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NLRB Considers Union Request to Make Removing Unwanted Union More Difficult
It is already an arduous process for employees to remove an unwanted union from their workplace. And now the International Association of Machinists is requesting…
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Sen. Coburn’s Wastebook Highlights Mismanagement of Federal Employees
Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released on October 22, 2014, his annual Wastebook that exposes how the federal government fritters away your tax dollars.
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Union Lobbyists Collecting Illinois Public Pensions Is Illegal Gift
Recent reports uncover that Illinois taxpayers are funding union agents' pensions.
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Federal Government Granted $157 Million Subsidy to Government Unions in FY 2012
When someone is paid to perform services, it should not be considered volunteer work.
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New Mexico Workers and Industry Would Benefit from Right to Work
Albuquerque Business First reports that New Mexico could become one of the next right-to-work (RTW) battlegrounds depending on upcoming election results, where Republicans could reclaim…
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How to Raise All Worker Wages
With Labor Day approaching, it is a suitable time to examine which public policies promote economic growth that leads to job creation and wage increases.
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Celebrate National Employee Freedom Week
National Employee Freedom Week, which started August 10 and runs until August 16, is a countrywide effort by 70 groups in 41 states that's goal…
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Jefferson Federation of Teachers Proposes Union-Friendly Contract
In the past two years, the Jefferson Federation of Teachers (JFT) and Jefferson Parish public school system have tried, unsuccessfully, to come to terms on…
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Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Gov. Scott Walker’s Collective Bargaining Reform
Since 2011, Governor Scott Walker’s signature public-sector collective bargaining reform has withstood venomous union protests at the state capitol, fleeing state legislators, and sparked a…
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Kentucky Teachers Union Demands Pay Raise to Perform Union Business
Contract negotiations between Jefferson County Public Schools and its teachers union have hit an impasse. Union officials want more than the state-mandated 1-percent raise, which…
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End Taxpayer Funded Union Jobs
Phoenix ends annual multi-million dollar taxpayer subsidy to government unions.
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U.S. Supreme Court Rules Obama NLRB Recess Appointments Unconstitutional
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court made its ruling in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning. In a 9-0 vote, all justices ruled that President…
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Paycheck Protection in Pennsylvania Passes First Test
Paycheck Protection in Pennsylvania is finally on the move. On June 23, the bill, which would end the use of government resources to collect political…
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Partisanship Is Ruining the NLRB
Previously in a post on The Hill's Congress Blog, I noted that Congress intended the members of the National Labor Relations Board to be "impartial"…
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60 House Republicans Vote in Favor of Union Subsidy
In light of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Internal Revenue Service scandals, many Republican congressmen have come out against the practice known as union…
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WorkplaceChoice Video Interview Series Premiere: Cyndi Cunningham and Forced Unionization of Care Providers
Hey folks, as part of a Workplacechoice.org's video project we're putting together a series of interviews with experts in the labor policy field and those…
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Survey of Federal Employees: Union Official Time Wastes Taxpayer Funds
As often stated on this blog, union official time is a wasteful, massive subsidy to federal-employee unions. And somewhat surprisingly, according to FedSmith.com survey many…
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Judge Rejects United Farm Workers Contract that Prohibited Decertification Elections
A major problem with current labor law is inherited unions. Research done by the Center for Union Facts has found that less than 10 percent…
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Receipt Shows What Is Wrong with the Minimum Wage
In a previous post, I noted that Seattle's proposed minimum wage was already having a negative impact on job creation and that Chicago should be…
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UAW Hikes Union Dues 25 percent
On Monday June 2, the UAW's four-day constitutional convention commenced. And coming out of the convention is a really unpopular decision to increase union dues…
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Updated: Ohio Union Release Time
Union release time is a subsidy to public-employee unions at the state and local level, but the cost and activities are rarely available for public…
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Most Transparent Administration History Won’t Release Cost of Union Subsidy
U.S. citizens should easily be able to find out how their tax dollars are spent by the federal government. Yet under the Obama administration, the…
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Airline Pilots Union’s Questionable Ad Campaign against Low-Cost Foreign Airline
In a previous post, I document labor unions and their history of advocating for discriminatory policies like the Davis-Bacon Act and Project Labor Agreements.
