One of the biggest changes in the union movement has happened mostly under the radar, but it has big consequences for union officials, workers and the public at large. Unions used to be powerful in the private sector. But now, most union workers nationwide are government employees. It has been this way since 2009. Since...
When a state construction project goes up for bid, a union outfit often ends up with the contract. This is one of the seamier aspects of Illinois government. State laws and common practices for bidding are designed to cover up for union firms’ disadvantages and steer projects their way. The unions are always ready to...
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...
In Big Labor mythology, union leaders are gritty, idealistic working class people standing up to the arrogant and wealthy. In reality, running a union is big business, and a union gig can mean making a pretty good living. Illinois teachers unions can be particularly generous with compensation. In “The Labor Book,” we looked at government...
In recent months, unions that had been sharply critical about many aspects of ObamaCare have been extremely quiet since Republicans in Congress have made a concerted – and very controversial – attempt to slow down implementation of the law. The federal government shutdown could have presented a creative union lobbyist with a great opening to...
Just a couple of weeks ago the AFL-CIO passed a sharp criticism of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare, in a written document at its national convention in Los Angeles. This document was the last of a string of union complaints about the national health insurance law and the way that the...
Illinois is one of several states that have chosen to allow the “unionization” of people who provide care for children or disabled persons and receive assistance from state programs. But one woman has stood up against this forced unionization. Pamela Harris is a mother from Western Springs, Ill., who has been forced to fend off...
Does President Barack Obama think House Republicans should form a union? If not, it’s hard to make much sense out of his latest speech at a business in Rockville, Md., in which he equated House Republicans’ decision not to support a budget that would fund ObamaCare to disgruntled workers going on strike: If you are...
Illinois public school teachers are required to financially support unions whether they want to or not. They don’t have much of a choice – it’s either pay up, or give up teaching. Union bosses claim to have teachers’ best interests in mind, but despite this they sometimes make outrageous demands that cost teachers their jobs....
The ethics of big labor tend to be completely backward, protecting the corrupt while punishing the diligent. One reason why is a federal labor law that fails to protect union officials when they try to protect their members from crime, as James Sherk writes in National Review’s “Corner” blog. In a recent article that appeared...
School has been back in session for about a month now, and teachers across Illinois are busy making lesson plans, grading papers and more. But they should also be thinking about whether or not they want to contribute to their union’s political campaigns. Public school teachers are almost always forced to pay union dues or...
Before ObamaCare became law, many labor unions – including the Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA – supported it. But over the last several months, labor unions have become more and more alarmed over the actual effects of the law. Now Terry Sullivan, General President of LiUNA, has gone further than any other union leader...
Back in 2011 Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took on the state’s powerful unions and the Wisconsin Legislature enacted a dramatic labor law reform. Several lawsuits filed since the bill passed claimed Walker’s overhaul was unconstitutional. These lawsuits have been percolating through the courts ever since. The latest decision comes from a federal judge, who has...
Following complaints about ObamaCare made by many of its constituent unions, the AFL-CIO has rendered its verdict on the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, commonly referred to as ObamaCare. From the labor federation’s convention in Los Angeles come four pages of finely tuned verbiage spiced with numbing bureaucratic minutia that boil down to “We love...