December 2014

Union Officials’ Demands Bankrupting Scranton

Stephen Moore, Investors Business Daily Online, recounts the latest in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, bankruptcy debacle, brought on mostly bygenerous pension packages negotiated by union officials. The city also increased various fees, such as for garbage collection, by two-thirds. It’s becoming a tax hell. These taxpayer costs are skyrocketing because the city’s auditors calculate that the…

Unions and Democrats

While public sector unions remain the largest contributors to the Democrat Party, they are costing the government more, leaving less for Democrat causes. Daniel Di Salvo has the story in The Daily Beast. Public sector unions create a genuine political conundrum for Democrats. On the one hand, they are genuinely powerful, and Democrats rely on…

IL – State Sponsored Union Membership Drives?

Despite a Supreme Court decision, Illinois government has knuckled under pressure from the Serivce Employees International Union (SEIU) and requires all state home caregivers to attend “training sessions,” where caregivers are required to endure lectures ab out union membership. Additionally, the state is paying SEIU union bosses for the service. Paul Kersey, Labor Director for…

James Sherk on Right to Work Laws

James Sherk, explains the value of Right to Work laws, and reviews campaigns for more laws across the country. He is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Heritage Foundation. Eighteen-year-old Saira Blair recently made history as the youngest person elected to the West Virginia legislature. She may make history again as a lawmaker by securing…

Kentucky County Approves Right to Work Ordinance

The Simpson County Fiscal Court has sanctioned a Right to Work ordinance for the county. Katie Brandenberg has the story on bgdailynews.com. The Simpson County Fiscal Court this morning unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance that would make the county a right-to-work area, making it the third county in Kentucky to approve such…

Right to Work Indiana Posts Highest Monthly Private-Sector Job Growth in 15 Years

U.S. Labor Department data released at the end of last week suggest that Indiana, which became America’s 23rd Right to Work state in early 2o12, is now enjoying a sustained improvement in its job market. In November, as multiple media outlets in Indiana have reported (see the link below, for example), the state’s total private-sector…

Why Wisconsin Right to Work

Mike Nichols, president of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, makes the case for a Wisconsin Right to Work law. Even if you don’t pay the union, you’ll still be part of the “bargaining unit,” the union leaders would argue. You’ll still “benefit” from the collective bargaining process. So pony up. I declined for a variety…

Prophet Pleads Guilty in Philly Racketeering

Three more members of Ironworkers Local401have pleaded guilty to federal charges of racketeering, but the judge is refusing to accept the charges without further information. U. S. District Judge Michael Baylson, indicated he believed in “proportionality.” That is, the more culpability the client has, the more severe the sentence.Julie Shaw has the story on philly.com.…

Nevada Group’s Top 10 Labor Reforms

Nevada Policy Research Institute lists its top 9 Labor Law Reforms for 2015. Geoffrey Lawrence, Director of Research and Legislative Affairs, published the list of 9 labor law reforms that directly address union power in Nevada. At the forefront of that last component will be changing the state’s collective-bargaining process for government workers in ways…

Big Labor Partisan Scot Ross Makes a Phony Case Against a Wisconsin Right to Work Law

To take an informed position in the rapidly heating up debate over whether Wisconsin should become the 25th Right to Work state, you need first to be aware of the fact that, under federal law, a private-sector employee in a unionized business can be and virtually always is forced to accept the union as his…