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Federal Government Mismanagement and Union Official Time
Mismanagement within the federal government may not be at an all-time high, but it is close. The latest blunder is the Department of Veterans Affairs…
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21 Chicago Aldermen Introduce $15 Minimum Wage Bill
Proponents of a government-imposed wage hike in Chicago are gaining steam. On May 28, 21 of the city's 50 council members signed on as co-sponsors…
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Chattanooga Mayor Berke Delivers City Employees to SEIU
In today's Chattanooga Times Free Press, Matt Patterson, executive director at the Center for Worker Freedom, draws attention to the behind the scenes deal between…
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Phoenix Ends Pension Spiking
Most state constitutions contain a little-used provision known as the "gift clause," which prohibit certain public expenditures to private entities. Unfortunately, only the Goldwater Institute,…
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IRS Employees Conducting Union Activity Costs Taxpayers $23.5 Million in FY 2013
Union "official time" is a massive taxpayer subsidy to government unions, which releases federal employees from their regular public duty, without suffering loss of pay,…
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NLRB Okays Union Campaign Deception
A responsibility of the National Labor Relations Board is to protect employees' right to a free and fair choice of labor representatives. Given that, it…
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Unionization Obstructs Workplace Diversity
Executive editor at The Nation, Richard Kim, claims diversity at the liberal publication is being stifled due to its unionized workforce. Kim, in a recent…
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PA Unions Still Exempt from Harassment, Continue Harassing with Impunity
A couple of months ago, the FBI unsealed an indictment against a combination of 10 Philadelphia Ironworkers members and officials, which exposed a loophole in…
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Gawker Article Says “Unions Should Buy a Fast Food Franchise”
But would workers really be better off if a union owned a fast-food franchise or any other kind of business? Gawker author Hamilton Nolan thinks…
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OPM Director Archuleta Promotes Public Service Recognition Week, Quiet on Federal Employees Performing Union Business
Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuelta is one of several high-level bureaucrats that are promoting Public Service Recognition Week, and will participate in a…
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California Hospital Association Submits to SEIU Demands, Signs “Labor Peace Agreement”
On May 5, 2014, after months of applying public pressure on the California Hospital Association, the SEIU-UHW won its coveted "labor peace agreement," which would…
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UAW Continues VW Unionization Campaign, Violates Neutrality Agreement
Workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted against UAW representation in February. But the UAW still hasn't gotten the message.
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SEIU Deploys Top-Down Organizing Tactics against California Hospitals
Labor unions no longer gain worker support prior to kicking off organizing campaigns. Now they find it much easier to apply public pressure and intimidate…
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Congressional Scorecard Update: Minimum Wage Fairness Act of 2014
Today, the Minimum Wage Fairness Act of 2014, a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, failed to gain enough support…
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Congressional Scorecard Update: Confirmation of David Weil to Wage and Hour Division
On April 28, 2014, the U.S. Senate confirmed another ardent Big Labor supporter, David Weil, to serve as the administrator of the Wage and Hour…
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California Labor Board Obstructing Farm Workers Union Decertification Bid
Outdated labor law has led to the problem of inherited unions. Research done by the Center for Union Facts has found that less than 10…
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UAW Drops Volkswagen Union Election Appeal
Remember when the United Auto Workers lost in a unionization vote at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and filed an appeal to overturn the…
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Ohio Constitution Prohibits Union Release Time
Yesterday, Media Trackers reported the Ohio Centerville Classroom Teachers Association membership agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that is still waiting on approval from…
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Car Dealership Takes Advantage of Union Tactics
A common practice of labor unions is to use myriad tactics -- protests, picketing, intimidation, and coordinating with progressive allies -- to apply pressure on…
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The Law Should Not Enable Union Violence
A general contractor is approached by a representative of a local union and told he “needed to hire a certain number of his guys.” When…
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Michigan Unions Intimidate Workers Who Take Advantage of Right-to-Work
It seems ever time union privilege is threatened, unions turn to intimidation.
