You may have recently noticed a startling orange billboard along the freeway, proclaiming, “Bring Democracy Back to the Union!” What do these billboards mean? It means Connecticut’s public service workers are asking for the right to choose who represents their most precious rights at the bargaining table.
Read MoreThis past December, the Yankee Institute of Public Policy conducted a voter survey, asking 1,209 registered voters across the state how they felt about the issues of union transparency and union worker voting rights. Connecticut voters overwhelmingly support the idea of union recertification election.
Read MoreThree out of four union members believe workers should have voting rights when it comes to choosing their union. See what else we found out in our survey of statewide public union employees.
Read More"In an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, the court concluded today that the fees violate the First Amendment.”
Read More“Unclear Wednesday was the degree to which the decision would cost unions revenue beyond the lost agency fees in Connecticut, a state with the highest per-capita union membership in New England and one of the five highest in the U.S.”
Read More“Most obviously, collective bargaining profoundly affects city and state budgets. When union’s ask for raises and benefits (often with little apparent regard for a state’s financial situation), the result is often increased taxes and budget shortfalls. These are undoubtedly political issues that public employees can disagree about. And this alone was enough for the Court to conclude that collective bargaining is an inherently political action."
Read More"The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Wednesday in Janus v. AFSCME that nonunion workers cannot be forced to pay fees to public sector unions.”
Read More"What it will mean is that union leaders will have to work harder to persuade workers to keep paying."
Read More“If the Court rules for the plaintiffs, state- and local-government workers in 22 states will no longer have to subsidize organized labor as a condition of employment; instead, they will be free to choose the organizations to which to contribute money, or to contribute not at all.”
Read More“Mr. Janus’s lawyers said the case is about freedom of speech and association. The activities of public unions are akin to lobbying, they said, and so are by their nature political. Forcing unwilling workers to pay for such activities violates the First Amendment, they added, by compelling them to support messages with which they disagree."
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