Unions carefully backing away from ObamaCare
Unions carefully backing away from ObamaCare
“We love what you were trying to do but we hate what you actually did.”
Unions outpace corporations in super PAC spending
Unions outpace corporations in super PAC 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.
Unions outpace corporations in super PAC spending
Unions outpace corporations in super PAC 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...
Indiana decision to strike down Right-to-Work law should not stand
Indiana decision to strike down Right-to-Work law should not stand
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...
The CTU strike, one year later – the battle lives on
The CTU strike, one year later – the battle lives on
A year ago, schoolchildren throughout Chicago were returning to class as the Chicago Teachers Union, or CTU, and Chicago Public Schools, or CPS, officials reached an agreement, ending a bitter nine-day strike. Looking back on the strike and its aftermath, there were few clear winners; but there were many losers. In the wake of the...
Labor reform continues to gain popularity
Labor reform continues to gain popularity
Labor law reform has been popular in a lot of neighboring states, with Wisconsin passing an overhaul of its government union law, and Michigan and Indiana adopting right-to-work. The move toward greater union accountability could pick up again if Missouri sets up a referendum on right-to-work, as it might as early as next year. Labor...
AFL-CIO headed for a breakup?
AFL-CIO headed for a breakup?
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka presides over a union establishment that continues to lose members – more than 1.6 million between 2002 and 2012. The Obama administration’s more union-friendly posture hasn’t helped much – union members made up 12.4 percent of the workforce in 2008, but that declined to 11.2 percent in 2012. Making matters worse,...
Tattered union label
Tattered union label
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...
Worker freedom yields healthier economies and more jobs
Worker freedom yields healthier economies and more jobs
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...
Illinois’ 25 top-paid union bosses
Illinois’ 25 top-paid union bosses
With college football starting up on this Labor Day weekend, it’s the perfect time for a Top 25 list of the most highest-compensated government union officials in Illinois. Unlike the football polls, there’s no argument over who’s No. 1; it’s all pretty cut-and-dried. The big question is: What exactly have they done to earn these...
MLB union’s handling of Biogenesis scandal highlights collective bargaining weaknesses
MLB union’s handling of Biogenesis scandal highlights collective bargaining weaknesses
The fallout from the Biogenesis scandal in Major League Baseball – New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez fighting a long suspension, a dozen other players accepting 50-game suspensions – reveals a big problem with U.S. labor law: how unions deal with disciplinary problems. How far should a union be willing to go to protect a member...
Chicago’s dire finances highlight the city’s union problem
Chicago’s dire finances highlight the city’s union problem
About a year ago, the city of Chicago released its 2012 Annual Financial Analysis. Back then I noted that many of the city’s challenges, especially high employee costs and growing pension debt, were aggravated by a heavily unionized workforce. With a new year comes newer, more disturbing financial figures – and the same old union problem...
Union workers more likely to resist new technology
Union workers more likely to resist new technology
Not all workers view technological innovation the same way. Earlier this week, the Tech Crunch blog, which covers trends in information technology businesses, examined how different types of workers view technological innovation. New technology has always had the ability to upend the workplace, and tech workers themselves are not immune. But tech workers are much more...
Detroit’s tipping point is a warning for Chicago
Detroit’s tipping point is a warning for Chicago
by Paul Kersey How did Detroit get to be the urban disaster area it is today? One tipping point come in 1978, when a union got a “win” that cost the city, and eventually its own members, dearly. This “win” came in the form of a raise concession granted to a powerful police union, which...