Free Republic

The right-to-work law promoted by Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin was struck down Friday by a judge in Dane County. ABC affiliate WBAY reports: The unions, including the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, United Steelworkers and International Association of Machinists, argued the law amounts to an unconstitutional seizure of their property because it allows workers who donÂ’t pay union dues to still receive union benefits.State attorneys argued the law is constitutional since it technically doesnÂ’t take any money out of union coffers.Judge William Foust agreed the law amounts to taking the unionsÂ’ property without just compensation, and that it violates the state...

Wisconsin’s right-to-work law, championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker as he was mounting his run for president, was struck down Friday as violating the state constitution. Attorney General Brad Schimel, also a Republican, promised to appeal the decision and said he was confident it would not stand, noting that no similar law has been struck down in any other state. […] Three unions filed the lawsuit last year shortly after Walker signed the bill into law. […] The unions argued that Wisconsin’s law was an unconstitutional seizure of union property since unions now must extend benefits to workers who don’t...

A study published by the University of Michigan claims that the state's decision to hire a nonunion contractor to run prison cafeterias led to gangs. But the report’s methodology allowed a labor union critical of privatization to hand-pick which prison guards participated in focus groups that the author used as a foundation for his report. According to the report, "The Michigan Corrections Officers recruited participants, arranged interview locations, and reimbursed participants for travel." Roland Zullo wrote the publication for the Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy at the University of Michigan. It concluded that the contractor's employees...

The two sides in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, the closely watched U.S. legal case in which a 4-4 U.S. Supreme Court barely upheld a 39-year-old precedent regarding the constitutionality of forced union fees as a job condition in the government sector on March 29, seemed bitterly divided. And they were, for the most part. But on one important matter in Friedrichs, by the time oral arguments were heard in January, there was no longer any dispute between the plaintiffs – 10 independent-minded Golden State educators – and the respondents – the officers of the National Education Association (NEA) union...

The debate started with a bleep, when Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, questioned Republican Sen. Dan Brown of Rolla, the bill's Senate carrier. "Senator, you know, out of all due respect, this is some bull (expletive)," Nasheed said. Brown disagreed, and Nasheed was chastised for not maintaining decorum. "Senator, what you're doing right now — what you're doing is trying to undermine and do away with unions as we know it. That's what you're doing."

Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has vetoed legislation to make West Virginia the 26th right-to-work state, but was quickly overridden by the Republican legislature. For bills that don't deal with budgetary matters or appropriations, a simple majority is needed to override a veto. The state senate had already done so. And the State House of Delegates was expected to follow suit, given that there are 64 Republican members. The law goes into effect July 1 (via Metro News ): The House of Delegates and state Senate made quick work of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's vetoes on the bills that...

On February 12, the West Virginia legislature voted to override Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s veto of the right-to-work bill it had passed on February 4. The measure will take effect in May and the state will then be the 26th state to have such a law. Exactly what do “right-to-work” laws do? They provide that workers cannot be fired because they decline to pay union dues. Public opinion polls consistently show that a solid majority of Americans agree that no one should lose his or her job for deciding not to pay what the union demands. Public opinion isn’t always...

West Virginia is set to become the 26th state with a so-called right-to-work law. State lawmakers rebuked Thursday's veto by Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, voting along party lines in their House and Senate. Some House Republicans voted "no," though only a simple majority was required. ...

A federal judge struck down Hardin County's [Kentucky] right-to-work ordinance in an order Wednesday, ruling that states, not counties, can exempt themselves from portions of the National Labor Relations Act. U.S. District Judge David Hale dismissed each of the county's arguments for its ordinance, which passed Hardin County Fiscal Court Jan. 13 and barred unions from collecting fees from non-members. "The NLRA preempts the right-to-work, hiring-hall, and dues-checkoff provisions of Hardin County Ordinance 300," Hale wrote in his order. "Section 14(b) is the only exception to NLRA preemption of the field of labor relations, and it does not extend to...

In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Hale said only state governments have the authority to opt out of a federal law that allows closed shop or agency shop agreements, which require employees to join a labor union or pay union dues regardless if they are a union member.

