NILRR Right to Work Clipsheet March 03, 2017
Cook County Record Online, March 01, 2017
However, attorney William Messenger, of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, echoing a brief his foundation filed in the case along with the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center, agreed with Judge Gettleman’s reasoning, and explained the plaintiffs are asking for the chance to take the matter to the Supreme Court in the hope of persuading the high court to overturn the Abood precedent.
How much will the unions cozy up to Trump?
Washington Examiner Online, March 01, 2017
“Trump’s been very, very anti-union,” he told Soledad O’Brien’s YouTube channel Matter of Fact.
And now…well, his tone is suddenly a little different. Not only has he been praising Donald Trump’s second-choice nominee for the Department of Labor, he’s also offering qualified praise for his infrastructure plan on television this morning:
Interest in state jobs high, but some worry about effect
Jacksonville Journal Courier Online, March 02, 2017
The governor has said the union’s demands would mean $3 billion more for the life of the contract.
Meanwhile, the president of the National Right to Work Foundation said Rauner is doing the responsible thing in opening up a job portal in anticipation of a state employee strike.
National Right to Work Foundation spokesman Mark Mix said the union has signaled it is willing to deprive taxpayers services and the governor has to find a way to keep things running.
Analysis—New York’s Teachers Unions Are Millions in the Red: A Look at the Numbers
the74million.org, March 01, 2017
Public schools in New York are among the best-funded in the nation, with the average spending per pupil exceeding $20,000 annually both in New York City and statewide. Not coincidentally, New York is also home to the largest state teachers union, New York State United Teachers, and the largest teachers union local, the United Federation of Teachers, in New York City.
The unions’ public policy agenda is designed to mitigate those risks, but ir would have the effect of placing the public treasury in similar straits.
Pension-Reduction Doors Have Been Opened
National Law Review Online, March 02, 2017
Since the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), protection of accrued pension benefits has been considered sacrosanct. No longer. In a first-of-its-kind decision, on December 16, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury approved a petition from Iron Workers Local 17 Pension Fund (located in Northeast Ohio) to cut benefits by an average of 20 percent, subject to a vote by the participants and beneficiaries.
The Mighty NY Teamsters Pension Fund is Out of Money
Investopedia.com, March 01, 2017
Teamsters in New York State have traditionally had one of the strongest unions and, along with it, one of the most successful pension funds. The Teamsters Local 707 fund has officially, as of last month, run out of funds. This marks it as the first pension fund of its type to bottom out in this way.
PRNewswire.com, March 01 2017
Gerawan Farming, Inc. last week asked the Sacramento Superior Court to order the Agricultural Labor Relations Board to disclose documents relating to “whistleblower” allegations that the ALRB’s former lead prosecutor, Sylvia Torres-Guillén, systematically suppressed dissent and punished career ALRB staff members for protesting the agency’s “biased, pro-union,” prosecution of Gerawan and its employees. Gerawan made this request following the public revelation of these charges in a retaliation lawsuit filed against the Board by a senior ALRB field investigator.
COA to hear right-to-work case at IU Maurer
The Indiana Lawyer, March 01, 2017
The panel of Judges Edward Najam, Melissa May and Cale Bradford will hear the case of Warner, et al. v. Chauffeurs, Teamsters & Helpers Local Union No. 414, 02A04-1608-PL-02017, at the Bloomington school Friday. The case stems for a collective-bargaining agreement which made membership in Chauffeurs, Teamsters & Helpers Local Union No. 414 a condition of employment with Speedway Redi Mix Inc., a concrete production company.
CNN.com, March 01, 2017
A broad coalition of groups, including Organizing For Action, the SEIU, MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress have been working to help with grassroots organizing around GOP town halls.
Council assures ‘seat at the table’ for city unions
Sioux City Journal Online, /February 28, 2017
The City Council voiced unanimous support Monday for the collective bargaining units representing city employees, passing a resolution ensuring the unions a “seat at the table” when discussing benefits and workplace environment.
Los Angeles School Report Online, February 27, 2017
In the absence of an issue that galvanizes an outside special interest group, such as a religious group seeking to control curriculum or real estate interests hoping bonds will be issued, that has historically left teachers unions with tremendous influence over elections.
WV Senate OKs Right-To-Work clarification bill
West Virginia Gazette Online, February 27, 2017
In obtaining a preliminary injunction against the law last summer, the state AFL-CIO and other labor unions primarily argued that the legislation is an illegal taking of union assets, since state and federal law requires unions to represent all employees in a union shop, including those who opt out of paying union dues under the law.
New DNC Chairman Tom Perez Is No ‘Moderate’ At All
National Review Online, February 27, 2017
Perez’s liberal credentials are as impeccable as they come.
Iain Murray, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s vice president of strategy, calls Perez “possibly the most dangerous person in the administration right now.â€
VA union’s ‘official time’: Not a minute more
gopusa.com, February 27, 2017
This, supposedly to improve veterans’ services, according to David Cox, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees. Mr. Cox and Kim McLeod, VA acting director for labor management relations, have been ordered by a congressional committee to provide documentation showing that official time spent by union workers on union business benefits veterans, The Daily Caller reports.
Will Unions Cripple Kentucky’s Belated Charter-School Effort?
Wall Street Journal Online, March 01, 2017
Charter opponents are pushing a weaker bill that would vest local school boards with the sole power to authorize and regulate charters. That would let those boards, typically controlled by the unions, throw up roadblocks. While charters could appeal district decisions to the state Board of Education, the process would be cumbersome and costly. Only charters backed by well-heeled donors would have the resources to navigate and battle the education bureaucracy.