Free Republic

On heels of high-profile walkouts, new organizing and spiking approval for unions, union leaders see decision as rallying point to unrig economy and put workers first WASHINGTON - June 27, 2018 - The following statement was issued by leaders and members of NEA, AFSCME, SEIU and AFT following the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against working people and in favor of billionaire CEOs and corporate interests in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, holding that requiring fair-share fees in the public sector violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. As millions of American workers recommit to their...

Supreme Court's Janus ruling finally gives a voice to 5M workers The government can no longer force its employees to pay a union as a condition of their employment. That’s what the Supreme Court decided on Wednesday in the case Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. This decision is life-changing for about 5 million government workers in 22 states, who have been forced to give part of every paycheck to a government union just to do their jobs. Workers who chose not to join a union in those states were still required to pay agency fees,...

The Janus ruling was earth-shaking (in a hugely positive way). Way past time for out-of-control government unions (aka Democrat money-laundering machines) to be taken down at least one peg. But I thought the more important takeaway was SCOTUS putting in writing the idea that precedent is insufficient grounds for preserving bad law that conflicts with fundamental constitutional tenets. "Fundamental free speech rights are at stake...and [prior precedent] Abood [v. Detroit Bd of Ed.] was poorly reasoned." - Justice Alito It's really bad news for the lefties, who always scream about "settled law" and stare decisis. This ruling has huge implications...

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that pubic sector unions for state and local employees can’t force non-members to pay a “fair-share” union fee. In a 5-4 ruling Tuesday, the court said the extraction of agency fees from non-consenting public sector employees violates the First Amendment. The case centers on an Illinois law, similar to those in 22 other states, that allow public-sector unions to collect a “fair-share fee” from employees for non-political activities like collective bargaining, regardless of whether those employees belong to the union or not. Mark Janus, a state child support specialist at the center of the case,...

JUSTICE ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court. Under Illinois law, public employees are forced to subsi­ dize a union, even if they choose not to join and strongly object to the positions the union takes in collective bar­ gaining and related activities. We conclude that this arrangement violates the free speech rights of nonmem­ bers by compelling them to subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern. We upheld a similar law in Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Ed., 431 U. S. 209 (1977), and we recognize the importance of following precedent unless there are strong reasons for...

One of the main themes in the blockbuster case of Janus v. AFSCME—currently before the United States Supreme Court—is the risk of having unions sit on both sides of the table in public-sector contract negotiations. Nowhere is that risk more pronounced than in California, where the perverse and pervasive effects of union political influence are on display in Cal Fire Local 2881 v. California Public Employees’ Retirement System, now before the California Supreme Court. Between 2009 and 2013, California law allowed state and local employees with over five years of service to purchase with their own funds up to five...

While the Supreme Court heard oral argument, last week, in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the court of public opinion focused not so much on the constitutionality of the law in question, i.e. justice, but instead on the partisan impact of the decision, i.e. politics. The case concerns Mark Janus, a child-care specialist for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, who refuses to join the union. Nonetheless, by state law, Janus is forced to pay “agency fees” to AFSCME. Those agency fees are 78 percent of what a union member pays in...

On February 26, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Janus v. AFSCME. The issue in the case is whether public unions can compel workers who have declined to become members to pay them an “agency fee” that supposedly covers the union’s activities other than political action. Mark Janus is a public employee in Illinois and under state law, he must pay “his” union, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees a fee that is 78 percent of the full membership dues. That is the amount that the union says is the “fair share” of workers who decline...

The Supreme Court was sharply divided Monday during high-profile arguments in a case that could deal a blow to public-sector employee unions across the country – and the justice seen as a key vote was not showing his hand. At issue are so-called “fair share” fees that nonmembers pay unions to help cover the costs of contract negotiations. Justices split on the issue 4-4 when it came up two years ago – but with Justice Neil Gorsuch now filling the vacancy left by the late Antonin Scalia, all eyes were on him Monday morning in Washington. Gorsuch, however, said nothing...

The Supreme Court could be responsible for the most far-reaching change to labor policy in 2018, as the justices will take up a case that could end the practice of forcing government workers to pay union dues. In September, the justices announced they would hear Janus v. American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees. Unions such as AFSCME depend on those funds and are likely to face steep membership and dues losses if the practice ends. Public-sector unions now account for roughly half of the labor movement, so a loss could be a blow to union power. The case...

BOONE, IOWA – Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 79% privately defended the National Security Agency’s (NSA) spying on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even as he publicly condemned the practice. Rubio and his ally Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) 86% discussed the matter privately in a room away from reporters early Wednesday morning at the Royal Amsterdam Hotel in Pella, Iowa. The two men talked before they set out on a three-stop Iowa campaign tour to showcase Gowdy’s endorsement of Rubio. This reporter heard the conversation while picking up a laptop computer and other materials left in a back...

SNIP He says “many fabulous people come in from Mexico and our country is better for it.” He then calls the United States “a dumping ground for Mexico.” SNIP

Bill Gross, who co-founded Pacific Investment Management, or Pimco, in 1971, will leave his own firm to join competitor Janus Capital. Gross served as the firm’s chief investment officer and managed the Pimco Total Return fund — one of the world’s largest bond funds with more than $1.9 trillion in securities, according to the company’s website. The fund has not done well for years, though, and has been plagued by huge outflows. “I look forward to returning my full focus to the fixed income markets and investing, giving up many of the complexities that go with managing a large, complicated...

Janus and Epimetheus travel in nearly the same track, about 94,100 miles (151,500 km) out from Saturn. They occasionally pass each other, their gravity causing them to switch speeds and positions as they do; Janus goes faster and higher one time, slower and lower the next – but the two never come within more than about 6,200 miles of each other. The two moons switch positions roughly every four years. This scenario is referred to in astrophysics as a 1:1 resonance. Astronomers were initially confused when the moons were discovered in 1966 as it wasn’t known at the time that...

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today downgraded Janus Capital Group Inc.’s credit rating status to BB+, or junk, from BBB-, reflecting the Denver mutual fund company’s weakened debt-servicing capacity. Shares fell to their lowest level since the company was publicly listed in 2000.

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft Corp. is unveiling copyright protection software to allow rented songs or movies to be used on portable players, cellular phones and other devices. The company's latest "digital rights management" software, code-named Janus, was released Monday. It will give songs and videos purchased through subscription services a sort of digital expiration date that works even when the data is transferred from a computer. The technology also protects the content against piracy. The goal is to make it easier for companies who want customers to rent songs or videos, rather than own them, to also let those...

<p>Janus Capital Group said Richard Garland, CEO of its international business, resigned amid allegations that the Denver-based money manager was involved in improper mutual fund trading.</p> <p>Garland, 42, was named in New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's complaint on Sept. 3 that initiated the biggest investigation of the mutual fund industry.</p>

"Janus (JNS:NYSE - commentary - research) Apologizes" is an unlikely phrase that merits comparisons to "Garbo Laughs!" Janus was the fund shop that made no apologies for its aggressive growth, heavily concentrated approach to investing that led to explosive returns and new investor dollars in the 1990s and an implosion during the bear market. Well, it's been a topsy-turvy week for Janus Capital Group after New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer named Janus as one of the fund firms that enabled hedge fund Canary Capital to make money in its funds to the detriment of individual fund holders. The unofficial...