The Michigan Civil Service Commission last Friday issued a notice of proposed changes in the how unions collect money from state employees.
The two proposed changes pertain to payroll deduction of union dues, discontinuing of union service fees, and authorization to collect union dues from employees.
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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s department announced Gregory Timm was arrested after allegedly driving a van into a Republican voter registration tent in a Jacksonville area parking lot.
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Public employees who paid mandatory dues to government unions are not entitled to refunds, despite a Supreme Court decision striking down such agency fee arrangements as unconstitutional, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.
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Our nation’s pension systems are in trouble. Underfunded with outsized promises to beneficiaries who are living longer, the death rattles of the defined benefit pension system, which promises a fixed amount of money per month for retirees, are now audible.
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An elementary school in California has seen improvements among students for the first time in more than 10 years — something that was unthinkable just last year.
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A U.S. magistrate judge has ruled that Aaron Benner, a former St. Paul Public Schools (SPPS) teacher, can seek punitive damages against his former employer, which allegedly retaliated against him after he criticized its “racial equity” policy.
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The Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019 (PRO Act) is a great illustration of just how radical and out-of-touch today’s Democrat Party is. The bill, which has 179 House Democrat cosponsors and 40 Senate Democrat cosponsors, would force millions of workers into unions they oppose and destroy jobs while lining the pockets of liberal fat-cat donors. Just when some workers finally begin recovering from the Great Recession is no time to be killing jobs in the franchise industry and the gig economy. For these and other reasons, the bill must be rejected.
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by Edward Ring When government fails, public-sector unions win. When society fragments, public-sector unions consolidate their power. When citizenship itself becomes less meaningful, and the benefits of American citizenship wither, government unions offer an exclusive solidarity. Government unions insulate their members from the challenges facing ordinary private citizens. On…
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The labor union solely responsible for the future of Ohio’s Lordstown Auto Complex was blasted Wednesday in Tennessee for the myriad of scandals that have plagued the organization over the past several years. The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, commonly known as the United…
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The last manufacturing orders left for the rapidly shuttering Lordstown Auto Plant finished up on April 5. The project – metal stamping replacement parts for the Chevy Cruze – was slated to last until June, ensuring work for those few employees still not laid off. With the job wrapping up…
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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…
Read More COLUMBUS, Ohio– On Wednesday, with dignity and uncertainty, the workers of Lordstown Assembly Plant assembled their last vehicle. The plant will still make certain parts but the Chevy Cruze, which had been produced and assembled at the plant since 2011, will no longer be produced in Ohio. As previously reported, in November of last year…
Read More An ongoing feud between one labor union and an automaker may cost thousands of jobs in Lordstown, Ohio. The Lordstown Assembly Complex in Lordstown, Ohio has been the lifeblood of that town since 1966. Currently, the factory is owned and operated by General Motors, while the workforce is represented by the United Automobile…
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Denver teachers went on strike Monday after failing to reach a deal with administrators on pay. The school district said schools will remain open during the strike and will be staffed by administrators and substitute teachers. However, the district has canceled classes for 5,000 preschool children because it doesn’t have…
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On February 13th, the Citizens for Community Values will join with a group of concerned parents to hold a press conference, imploring the Ohio legislature to expand access to EDChoice Scholarships. Since 2005, EdChoice scholarships have existed been a statewide initiative that gives students the opportunity to receive scholarships to attend private…
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by Richard McCarty Public sector unions have long exploited taxpayers by pushing for higher taxes, higher spending, and generous benefits and extravagant pensions for government workers while opposing measures to hold bureaucrats accountable. Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus decision, which gave government workers a choice of whether to belong…
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More than half of all workplace tasks will be carried out by machines by 2025, organizers of the Davos economic forum said in a report released Monday that highlights the speed with which the labor market will change in coming years. The World Economic Forum estimates that machines will be…
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By Richard McCarty The nation’s largest union had a run of good luck during the Obama years, but the last couple of years have been rough for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). For those not familiar with the union, SEIU claims 2 million members and is composed of janitors, security guards,…
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by David Kreutzer and Rachel Greszler Last month’s Supreme Court decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees hit public-sector unions like a bombshell. Now that public-sector unions can no longer extract union fees from workers who want nothing to do with them, public unions will have…
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By Richard McCarty The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has proposed rolling back an Obama-Era regulation that allowed union dues to be deducted from Medicaid checks. If the proposed regulation takes effect, only deductions specifically allowed by law,…
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A woman claiming to be a union member from Nashville left a foul-mouthed voice mail last week at the offices of the Mackinac Center, the Michigan-based think tank that filed an amicus brief in the Janus v. AFSCME lawsuit in which the Supreme Court ruled employees could not be required…
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By Richard McCarty For over a decade, Mark Janus has had to pay fees to a union to keep his job as a child support specialist at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Believing that he should not be forced to pay these fees to a union whose…
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The Tennessee Education Association Fund for Children and Public Education (TEA-FCPE), which is the PAC and political arm for the teachers’ union in Tennessee, has endorsed House Speaker Beth Harwell for the Republican nomination for Governor. The TEA’s PAC also endorsed House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh in the Democratic Party…
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An expected U.S. Supreme Court decision, will change the political landscape. And unions are desperately trying to hold on to their political power after Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is ruled on, the political landscape may very well change.
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The State Board of Education instituted a minimum teacher’s salary of $33,745 in 2017, which essentially established a starting salary for the approximately 10 months a year that teachers work each year. Overall, Tennessee teachers receive an average annual salary of over $50,000. How does that stack up against income…
Read More By Richard McCarty The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is one of the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful unions in the country. Unfortunately, because SEIU is exploitative, fundamentally dishonest, and unethical, it’s also one of the last organizations anyone should ever want on their side. For example, one of…
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With a huge number of vacancies in State House and Senate seats in 2018, many due to retirements and others due to Members accepting political appointments or seeking other offices, there will be a historic number of contested seats in the August, 2018 Republican primary election. Republicans currently enjoy supermajorities…
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Employees at a hospital in Pennsylvania are petitioning the National Labor Relations Board to overturn a board regional director’s decision to unionize the workers without their consent. Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill East’s 160 workers were forced into a union membership with the Service Employees International Union through the “accretion doctrine,” a…
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By J.C. Bowman and Justin Owen This week is National Employee Freedom Week. From August 20 to 26, we celebrate Americans’ right to work freely of compulsory union representation, as well as every citizen’s right to join a union if he or she believes it is in his…
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Since 2012, the UAW has desperately worked to shore up it’s dwindling numbers – as well as gain a semblance of presence in the South – by unionizing the Canton, Mississippi Nissan plant’s over 6,000 workers. Three weeks ago, union activists passed a significant hurdle when the petition to unionize earned the…
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Dear Tennessee Star, It really is simple the more members who pay union dues affords greater political clout for that union and feed the union bureaucracy. Most people still have a lot to learn about unions, especially in education. Many have likened unions to being an ATM to left-wing…
Read More A bill that would require public sector unions to disclose its membership count on an annual basis passed through committee in the Florida legislature Wednesday and is now awaiting a floor vote. Republican Florida state legislator Scott Plakon introduced House Bill 11, which would compel public sector unions to report…
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