026 // Here's what the FLCA's backers won't say out loud: mandatory arbitration doesn't just remove workers from the ratification process, it removes union leadership from the obligation to bargain in good faith. Why negotiate seriously when running out the clock gets you a government arbitrator who is far more likely to deliver the political contract provisions your members would have voted down? The FLCA doesn't just create a shortcut. It creates an incentive to stall.
How United Auto Workers grew from small Detroit union into national force
May 27, 2026 // "Prior to the sit-down strike at GM, they had 75 members," Marchioni said. The strike lasted 44 days and ended with General Motors recognizing the UAW. Afterward, union membership surged. "Two weeks later, they had 2,000 members and a year later, they had 75,000 members," Marchioni said.
Murmurs: PCC Spent $260,000 on Unemployment Benefits During Strike
May 26, 2026 // Senate Bill 916, which allows striking workers to access unemployment insurance during their time on the picket line, made Oregon the first state in the nation to require public employers to pay such benefits. Now we know how much that cost PCC. James Hill, a spokesman for the college, says it estimates it will incur about $260,000 in unemployment claims associated with the strike. (The average striking worker may claim unemployment starting in the third week of a strike, the same week the faculty union’s strike was resolved at PCC.) That number is significantly lower than the $1.45 million the college estimated it might have to pay each week, if all striking workers had filed claims. Public employers, often known as “reimbursing” employers, don’t opt to pay unemployment contributions to the state on a regular basis. Instead, such employers often reimburse the state dollar for dollar, which drove many public agencies to warn that the legislation would financially drain them. And while the state can relieve public employers of costs if they negotiate back pay agreements, PCC opted not to. The strikes at PCC were the first at a community college in Oregon’s history, and may have had broader implications for the institution. PCC president Adrien Bennings voluntarily separated from the college on May 14. The college’s board of trustees voted 6–1 to approve a $261,000 severance package—$1,000 more than it spent on striking workers—among other perks.
ILLINOIS: Local school district accused of corruption amid contract negotiations
May 26, 2026 // A local teachers union is accusing its school district of corruption amid ongoing contract negotiations. And now, the Cahokia Federation of Teachers says it has the documentation to back up those allegations.
Commentary: Short-Term Gains, Long-Term Harm: The Real Cost of Union Monopoly Power
May 22, 2026 // The Mercatus paper's survey findings cut against the union narrative in ways that should matter to anyone who follows labor policy. When asked directly, workers say they prefer unions that cooperate with management over unions that are more powerful but adversarial. They prefer having multiple options for representation rather than one organization with legal monopoly control over their workplace. And union progressive political activity and strikes, the two things union leadership most reliably prioritizes, are the only factors that consistently make workers less favorable toward organized labor.