CHARLESTON — Thousands of union members crowded the West Virginia Capitol Wednesday night to protest right-to-work and other items on the Legislature’s agenda. In a campaign organized by the West Virginia AFL-CIO, union members were bused to the Capitol to kick off lobbying efforts for the state's 60-day legislative session. The protesters gathered under the Capitol dome and chanted at legislators who were on their way to the governor’s annual state of the state address. Union officials want to prevent any changes to prevailing wage requirements for government-funded construction projects, avoid cuts to government employee health benefits and prevent West...

On Monday, January 11 the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear expanded oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case brought by 10 Golden State public school teachers. Friedrichs is directly based on precedents set by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s last two Supreme Court victories, Knox v. SEIU (2012) and Harris v. Quinn (2014). Friedrichs challenges the constitutionality of public sector forced unionism, which was deemed constitutional in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education in 1977. A decision in Friedrichs that overturns Abood would prohibit public sector union bosses nationwide from compelling employees...

We told you early this year that right-to-work would likely come to Illinois but it would have nothing to do with what Governor Rauner or the General Assembly do in Springfield, and it would come locally. That is what happened last night in Lincolnshire, where the village board, by a five to one vote, made the town a right to work zone. This was not like other votes taken earlier this year by other towns, which were nonbinding expressions of policy. Lincolnshire actually enacted right-to-work, and it potentially sets a huge precedent. You may recall that, in March, Illinois Attorney...

A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the personal income of Michigan residents grew 3.7 percent between the second quarter of 2014 and the second quarter of 2015. Even more impressive, from 2012 through the second quarter of 2015 personal income here has increased by 9.2 percent here (from $382 billion to $417 billion). Nationwide, income growth during this same span was 8.3 percent. Michigan became a right-to-work state in December of 2012. The law became effective in March 2013. ForTheRecord says: When Michigan’s right-to-work law was enacted at the end of 2012, unions attacked...

The International Association of Fire Fighters, a politically powerful labor union, has abandoned its initial plans to endorse Democrat Hillary Clinton for U.S. president, the New York Times reported on Friday. Citing union sources, the Times said the Clinton campaign was told on Monday by IAFF President Harold Schaitberger that there was not enough support on the union's board or its rank-and-file members for an endorsement of the Democratic front-runner.

The International Association of Fire Fighters, one of the country’s more politically powerful unions, has abandoned its initial plans to endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, according to union sources. Harold A. Schaitberger, the union’s general president, informed Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, in a telephone call on Monday. According to a union official, Mr. Schaitberger told Mr. Mook that the executive board and rank-and-file members — the latter were recently polled — did not support a Clinton endorsement. The early support of a cross section of unions — most prominently the American Federation of Teachers, which endorsed Mrs....

MADISON, Wisconsin — A worker-freedom organization is sending a special legal notice to unionized employees of the Big Three automakers in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation wants United Auto Workers members at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler to know their new workplace rights now that they are residents of right-to-work states. Those new rights kick in Sept. 15, after the old UAW contracts, which included forced union dues, expire. In a statement Thursday, the Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation said that once the UAW’s “monopoly bargaining contracts” with the automakers end, all...

Teamsters President James Hoffa makes no apology for taking on the Tea Party during a union labor celebration, claiming, “They declared war on us.” In Detroit, before President Obama arrived for a Labor Day speech, Hoffa rallied the crowd, “We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party.” “President Obama, this is your army,” Hoffa concluded to applause, his voice raising to a shout. “We are ready to march. Let’s take these sons of bitches out and give America back to an America...

While taking place at the state level, this one could be very big for the Right to Work movement. The state supreme court in Michigan has dealt a double blow to the unions and the state government apparatus which is essentially owned by them. The Justices ruled yesterday that not only is Right to Work the law of the land for private industry, but it applies to public sector workers as well, and they can’t be forced to participate in unions against their wishes. (Detroit Free Press) The Michigan Supreme Court, in an opinion that has the effect of...

Republicans are pushing for legislation that could fundamentally shift American labor law away from hereditary and coercive unionism.On Monday, GOP lawmakers in the house and Senate introduced the Employee Rights Act, a bill that would guarantee secret ballot union elections. It also allows workers to hold regular re-certification to see whether unions still enjoy support from members, a stark change from the status quo in which unions inherit members unless employees successfully follow onerous decertification procedures.Rep. Tom Price (R., Ga.) introduced the legislation in Congress with the hope that it will return the focus of labor law to individual workers,...