The Intercept – Unions See An Opening In The Wake Of A Ruling That Was Supposed To Finish Them Off
THE LAST YEAR has been a whirlwind for the labor movement. There have been unexpectedly positive developments, like the forceful rise in teacher activism across the country, and negative ones, like the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME, which found that unions could no longer collect agency fees for bargaining from workers who do not pay membership dues.
Fox & Hounds – School Contract Talks Benefit Only Those with Secrets to Keep
United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing the city’s 30,000 teachers, spent nearly two years in fruitless negotiations with the Los Angeles Unified School District before calling a week long strike that finally ended on Jan. 22.
The Wall Street Journal – Janus Barely Dents Public-Sector Union Membership
The states with the largest public unions led the charge. In New York, where nearly 70% of public employees are covered by union contracts, Gov. Andrew Cuomo began with an executive order to prevent public entities from sharing their employees’ contact information with groups seeking to inform public workers of their newly recognized rights under Janus. The governor framed his order as protecting workers from “harassment and intimidation,” but it really guarded union funds. At the time, the Freedom Foundation and other conservative nonprofits had already launched campaigns in other states to explain to workers how they could now opt out of filling union coffers.
The Daily Caller – West Coast Union Down A Quarter Of Its Members Since Scotus Decision On Forced Dues, Filings Show
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 in Oregon hemorrhaged more than a quarter of its members since the U.S. Supreme Court banned mandatory agency fees in June 2018, according to state filings obtained by The Freedom Foundation.
Fox News – Kamala Harris Is A Longtime Ally Of Government Unions – Here’s Why That Should Worry Voters
The Freedom Foundation – a national nonprofit organization that helps public employees break free from forced unionization and stand up to government unions and the worst elements of California’s big labor lobby – has seen firsthand the economic and budgetary damage politicians can do when beholden to a union’s fat campaign checks.
NPR – Denver Teachers Strike Over Base Pay
Denver schoolteachers are going on strike today. The strike comes after more than a year of negotiations between the teachers union and the school district, that have focused on how to calculate base pay. The city hasn’t experienced a teacher strike in 25 years.
KVI – KirbyCast February 14th-4pm Hour
We hear from a local auto body shop owner about how the homeless camps have impacted his business, we learn about the origin of the name of the band the B-52’s Max Nelson- Director of Labor Policy at the Freedom Foundation on the lawsuit they filed today.
