Big Labor Growing Bolder in Badger State with Potential for Liberal Majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court

A longtime Wisconsin factory worker charges the United Steelworkers threatened to have her fired for seeking to leave the union.  

It’s another brazen act by Badger State Big Labor, emboldened by a union-friendly governor and the prospects of the state Supreme Court taking a left turn, a worker’s freedom advocate tells The Wisconsin Daily Star. 

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Court Demands Southwest Airlines Reinstate Flight Attendant Fired over Religious Beliefs

A federal judge has awarded a former Southwest Airlines flight attendant the maximum amount in damages allowed under federal law and issued an injunction against the airline and its union from discriminating against flight attendants because of their religious beliefs.

Judge Brantley Starr, ruling for the U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas, last week ordered Southwest to pay Carter back pay and other forms of relief that the jury awarded when she won her lawsuit in July.

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Claiming ‘Democracy Under Attack,’ Biden Administration Looks to Make It Harder to Oust Unions

The day after President Joe Biden claimed “American democracy is under attack,” his administration took action to make it more difficult for employees to vote on whether or not they want to join a union.

At a Democrat Party campaign event on Wednesday, Biden said democracy is under attack by the “MAGA Republican Party,” referring to those who support former President Donald Trump.

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Alexandria Collective Bargaining Proposal Would Not Allow Employees to Challenge Vote Determination

The City of Alexandria in Virginia is considering an ordinance to provide collective rights to workers, but the current proposal would not allow employees or the city government to challenge the determination of certain votes.

As it is currently written, the proposal would allow a labor relations administrator to determine the results of a majority vote in the following areas: a petition for certification without an election, certification by representation election and decertification. No person, whether it be employees or the government, would have the right to challenge this determination.

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Columbus Civil Servant Sues Union Over Forced Payments

A city employee of Columbus, Ohio has filed a class action lawsuit against her local labor union for forcing her to pay union fees, despite the practice being ruled unconstitutional. Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) was one of the most impactful Supreme Court rulings in recent history. As reported: The landmark court case Janus V. AFSCME, ruled on last year, made it illegal for unions to compel non-union employees to pay “agency fees,” overturning a 1977 decision that affirmed this right. The decision, despite being met with resounding condemnation by national unions, was celebrated by many workers. In addition, Janus ruled that a union can’t deduct any fee from a public employee without their “affirmative consent.” Shortly after this ruling, Columbus city employee Connie Pennington, a dues-paying member of Communication Workers of America (CW) Local 4502, her formerly mandated union representation, decided that she would not continue her involvement with the organization. She resigned her union membership and revoked the forms authorizing her union to deduct their dues from her paycheck. According to a press release provided by her legal defense:  …CWA union officials refused to honor her revocation, instead claiming that she could only stop union dues payments at the…

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Minnesota Woman Becomes First in the Nation to Successfully Challenge Union’s ‘Window Period’ Scheme

A Brainerd public official has become the first in the nation to successfully challenge her union’s “window period” scheme in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Janus v. AFSCME decision. Sandra Anderson, a clerk for the City of Brainerd Police Department, filed suit against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 31 last year after she attempted to resign her membership and stop paying dues, according to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Anderson was told she could only opt out of the agreement during a 10-day “window period” prior to either the anniversary of the city’s contract with IBEW or her date of employment. IBEW Local 31, an electrical union, entered into a monopoly bargaining agreement with the City of Brainerd in 2004 that required all city employees to either join the union or pay union fees. 2018’s Janus decision, however, ruled it unconstitutional to require public employees to subsidize labor unions, and further ruled that deducting union fees from an employee’s check without their affirmative consent violates their First Amendment rights. When Anderson asked IBEW Local 31 and the City of Brainerd to cease withholding union fees, she was told she could only…

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