OpenMarket: Labor and Employment

Democrats in Congress introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act with the state goal of strengthening union power and increasing union membership, which is near all-time lows. But to produce such a result, the rights of workers during union organizing campaigns are curtailed.

One of the most well-known and enduring lessons of public choice economics is the dynamic of concentrated benefits and diffuse costs. Well-organized groups have both the incentive and ability to lobby government for benefits for themselves, paid for by taxpayers at large, who lack organization and whose individual payouts toward said benefits aren’t large enough to prompt them to expend much effort opposing this arrangement.

Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation served indictments to several high level United Auto Workers (UAW) officials, some of who have already pleaded guilty or were convicted, for pilfering millions of dollars that were earmarked to train union members.

It is a banner day for employee choice. For the first time, airline and railroad workers have a direct path to remove an unwanted union.

The Raise the Wage Act, which passed the House on Thursday, would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025. The bill now moves to the Senate. Over at Inside Sources, I point out some reasons why the tradeoffs would outweigh the benefits.

Democrats view raising the minimum wage as a way to show they are are better for working-class Americans than Republicans. But no matter how high government sets the minimum wage, the fact remains that only people who are actually employed earn wages.

There is a new sheriff in town at the Department of Labor. After Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigned today from his post, President Trump announced that Deputy Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella will become Acting Secretary of Labor.

Labor unions continue to deny the First Amendment rights of public employees despite the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Janus v. AFSCME, which ruled one year ago that non-union workers cannot be compelled to pay union fees as a condition of employment. Many public employees that want to drop their membership have found it can be exceedingly difficult to do so.

It has been nearly one year since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the First Amendment rights of public employees, but many members are still having difficulties exercising these new rights. In the landmark Janus v. AFSCME decision, public employees who are not members of a union can no longer be forced to pay agency fees, better known as forced union dues, as a condition of employment.

Overtime regulation has been a hot topic since the Obama administration proposed and finalized a rule that radically overhauled such requirements. Before this rule, which raised the salary threshold for overtime eligible employees from $23,660 to $47,892, took effect it was struck down by a federal district court in 2017.