Labor unions are losing influence, popularity and the fight over labor policy in many states. To soften their fall, unions have dramatically increased political spending.

Labor unions are losing influence, popularity and the fight over labor policy in many states. To soften their fall, unions have dramatically increased political spending. A study from the Center for Public Integrity shows labor unions have notably increased political spending nationally in the first half of 2013. During the six-month period, unions contributed $10 million to...

Judge John Sedia of the Lake County, Ind., Superior Court has held that the state’s Right-to-Work law violates the state constitution. While the Sept. 9 decision is disappointing, neither union officials nor union critics should put much stock in it. The state will appeal the case to the Indiana Supreme Court, which is very likely to reverse...

Unions exist to give workers greater leverage in negotiating over compensation and working conditions, and to give them some protection from unfair treatment at the hands of management. If union officials are doing their jobs well, workers should be receiving better wages and benefits, and should be more secure in their jobs. But that’s not...

Does giving workers the freedom to choose whether to join a union make a difference? A new report from the Mackinac Center – our sister think tank in Michigan – says yes, it does. Ball State University professor Michael Hicks teamed up with Mackinac’s Fiscal Policy Director Mike LaFaive to produce a sophisticated analysis of employment, income...

by Paul Kersey CNBC released its rankings of the friendliest states for business last week. Illinois dropped further down the list, but one nearby state is climbing, in large part because its elected officials passed a Right-to-Work law. CNBC’s Scott Cohn took notice, reporting that the Michigan moved from 33rd to 29th. CNBC’s rating of the state’s...

Earlier this week I wrote about Pam Harris, the Western Springs, Ill., mother who is at risk of having a union siphon off state aid money meant to help her care for her disabled son. So how is it that Harris, and so many like her, found themselves treated as employees by the state? Why don’t...

by Paul Kersey The 10-year strike by housekeepers at the Congress Hotel was not actually the longest in U.S. history. Teamsters at Diamond Walnuts in California staged a walkout that lasted 14 years before agreeing to a contract. But the length of the strike and the sad way the Congress Hotel strike ended demolishes a fond...