Since the Supreme Court has the power to stir up controversy like few other American institutions, public debate about government unionization is certain to intensify in coming months. This fall, the justices will take up Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which concerns the question of whether public sector workers can be required to pay “agency”...

The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the Friedrichs case has the unions in a tizzy. On June 30th, the Supreme Court decided to hear Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association et al, a case that could seriously change the way the public employee unions (PEUs) do business. If the plaintiffs are victorious, teachers, nurses, sanitation workers,...

NEA rolls out its plan for what to do in case its worst nightmare – worker freedom – comes to pass. Last July, the California Teachers Association released “Not if, but when: Living in a world without Fair Share,” a 23-page PowerPoint presentation unearthed by Mike Antonucci. The document revealed that teacher union honchos in...

Summary: It’s a basic civil right: the ability of union members to get rid of a union if it no longer serves its members effectively. Today, that right is being denied to a group of farmworkers in California by officials who refuse to count the votes the workers cast in a decertification election. That denial...

Summary: New studies on the harms of American labor laws paint a grim picture. The laws drag down economic growth, suppress workers’ wages, and cause government debts to soar. Could your family use an additional $13,100 a year? If you live in a forced-unionism state, that’s what the lack of a Right to Work law...

1. Even pro-union politicians used to think public sector unionism was too radical. Long after the pro-union monopoly National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was adopted in 1935, even strong supporters of this statute rejected the appropriateness of attempting anything analogous in federal, state, or local government. For example, in 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who...

Summary:  Two current cases offer the U.S. Supreme Court opportunities to stop abuse. The National Labor Relations Act declares that “encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining” is “the policy of the United States.” Federal courts have often treated that declaration as if it authorized union officials to do whatever they deem necessary to bring...

The Michigan Education Association had its apple cart turned upside down when the Wolverine State went “right-to-work” in December. This means that, unlike California and 25 other states, a worker doesn’t have to pay union dues as a condition of employment. My introduction to union coercion came in 2005, when, as a middle school teacher...