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Missouri Constitution Protects Workers’ Paychecks
Legislators in Missouri are attempting to enact paycheck protection legislation that would end the practice of using government resources to collect dues from government union…
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Vermont Child Care Unionization Bill Is Back
In Vermont, home child care providers have rallied together to fend off unwanted legislation that would allow unions to organize providers in the 2012 and…
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Federal Employment Is Not a Full Time Job
An excellent editorial by the Investor's Business Daily staff questioned whether "government work is a full time job?"…
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UAW Cites “Interference,” Appeals Volkswagen Vote
In an example of the pot calling the kettle black, the United Auto Workers union has filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board…
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GSA Contest to Identify and Reduce Travel Inefficiencies: Eliminate Official Time
According to a recent General Services Administration announcement, the agency is dolling out a combined $90,000 in prizes to individuals who can "design and create…
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Big Labor’s Insatiable Greed
Yesterday, the Fiscal Times ran an article entitled, "Big Labor’s Mounting Feud with Barack Obama."…
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Phoenix City Council Disregards Union Release Time Ruling
In a prior post, I discussed how the Goldwater Institute has resurrected the constitutional amendment, known as the "Gift Clause," that restricts state and local…
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Chicago Government Unions Advocate against the Public Interest
Proponents of public-sector unionism claim it creates amicable labor-management relations and leads to an efficient, effective government workforce, which in turn promotes the public interest.
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UAW Loses Volkswagen Election
A little over two years ago, soon-to-be former United Auto Workers President Bob King said that “organizing foreign auto plants is a matter of life…
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Mississippi Bills Aim to Eliminate Union Privileges
Yesterday, the Mississippi Senate passed three bills that rein in union privilege.
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Union Support for Minimum and Living Wage Laws Based on Self-Interest
Across the country, labor unions advocate for increases in the minimum wage, along with proposals to create "living wage" laws. Unions publicly argue that these…
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Unintended Consequences of Employee Rights Poster Rule
In the past several years, both the National Labor Relations Board and Department of Labor have required various kinds of employers to hang a "poster"…
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NLRB Proposes Ambush Election Regulation
As I previously noted in a December post, as soon as the National Labor Relations Board settled its lawsuit with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce…
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NLRB Pro-Union Bias Takes Away Worker Choice
Now that the National Labor Relations Board -- the agency responsible for governing private-sector labor disputes -- has a full quorum, it is ready to…
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Arizona Judge Rules Union Release Time Unconstitutional
After about two years of litigation by the Goldwater Institute, the practice of union release time in Arizona has been declared unconstitutional.
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Idaho Constitution: Tax Dollars to Private Entities Is Illegal
Year in and year out, Idaho lawmakers’ inaction keeps in place wasteful practices that funnel tax dollars to special interest groups.
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Federal Government Underreporting Union Official Time
In a recent FedSmith.com article, author Robert Dietriech gives three reasons why union official time data collected by the federal government understates the extent of…
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Pennsylvania Bill Challenges Union Privilege
Pennsylvania government unions are spreading misinformation about a bill that would end the practice of public employers deducting union dues from members' paychecks.
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OSHA Injury and Illness Name-and-Shame Rule
Under the guise of improving safety in the workplace, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a proposed rule called, "Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries…
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U.S. Supreme Court Justices Seem Skeptical of Obama’s NLRB Recess Appointments
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning. Their ruling will determine whether the president may…
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Unemployment Insurance: Congressional Scorecard Update
On January 7, the Senate voted to end debate on the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act S. 1845, sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed (RI-D), which…
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Fate of Homecare Providers Rests in the hands of U.S. Supreme Court
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments for Harris v. Quinn. A case that will determine whether a state can force…
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Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act, Part 3: Paycheck Protection
In the first installment of “Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act,” the topic was secret-ballot elections and how a private vote in a union…
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Union Spending against Right-to-Work Efforts
According to an Associated Press report, several states are eyeing labor law reforms to end the practice of forcing employees to pay union dues as…
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Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act, Part 2: Union Recertification
In Part 1 of "Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act," the focus was on the ERA provision that mandates secret-ballot elections and how a…
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BLS Data: Government Workers Miss Work 50 Percent More than Private Sector Workers
A blog post at buyhappiness.net cites recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data and reports that in 2012…
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Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act, Part 1: Secret Ballot Elections
In November, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Representative Tom Price (R-Ga.) introduced the Employee Rights Act, a bill that strengthens federal labor law to protect…
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NLRB General Counsel: Guidance on Micro-Unions is Coming
Last Friday, at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Manhattan, the National Labor Relations Board general counsel Richard Griffin said the Board…
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NLRB Ambush Elections Coming Soon
Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board's savvy legal maneuver takes the labor agency one step closer to finalizing its ambush election regulation.
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Union Release Time on the Ropes
Over two years ago, 16 NYPD officers were charged in a widespread ticket-fixing scam. And the criminal cases against the officers are still ongoing.
