Even in Michigan, Big Labor feels pushback
Michigan dials back Big Labor arrogance and power — at least slightly — the legislature passed a bill to prohibit public schools from automatically collecting union dues from the paychecks…
Rhee and Christie Make Case for Right to Work
At an education town hall meeting in New Jersey, a teacher from Clifton asks what can be done to give New Jersey union teachers back the right to choose what political causes their union dues support. Their…
Union Boss: Life Isn't Fair When Union Bosses Control Education
New Jersey Education Union Director Vincent Giordano, who according to tax returns makes $550,000, was asked about why poor families should not have school choice to move their kids from failing public schools. In response, he shrugged…
Union Boss: Life Isn't Fair When Union Bosses Control Education
New Jersey Education Union Director Vincent Giordano, who according to tax returns makes $550,000, was asked about why poor families should not have school choice to move their kids from failing public schools. In response, he shrugged…
Michigan Teachers could be getting Right To Work freedom, but what about the rest of MI workers?
According to Michigan’s Capitol Confidential, teachers may soon have the right to choose whether they want to pay union dues rather than being forced to pay ever increasing dues without a choice. Others are asking, When will the rest…
Will MI Union Bigs Force Teachers Out On Strike?
Unemployment in double digits for years. Debt as far as the eyes can see. No job growth. Bailouts for major industry. Potential bankruptcy for cities and towns. This is the state of Michigan’s economy. Gov. Rick Snyder is trying…
Free Spending Union Dues
The New York Daily News reports that “As nearly 5,000 city teachers face the ax, their union shells out millions of dollars on feasting, boozing and partying, the Daily News has learned. Free-spending United…
Keeping the Gravy Train Rolling
After bailouts and billions of dollars worth of taxpayer handouts, the big public employee union bosses are spending freely to keep the train rolling. From the Wall Street Journal: The National Education Association, the largest U.S. teachers union, has independently spent more than $3.4 million that must be disclosed, including ad buys and direct-mail campaigns, for the key electioneering period from Sept. 1 to Oct. 14. The NEA spent $444,000 during the same stretch in 2006. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has nearly matched its 2006 midterm outlays. It has spent $2.1 million on electioneering since the beginning of last month, according to FEC filings for two campaign committees associated with the union. That is just shy of the $2.2 million spent for that period in 2006. Unions that represent government workers say this year's election is crucial to them, given the uproar over public-sector budget issues. Officials elected this year will face tough choices on matters such as further fiscal assistance for the nation's cash-strapped states and local governments. The issue of campaign-related spending by public-sector unions has received more attention in recent years, as state and local governments struggle with pensions and other costs. Conservative critics and business leaders have said the unions largely seek to expand their influence at taxpayers' expense. Some states have approved restrictions on political use of union dues, for example requiring unions to obtain permission from workers before spending dues on campaigns.