NILRR Clipsheet August 28, 2015
SCOTUSblog.com, August 25, 2015
Leaving aside the positive impact on public policy of reducing the unique power and financial resources of public-sector unions, the Friedrichs decision will have profound implications for the First Amendment rights of millions of workers. An estimated five million public-sector employees are currently subject to forced-fee requirements and must pay tribute to a union as a condition of their employment. Even under the existing precedents, this is, as the Court has recognized repeatedly, a “significant impingement†on the First Amendment rights of each and every individual worker who would not voluntarily support the union which government forces them to subsidize. Overruling Abood will end the most widespread abuse of First Amendment rights in the nation, while failing to do so will perpetuate it.
NLRB Blasted for Lax Enforcement of Beck Rights
nlpc.org, August 27, 2015
A new law journal article by prominent Right to Work attorney Raymond LaJeunesse, Jr. explains why. He points a finger not only at the unions, who at least act out of recognizable self-interest, but more importantly, at the ostensibly nonpartisan National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB, using a variety of tactics, over the years has acted more as a de facto advocate for unionism than as a guardian of the public trust. And the situation has gotten worse under President Obama.
In Missouri, labor unions’ dwindling muscle tracks national decline
Watchdog.org, August 27, 2015
The decline in union membership – and with it, a decline in unions’ political influence made possible by membership fees and the organization of large swaths of voters – began long before this right-to-work bill was proposed in Missouri.
Local Voters Throw Water on Higher Taxes Sought by Firefighters Union, State Lawmakers
The Daily Signal, August 17, 2015
In a battle of political wills in Rhode Island, local voters so far have held their ground against efforts by union leaders and state officials to make them pay more for fire and rescue services.
New Labor-Board Rule Speeds Union Votes
Wall Street Journal Online, August 26, 2015
Business groups that feared a new federal rule would speed hundreds of union-organizing elections were right: The average election time has fallen by 40% since the rule took effect in April.
Missouri group fighting right-to-work is a Carpenters union front
Watchdog.org, August 26, 2015
In its fight to kill a right-to-work bill headed for a veto-override in the state Legislature, The Committee Protect MO Families has almost everything — a great name, Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto, and a “broad-based coalition†of hundreds of supporting businesses and individuals.
But 98 percent of the group’s funding comes from just one source, Carpenters Help In the Political Process, or CHIPP.
Rob Roper: ‘Right to Work’ makes more sense than ever
Manchester Journal Online, August 25, 2015
Another way is for Vermont to join the twenty-five other “Right to Work” states. Passing a Right to Work law would guarantee that no Vermonter could be compelled, as a condition of employment, to join or not to join, nor to pay dues to a labor union. Now, Vermonters who choose not to join a union can be compelled to pay 85 percent of union dues as a so-called “agency fee.”
DFT board finds Conn guilty of misconduct, removes him
Detroit News Online, August 12, 2015
After a seven-month tenure marked by clashes between rival union factions, Steve Conn was ousted as president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers after being found guilty of misconduct.
Wall Street Journal Online, August 26, 2015
Contract workers and other temporary employees will be able to more easily unionize following a landmark ruling Thursday by a U.S. federal labor regulator.
Focus on ‘right to work’ gets more intense as legislators consider override attempt
St. Louis Public Radio Online, August 27, 2015
After a brief hiatus, both sides in the battle over “right to work†are back with a vengeance as they gear up for the Missouri General Assembly’s veto session in just over two weeks.