NILRR Right to Work Clips

Home Health Caregivers Might Find Relief from Union Coercion at Supreme Court

mackinac.org, August 18, 2017

To help end the dues skim nationally, the Mackinac Center and National Federation of Independent Business have signed on to an amicus brief authored by the Cato Institute in the case Hill v. SEIU. The plaintiff in is being represented by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and contends that Constitution forbids the act of forcing home health caregivers into a public sector bargaining unit. If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case and rules in the plaintiff’s favor, then dues skims will end nationally.

A new threat to public-sector unions is headed to the Supreme Court

The Economist, August 17, 2017

SOMEWHERE among the thousands of petitions the justices will wade through when they return to work in September is a case that could transform the labour movement in America: Janus v American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The Supreme Court refuses to hear about 99.4% of appeals at this time of year—a rejection rate even stingier than its usual 89.9%. But Janus is very likely to attract the four votes it needs to make it onto the court’s docket for the upcoming term that begins October 2nd.

SEIU Lobbies For Lousy Legislation

seiumonitor.com, August 16, 2017

The California legislature is currently considering legislation which would make it nearly impossible for most county governments to hire companies and nonprofits to deliver public services. The bill, AB 1250, was introduced by a former Service Employees International Union (SEIU) boss, and SEIU is one of its chief proponents.

The bill would require that contracts save money, which sounds reasonable enough. But then the bill stacks the deck against contractors by adding unnecessary costs to contracts. County governments would be required to perform cost-benefit analyses, conduct environmental reviews, provide orientation to the employees of contractors, and perform annual audits. The legislation would also mandate that contracts must not displace any current government employees or even cause them to lose hours; and it would make counties liable for contractors’ labor law violations. So you see why it would be so difficult for counties to contract out – and these are just some of the bill’s provisions.

‘Top Chef’ case exposes outdated labor laws

Washington Examiner Online, August 18, 2017

The flawed law in question stems from the 1973 Enmons Supreme Court case, which reviewed the 1946 Hobbs Act. The Hobbs Act prohibits actual or attempted robbery and extortion affecting interstate commerce, such as the “Top Chef” segment filmed in Boston. This includes “threaten[ing] or commit[ting] physical violence to any person or property” in a way that “obstructs, delays, or affects commerce.” In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the Hobbs Act “does not apply to the use of force to achieve legitimate labor ends,” enabling union representatives to threaten employees and innocent bystanders if doing so was in the union’s best interest.

Mandatory public employee union orientation now on the books in California

Orange County Register Online,

One bit of “help†comes in the form of California’s Assembly Bill 119, which was signed into law in late June and is summed up here: “[T]he ability of an exclusive representative to communicate with the public employees it represents is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of state labor relations statutes, and the exclusive representative cannot properly discharge its legal obligations unless it is able to meaningfully communicate through cost-effective and efficient means with the public employees on whose behalf it acts.â€

Feds probe UAW spending on purses, shotgun

The Detroit News Online, August 17, 2017

Federal agents probing a $4.5 million corruption scandal are investigating questionable spending by more leaders of the United Auto Workers, including pricey designer purses and a $2,180 shotgun bought with union training center funds, The Detroit News has learned.