NILRR Right to Work in the News January 20, 2017
History indicates wages will rise in Right to Work Missouri
Springfield (MO) News-Leader Online, January 11, 2017
History indicates that wages will rise in Right to Work Missouri. Since early 2012, four states have banned compulsory union dues, and in two of these states — Indiana and Michigan — unionism has now been voluntary for at least three years. What has happened to workers’ wages in these two states?
National group alerts Ky workers of legal rights
Courier-Journal Online, January 19, 2017
The National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation wrote, for instance, that the new law allows workers to halt their membership in a union where they work and to stop paying “any dues, fees or other support to an unwanted union.”
Public Employees in Three States File Federal Lawsuits to End Public Sector Forced Union Dues
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Online, nrtw.org, January 18, 2017
Government employees – including Pennsylvania teachers, California medical center employees, and New York school employees – across the nation are filing three new federal court cases challenging the constitutionality of public sector union officials’ forced dues powers. These cases, being filed today with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, argue that state requirements that the plaintiffs pay mandatory union fees as a condition of government employment violate the First Amendment.
Right-to-work law advances in Missouri House
St Louis Post-Dispatch Online, January 18, 2017
The contentious legislation, which opponents say will weaken unions and hurt the middle class, advanced to final passage stage on a 101-58 vote. Rep. Courtney Curtis, D-Ferguson, cast the lone “yes†vote among Democrats.
Video Series to Reveal K-16 Education Plan, Advocate for Disadvantaged Students
Business Wire Online, January 19, 2017
The series, hosted by California public school teacher Rebecca Friedrichs, will launch Jan. 22. Friedrichs, the recent plaintiff in a U.S. Supreme Court case, will discuss how to serve students with special needs, low-income students, and English language learners. In the final video, she’ll reveal U4CAS’s K-16 education plan. The video series will be featured at U4CAS.org.
NH Senate approves ‘right-to-work’ bill,
WMUR Online, January 19, 2017
Right-to-work legislation that targets unions cleared an early hurdle Thursday in the New Hampshire Legislature, winning approval from the state Senate.
Illinois’ biggest state worker union schedules strike-authorization vote
Chicago Tribune Online, January 16, 2017
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 announced the strike vote plan in a letter to union members, scheduling votes starting Jan. 30 and ending mid-February.
Another Victory for Secret Ballots Over Card Check
Education Intelligence Agency Online, January 18, 2017
Last February the United Auto Workers submitted authorization cards from approximately 60 percent of the graduate student teaching and research assistants. The union had every reason to believe it would win a vote,
But when the ballots were counted, union opponents had garnered 53.4% of the vote.
Congress Should Follow Kentucky’s Lead: Pass Right To Work, Repeal Prevailing Wage
Forbes magazine Online, January 18, 2017
First of all, it should turn away from the Depression-era notion that forced unionism is a good idea. It wasn’t then and isn’t now. The true solution would be to repeal the 1935 National Labor Relations Act and return the matter of labor relations to state control, where it properly belongs under the Constitution.
Prevailing wage foes eyeing ‘all options’ for repeal
The Detroit News Online, January 19, 2017
A group seeking to eliminate the state’s prevailing wage construction law says “all options are on the table†as Republican legislators renew their repeal push despite previous opposition from GOP Gov. Rick Snyder.
Union leaders face charges after talking to Free Press
Detroit Free Press Online, January 19, 2017
Union charges have been brought against three Michigan State Employees Association leaders for speaking out against President Ken Moore, who is accused of wasting union funds trying to destroy an internal union that represents central office staff in Lansing.