Free Republic

Democrats in the Illinois legislature may soon silence Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner by taking way his ability to negotiate with public unions. SB1229 was introduced in February in response to troubled labor negotiations between Rauner and the Illinois chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The measure would allow an arbitrator to takeover state labor negotiations if a new agreement is not reached within 30 days. Some have argued, though, that the bill is a huge giveaway to state unions. According to F. Vincent Vernuccio, labor policy expert at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy,...

In an apparent effort to make it even more difficult or even stop school employees from exercising their right under right-to-work to not pay union dues or fees, the state’s largest teachers union has quietly set up an obscure post office box address to which members must send the required opt-out paperwork. It's P.O. Box 51 East Lansing, MI 48826. Based on a letter the Michigan Education Association sent to members who had tried to get out, and discussions with some of them, resignation requests sent to the regular union headquarters address will not be honored. An extensive search of...

There are more Michigan public schools contracting out food, custodial or transportation services than ever, according to the Mackinac Center’s latest survey of school districts. This year, 70.8 percent of school districts use private-sector vendors to clean buildings, get kids to school, or cook and serve school meals. This is up from 66.6 percent the previous year. Getting more of the private sector involved in a supporting role in school districts is a long-term trend. In 2001, only 31 percent of districts contracted out these services and it took a decade before more than half of districts contracted out. Our...

Last year there was a burst of excitement in some quarters over the prospect of college football players forming a union. Leftists nearly always think that unions are good because they supposedly promote social justice and when an apparent majority of the players on Northwestern’s team said they wanted to form a union, that gladdened many a collectivist heart. Then, the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago gave the players the green light. Joy! But on August 17, however, the full National Labor Relations Board unanimously declined jurisdiction, which means that it won’t pursue the case...

Federal authorities indicted the former president of a Florida teachers’ union on fraud charges on Thursday, even as he faces additional charges in his home state over allegedly illegal campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton. The Justice Department charged former Broward Teachers Union (BTU) president Patrick Santeramo with two counts of mail fraud for his alleged role in embezzling more than $35,000 in payments from a local school district.

Federal authorities indicted the former president of a Florida teachers’ union on fraud charges on Thursday, even as he faces additional charges in his home state over allegedly illegal campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton. The Justice Department charged former Broward Teachers Union (BTU) president Patrick Santeramo with two counts of mail fraud for his alleged role in embezzling more than $35,000 in payments from a local school district. “It is alleged that after the BTU received the $80,000 payment from the School Board of Broward County, Santeramo authorized payments from the [union’s] Accountability Program account for himself and at least...

The choice facing labor unions in the Democratic presidential race boils down to hearts or heads—Bernie Sanders, who embraces their forceful opposition to a big trade deal, or Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is a strong favorite for the nomination. Clinton has campaigned as a fighter for middle-class families and carries with her establishment support and ties to labor leaders going back to her husband’s White House years. But her unwillingness to take a position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade pact vehemently opposed by labor, has made some union leaders and workers wary. Sanders, meanwhile, has made his opposition...

Northwestern University football players lost a bid to unionize on Monday when the U.S. National Labor Relations Board dismissed their case, in a setback for elite U.S. student athletes seeking a chunk of the riches generated by college sports. The case had spurred a national debate over whether college athletes are truly amateurs when colleges and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) benefit handsomely from ticket sales, television contracts and licensing deals.

The Police Foundation, a research group based in Washington, D.C., released a detailed report Monday on how Stockton police responded to the July 16, 2014, armed robbery of a Bank of the West branch, where three gunmen took three women hostage and fired at officers from a speeding SUV. The group found that 32 officers unloaded more than 600 rounds during the hour-long rolling gun battle, which spanned three counties, 63 miles of highway and reached speeds of 120 mph. One of the hostages, Misty Holt-Singh, was killed when she was struck by 10 police bullets, authorities said. The two...

Democrats and unions have been steadfast in their defense of Obamacare, except for one provision: the controversial "Cadillac" tax. But will the bipartisan desire to repeal the tax be enough to get approved by President Obama? The "Cadillac" tax got its name because it goes after very expensive healthcare plans. The tax, intended to generate revenue for Obamacare, starts in 2018, and will tax 40 percent of the value of health plans that exceed $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for a family. There's some bipartisan momentum to repeal the tax, as there are two bills in the House that...

