Right to Work News Clips September 22, 2017
districtsentinel.com, September 20, 2017
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation on Wednesday that would make it tougher for states to bust unions.
The trio are seeking to outlaw what Republicans have branded as “right-to-work†laws. The rules allow individual workers to free-ride on collective bargaining agreements–by giving them the option of withholding fees from unions who represent them at the negotiating table.
Induction of union-busting Reagan into Labor’s Hall of Honor shocks union
Washington Post Online, September 20, 2017
But Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta thinks inducting Reagan is a fine idea. So does the Sergeants Benevolent Association of New York City, a union that nominated him. No date for the induction has been announced.
Will Government Union Gravy Train Come to an End?
cei.org, September 20, 2017
The lawsuit, Janus v. American Federation State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, challenges, on First Amendment grounds, the validity of “agency fees,†which require non-union public employees to pay fees to an exclusive representative—the union.
Lexology.com, September 18, 2017
The court was making reference to the unions’ argument that the state right to work law “takes unions’ property without just compensation†by forcing unions to represent “free ridersâ€, or employees who choose not to join a union but whom the union has a duty to represent when the union is the exclusive bargaining agent of a work force. The court held the unions failed to show the state law was unconstitutional “beyond a reasonable doubtâ€, in part because unions only become the “exclusive†bargaining agent of all employees by choice, and therefore the unions could escape the duty to represent non-member employees by choosing to represent only members of the union. The court cited the US Supreme Court for the finding that “unions have no constitutional entitlement [under the First Amendment] to the fees of non-member employees.â€
Wis. Appeals Court OKs ‘Right-To-Work’ Law
Law360 Online, September 19, 2017
A Wisconsin state appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that nullified the state’s so-called right-to-work law Tuesday, saying that blocking employers from making workers pay dues as a condition of employment is not “taking†union property under the Wisconsin Constitution.
Ford to temporarily shutter 5 plants as demand slacks
leftlanenews.com, September 20, 2017
Ford will halt production at five North American production plant as the automaker continues to deal with slacking demand.
A Cable Workers Strike Grows Increasingly Bitter
thebridgebk.com, September 20, 2017
The long, grinding strike by more than 1,700 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 has grown increasingly bitter. Charter Communications, which acquired Time Warner Cable last year and now does business under the brand name Spectrum, says that its cable system has suffered 130 cases of cord-cutting and other vandalism since the strike began. Last Friday, thousands of Brooklyn customers lost service when a fiber-optic cable was cut in what Charter spokesman John Bonomo called “this latest round of criminal destruction of our network.†A union spokesman, Christopher Erickson, told DNA info that “we do not condone any act of vandalism against the company. It hurts the reputation of the union members and the strike.â€
Yankeeinstitute.org, September 20, 2017
Connecticut government unions and union-backed organizations immediately signaled they would attempt to unseat the Democratic lawmakers that backed a new budget passed in both the Senate and the House last week.
Immediately following the passage of the budget, the labor-backed Working Families Party called for the ouster of Senators Paul Doyle, D-Wethersfield, Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, and Joan Hartley, D-Waterbury, who broke ranks with fellow Democrats to pass the budget in the Senate.
Feds: Fake hospice laundered cash in FCA-UAW scandal
Detroit News Online, September 19, 2017
Federal prosecutors have seized $292,000 from a fake hospice that funneled cash to Monica Morgan-Holiefield, a central figure of the Fiat Chrysler-UAW corruption scandal, court records allege.
Civil Service Commission approves new state employee rules, angering unions
mlive.com, September 20, 2017
The rule changes prohibit some issues as subjects of collective bargaining and take away specific provisions unions have negotiated for around bumping, overtime scheduling and transfers. They also restrict the paid union leave time state employees are able to use to work on union issues. The changes go into effect Jan. 1, 2019.