NILRR Right to Work Clipsheet October 16, 2015

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ABC Driver Discriminated Against by Teamsters Union Bosses Finally Awarded Back Pay After Union Appeals Fail

nrtw.org, October 14, 2015

After six years of legal maneuvering, Teamster Local 509 union officials are finally paying a worker more than $55,000 in pay he lost when it prevented him from working.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision awarding back pay to television employee Thomas Coghill. Faced with a longshot appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Teamsters Local 509 will pay the backpay owed, with interest, for its discrimination which took place in 2009.

Union dispute creates headaches for Democrats

philly.com, October 16, 2015

DNC officials pulled up to the Convention Center late Wednesday afternoon in two purple Philadelphia Phlash buses to find a picket line of protesters from the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters.

They came. They saw. They drove away.

The DNC delegation decided against crossing the picket line.

Local lawmakers support right-to-work

Waynesville Daily Guide Online, October 15, 2015

While the Missouri Legislature failed to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of the right-to-work bill last month, two state legislators from Rolla continue to support making Missouri a right-to-work state.

CENTRAL STATES’ PLAN TO CUT BENEFITS

Politico.com, October 16, 2015

The Central States Pension Fund’s application to cut vested benefits was posted Thursday to the Treasury Department’s website.

Labor Secretary Says Union Fixed Election

Courthouse News Service, October 14, 2015

The Laborers International Union of North America Local 872 used an ad hoc literacy test to exclude a member from running for vice president, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez claims in Federal Court.

Two days after denying union member Mark Trujillo the right to run for office, the union took away his post as shop steward, which he had held for 5 years, and the next day his employer fired him, the labor secretary says in the Oct. 13 lawsuit.

Dems’ labor rule tweak would trip up ‘majority’ voting

Washington Examiner, October 14, 2015

Are Democrats afraid that the National Labor Relations Board’s aggressive activism could backfire on unions the next time there is Republican administration? That is the implication of a little-noticed section in a Democratic labor policy reform bill that appears intended to prevent a future administration from changing workplace election rules.

Small business owners call for right-to-work

Joplin Globe Online, October 13, 2015

“Right-to-work is crucial,” said Jimmer Pinjuv, a local property developer. “Corporations don’t even look at states that aren’t right-to-work. If Missouri doesn’t get it, everybody’s going to move to Texas; it’s happening now.”

Given the choice, public-sector workers quit their unions

Washington Examiner Online, October 14, 2015

According to the Department of Labor, there are already more than 700,000 government workers at the federal, state and local levels who have explicitly chosen not to join a union, yet are forced to accept and in many states must also pay for union representation. If the examples above are any indication, many more of the remaining 7.2 million government workers who actually belong to unions would drop their membership immediately if the option were available and accessible.

As Retirees Outnumber Employees, Pensions Seek Saviors

Governing, October, 2015

The $300 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System began showing its age this year: It started paying out more money to retirees than it gained in contributions and investments. In roughly 20 years, CalPERS’ retirees l outnumber active workers by a ratio of nearly 2-to-1 in some of its plans.

Here’s How Illinois Kicked Taxpayers . . . Into Other States

watchdog.org, October 14, 2015

According to Illinois Policy Institute calculations from IRS data, Illinois lost the equivalent of a taxpayer earning $50,000 per year every 6.5 minutes in 2013. In total, more than 81,000 taxpayers and their families earning $4.1 billion left the state.

Even Michigan, a state whose progressive city of Detroit went bankrupt not too long ago, now has more manufacturing jobs despite having 25 percent fewer workers. In that case, right-to-work can explain the shift; despite union fear-mongering on the subject, wages in Michigan increased 9.2 percent between 2012 (when it was enacted) and the second quarter of 2015 compared to 8.3 percent nationwide. Real median household income also fared better; it went up 3 percent between 2012 and 2014 in Michigan while it only increased 1 percent in Illinois.

PA Republicans Attack Unions For Draining Taxpayer Dollars

Daily Caller Online, October 14, 2015

The measure will still need approval by the state House and a signature from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. If passed, it will stop the state from soliciting political contributions for the union. The measure will also prevent the state from helping unions extract union dues used for political activity. Regardless, the state will still help collect the portions of dues used strictly for representing workers.

Vegas police unions sue over state law on pay for union work

KTNV News Online, October 09, 2015

Las Vegas police unions have filed a federal lawsuit claiming the department’s interpretation of a new law about pay for employees doing union work is unconstitutional.

At issue is the law that requires unions to pay for any leave taken by employees performing union-specific duties.

The unions said it would impact the officers who are currently paid their regular salaries and benefits through the department but are dedicated full-time to the work of the unions instead of traditional police work.

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