Why ALL Government Union Activity is Political

By Jarrett Skorup

01/26/2016

In the Friedrichs case before the U.S. Supreme Court, the core of union-supporters’ argument is that government employees should be forced to pay fees to a union because they benefit from union activities. Not paying the union, they say, makes an employee a free rider. Or, as The Atlantic put it recently: “Rebecca Friedrichs is...

TAGS: Friedrichs

Working Class Heroes

By Steven Allen

01/25/2016

Summary: From a lift truck driver for a cold storage warehouse, to a worker at a peach farm, to an autoworker turned activist, to a teacher who helped create a local only union—in workplaces across the country—Americans are waking up and taking power into their own hands, no longer standing idly by while unions abuse...

TAGS: Michigan Education Association, National Labor Relations Board, Union Conservatives

Union In The News – Weekly Highlights

By Sean O’Striker

01/19/2016

Regional labor groups will join CSU faculty in potential strike By Alexei Koseff, January 19, 2016, The Sacramento Bee Ratcheting up the pressure in an ongoing dispute over raises, the California State University faculty union announced Tuesday that it has secured the support of more than a dozen regional labor councils for a strike that...

In Search of a Legitimate Labor Movement

By Edward Ring

01/19/2016

Sarah has worked for a major grocery store chain for the past 25 years. Adjusting for inflation, she makes less now than she did over a decade ago, especially since her hours were cut in order for her employer to avoid being required to offer her health insurance. Even more difficult, she is “on call”...

TAGS: private sector unions, public sector unions

Riverside County Taxpayers Get Raw Deal on Community Facility District Bonds

By Marc Joffe

01/19/2016

This is the second of an occasional series of posts on municipal bond issuance costs. You can see the first one, focusing on Fullerton, here. In a recent study of 800 municipal bond issues for UC Berkeley, I found that issuance costs varied widely – from less than 0.2% of face value to over 10%....

TAGS: bonds, riverside

Bye-bye Abood?

By Larry Sand

01/19/2016

SCOTUS appears to be ready to dump mandatory public employee union dues payments. Last Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Friedrichs v California Teachers Association lawsuit. The case centers around whether or not teachers and other public employees should be forced to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment...

TAGS: Abood, American Federation of Teachers, Antonin Scalia, Association of American Educators, Christian Educators Association International, Friedrichs, George Leef, labor peace, Larry Sand, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, National Education Association, Nina Rees, Randi Weingarten, Right to Work, stare decisis, teachers union

A Union Bank with a Goal: Victory for the Left

By Sarah Westwood

01/15/2016

Summary: Amalgamated Bank is America’s only union-owned bank. The latest chapter of its tumultuous history finds it specializing in political work that few financial institutions would dare risk. Funded by monies that unions compel their members to provide, the bank seems less devoted to maximizing returns for customers than to assisting left-wing candidates and causes...

TAGS: seiu

Friedrichs Means Choice for Children and Teachers

By RiShawn Biddle

01/13/2016

It goes without saying that education and economics go hand in hand. For most parents, regardless of race or class, part of the American Dream is for our children to attend safe, family friendly, high-quality schools with great principals, teachers and support staff. As parents, we imagine that special day when our children graduate high...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, National Education Association, U.S. Supreme Court

Union In The News – Weekly Highlights

By Sean O’Striker

01/12/2016

California labor unions react to Supreme Court dues debate By Jon Ortiz, January 12, 2016, The Sacramento Bee State and local public union officials plowed through a 100-page U.S. Supreme Court transcript on Monday, trying to divine how the nine justices are leaning in a case with the potential to tie a knot in the...

Why Investment Realities Will Compel Pension Reform

By Edward Ring

01/12/2016

“For the first time in the pension fund’s history, we paid out more in retirement benefits than we took in contributions.” – Anne Stausboll, Chief Executive Officer, CalPERS, 2014-2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report There are few examples of a seemingly innocuous statement with more significance than Stausboll’s admission, buried within her “CEO’s Letter of Transmittal,” summarizing the performance...

TAGS: CalPERS, defined benefit pensions, unfunded pension liability

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