unions

Government union power cracking as support wanes

By Paul Kersey
12/10/2013
While teachers unions hold tremendous power, cracks are starting to appear in their foundations.  As Stephanie Simon reports in Politico, both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are dealing with new challenges: declining membership, the growing popularity of Right-to-Work laws and a loss of support among the public. As Simon describes...

TAGS: AFT: American Federation of Teachers, lobbying, unions

AFSCME workers to strike Monday in Will County

By Paul Kersey
11/17/2013
What happens when a local union calls a strike and employees show up to work anyway? Will County residents may get to find out. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1028 announced that it intends to strike against Will County effective Monday, Nov. 18. The strike comes in spite of a final...

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Bruce Tidwell, labor, strike, unions

Government unions and wasteful spending

By Paul Kersey
10/18/2013
A look at self-reported government union spending reveals budgets fraught with waste. Unions exist to represent workers, so that’s where the bulk of their money should go. Yet among the state offices of the four largest government worker unions, the portion of spending that goes to representation ranges wildly, from nearly $0.60 out of $1...

TAGS: labor, SEIU: Service Employees International Union, unions

Unions and ObamaCare – It just gets worse and worse

By Paul Kersey
08/24/2013
The more that unions get to see of ObamaCare, the uglier it gets. At its annual convention the Nevada State AFL-CIO passed a strongly-worded resolution calling for changes to the “Affordable Care Act”. They aren’t the first, but the Nevada group’s statement might be the sharpest critique of ObamaCare to come out of the union movement yet. It...

TAGS: unions

Beck rights and abstention: The ways around a toxic union

By Paul Kersey
06/26/2013
A recent Google Consumer Surveys poll shows that a third of union household members would quit their union if it weren’t for the fact that doing so would cost them their jobs. Because Illinois lacks a Right-to-Work law, thousands of workers are forced to pay dues or fees to a union that they don’t believe...

TAGS: Civil Rights Act, unions

The great Twinkie turf war

By Paul Kersey
03/31/2013
The new owners of Hostess Brands are preparing to restart the production of Twinkies, Ho Hos and all those other sugary treats. Among the plants they plan to reopen is the one in the Chicago suburb of Schiller Park.

TAGS: hostess, Twinkies, unions