Lincoln-Way choice to build two schools was questioned at the time Gregory Pratt Lincoln-Way 210 officials had big plans for the school district's future in 2005 — booming population growth would fuel new success. Ten years and a $225 million referendum to build two schools later, District 210 is on the state's financial watch list and needs to close one of its four schools to try and make ends meet. District officials defend the decision to forge ahead with the construction of two schools in the late 2000s, saying they trusted enrollment figures that showed the district would have thousands...

The Lansing School District is considering privatizing custodial services. The Lansing State Journal first reported the development in mid-July, and July 29 was the deadline for service providers to submit bids. With almost 12,000 students, Lansing is one of the state’s largest school districts. In Michigan and around the country, privatizing custodial services has saved school districts money. For example, the rural Ludington school district saved $150,000, about $67 per student. Lansing’s neighbor, the Okemos Public Schools, saved $600,000 — or $150 per student. If it follows through, the Lansing district will join nearly 260 others across Michigan that have...

Public sector workers may freely exercise right-to-work under a 4-3 ruling passed down July 29 by the Michigan Supreme Court. The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) challenged Gov. Rick Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette and members of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission on the constitutionality of Public Act 349 of 2012 (right-to-work). The UAW argued that PA 349 was unconstitutional regarding workers classified as civil service employees and that the Civil Service Commission has the authority to compel civil service workers to pay an agency fee to the union or risk being fired....

Contemplate, if you will, these two facts. First, you’ve almost certainly heard about the videos that exposing the grisly business of Planned Parenthood (PP) in selling fetal body parts. Should Americans who think that this is a moral abomination be compelled to help fund this organization? Many union members have to “contribute” to PP. Last year, unions gave over $400,000 to PP and its political action fund. As Heritage Foundation’s James Sherk and Christa Deneault point out in this piece, the unions did not have to bother to find out whether the members whose dues funded this “generosity” approve of...

National Nurses United gives Bernie Sanders his first national union endorsement — and Keystone was the deciding factor. OAKLAND, California — Bernie Sanders earned the endorsement of National Nurses United after the membership of the nation’s largest nurses union voted to back him over his Democratic rivals, leaders of the union announced at their headquarters here Monday. The union represents more than 185,000 members. Ninety percent of them are women. Working women are a major target for Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton — and she’s already successfully wooed the endorsement of another huge union representing thousands of working women, the AFT....

Full title: Report: ‘Within IRS, Union Exerts Extreme Influence on Employees;’ ‘Makes It Difficult for Agency to Remain Apolitical’ (CNSNews.com) - When the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday released a bipartisan report on its investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s treatment of Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status, Sen. Orrin Hatch, the committee’s chairman, released a companion report prepared by the committee's majority staff that presented Hatch's additional views on the investigation. In these additional views, Hatch was highly critical of the influence that the National Treasury Employees Union has on the IRS and the ability of...

".....Unions may not matter much in American workplaces anymore but unions represent the main political obstacle to just about every kind of reform: School choice. Entitlements. Pensions. Health care.Even causes that wouldn’t seem union business prompt union opposition. Labor has been the chief obstacle to overhauling California’s notorious Environmental Quality Act—a reform supported by Democrats and environmentalists—because unions like using the law’s excessive paperwork burdens to threaten projects important to employers.Big labor is behind a New Jersey state senator’s proposal last week for a trillion-dollar federal bailout of state and local government pensions—pensions that most federal taxpayers who would be...

People who pay union dues may be donating to Planned Parenthood whether they like it or not. The Free Beacon reported on Monday that three of the biggest unions in America donated a total of $435,000 to Planned Parenthood during 2014. The three unions were the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). AFSCME and SEIU both represent public sector employees.​ But the ties between Planned Parenthood and some of America’s biggest unions go far beyond donations. Almost all of the 2014 union-donated money was spent...

I’m still not at the point where I’m willing to raise the possibility of Hillary losing the nomination to some number greater than 0% but there are some interesting smoke signals coming up on the horizon lately which might have me questioning the collective wisdom on the subject. Bernie Sanders is in Maryland this week attending the AFL-CIO’s executive council meeting and making his pitch for why he’s a better candidate to support big labor than Hillary. (Clinton will be there after him.) Obviously he would like to have the support of the unions because, let’s face it, no...

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - For Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, there's something awkward about the Harley-Davidson motorcycles that he has been posing on at presidential campaign stops: each one bears a sticker on its frame that reads "Union made in the USA." Walker has made the iconic American brand a centerpiece of his campaign kick-off tour this month, visiting four dealerships and sometimes showing off his own 2003 Harley Road King as he seeks to harness its appeal to older white male voters. But there is another side to Harley that the Republican candidate has been less vocal about - it is...