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Labor Agencies’ Regulatory Agendas
As my colleague Wayne Crews comments in Forbes, the Obama administration tends to publish its regulatory agenda around holidays, or when "nobody is looking."…
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Unions’ Taxpayer Subsidized Activity
Taxpayers expect their government to spend tax dollars only on activities that benefit the public. But in Kentucky, the City of Louisville and Jefferson County…
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NLRB Considers Proposing Ambush Election Rule…Again
Finally, after a decade, the National Labor Relations Board is fully staffed with five Senate-confirmed members.
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New Committee to Investigate Michigan Teachers Union Right to Work Violations
Although Michigan's right-to-work legislation took effect in March of this year, teachers have raised concerns that unions are using strong-arm tactics that prohibit them from…
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Obama Administration Rule Exempts Big Labor from Obamacare Tax
In September, the Obama administration rejected union demands for subsidies offered under Obamacare, which are reserved for the uninsured and low-income workers.
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Labor Ballot Measure Roundup
Voters around the country faced numerous ballot measures yesterday, of which many involved labor policy.
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House Passes Bill to Delay DOL Overreach
Last week, 30 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representative joined Republicans to approve the Retail Investor Protection Act, which delays the Department of Labor's…
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Congressional Scorecard Update–Richard Griffin Confirmation
Yesterday, the Senate voted 55-44 to confirm Richard Griffin as the National Labor Relations Board general counsel, with Senator Lisa Murkowski as the sole Republican…
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Controversial NLRB General Counsel Nomination Vote Approaching
Now that the partial government shutdown is over, its back to business as usual. As such, the Senate will tackle the controversial nomination of Richard…
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Boston Bus Drivers Illegal Strike
On October 8, hundreds of Boston Public School union bus drivers went on a surprise strike, which left nearly 33,000 kids without a ride to…
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Obama Administration Memo: Keep Paying Union Bosses on Official Time
Over the weekend, the House unanimously passed the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. If passed by the Senate, all furloughed federal employees will receive…
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NYC Rubber Rooms Still Packed
Just three years ago, New York City Mayor Bloomberg and the United Federation of Teachers publicly heralded a deal to end "rubber rooms," the reassignment…
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California Labor Board Rejects Farm Workers’ Petition to Decertify Union
On September 25, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board denied a petition submitted by Gerawan Farming workers to decertify the United Farm Workers union.
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Farm Workers Resist Union Representation
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Labor Relations Board show that less than 10 percent of employees actually voted for their…
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Private Lobbyists and Public Pensions Don’t Mix
Government officials mismanaging public funds is nothing new. But giving public pensions to private lobbyists is a new low. A recent Associated Press report uncovered…
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Private lobbyists collecting public pensions is illegal gift
State and local pension funds face unfunded liabilities ranging from $3 trillion to $5 trillion, according to various reports. This is well-known problem and many…
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Worker Centers Collecting Federal Funds
This summer, worker centers gained public notoriety with staged strikes at fast-food restaurants and Wal-Mart. Their effectiveness in gaining media attention has not been lost…
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DOL Finalizes Companionship Rule
With little notice, on September 17, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez finalized a rule to extend the Fair Labor Standards Act--minimum wage and overtime protections--to nearly…
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Third Largest Wisconsin Teachers Union Members Exercise New Freedom
This week Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's government-sector collective bargaining reform was upheld in Federal District Court.
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D.C. Agrees to Costly Project Labor Agreement
It is well-documented that Project Labor Agreements drive up costs, by some estimates up to 12 to 18 percent. This is because PLA's subvert competitive…
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SEIU Celebrates Siphoning Millions from Home Care Providers
A SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana press release announced an event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its first organizing win over home care providers. According to…
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Louisville Subsidizes Union Activity
A plague on taxpayer funds known as union release time infects nearly every state and municipal government coffers. This inappropriate government expenditure/practice excuses public employees…
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Big Labor Public Outrage Pays Dividends
In what should not be much of a surprise, the Obama administration is looking to quell labor leaders complaints over Obamacare by offering them taxpayer…
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Honoring Entry-Level Positions
Today, as has been publicized for weeks now, fast-food workers across the country are expected to walk off the their jobs. The union organized movement…
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Union Special Privilege Under Scrutiny
In response to a Miami Herald report, a Miami-Dade County Commissioner is sponsoring legislation to eliminate or reduce the practice of allowing government employees…
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Big Labor versus the Obama Administration
In the 2012 federal election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, 91 percent of labor unions campaign funds went to Democrats. One would…