Free Republic

MADISON, Wis. -- State unions were dealt a setback Friday when a federal judge said they would have to get their members to opt in, rather than opt out, to having the state deduct union dues from their paychecks. What's more, the judge did not rule on dues deductions for unions that he earlier found the state improperly decertified. The state's largest unions were decertified, and the ruling -- at least for now -- will make it harder for them to get money from dues. But U.S. District Court Judge William Conley gave unions one beneficial ruling by saying that...

ROCHESTER, NY--Four Monroe County probation officers have won relief in their protracted federal legal battle against two government unions for violating their First Amendment rights. The four officers, led by David Scheffer, filed the suit with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys. The probation officers sued the Civil Service Employees Association and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees for seizing forced union dues from their paychecks for illegal union expenditures. The officers charged that union officials were spending their forced dues on union organizing drives, despite the officers’ objections, according to a Right...

I've checked with an ad agency. We can probably raise the funds we need to operate FR at our current level and at the current market price for online advertising if we run a banner ad at the top of every page and at least one rectangular ad in the above the fold body of the page and a couple rectangular ads in the sidebar. If that doesn't generate enough revenue, we can also run pop ups or pop unders and we can even run audio and video ads if need be. But of course, if we go full bore...

Madison - How much public workers should pay for benefits is emerging as a new flash point in the Democratic race to see who will take on Scott Walker in the recall election for governor. The two leading contenders part ways significantly, with Kathleen Falk wanting to open the issue back up in union negotiations and Tom Barrett wanting to keep employee contributions at current levels. And although both say they would attempt to re-establish the ability of public-sector unions to engage in negotiations - which was lost under Walker - they differ in how they would go about trying...

Legislation to prohibit public school districts from deducting contributions to political action committees (PACs) from employee paychecks appears to be on a fast track in the Michigan House. House Bills 5085 and 5086 are scheduled to be taken up by the House Redistricting and Elections Committee on Dec. 6. It seems likely the measures will receive committee approval that day and be sent to the House floor. The apparent goal is to have the legislation passed by the House and sent to the Senate before the upcoming end-of-the-year holiday break. “We think this is good policy,” said House Redistricting and...

If you're a parent who accepts Medicaid payments from the State of Michigan to help support your mentally-disabled adult children, you qualify as a state employee for the purposes of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). They can now claim and receive a portion of your Medicaid in the form of union dues. Robert and Patricia Haynes live in Michigan with their two adult children, who have cerebral palsy. The state government provides the family with insurance through Medicaid, but also treats them as caregivers. For the SEIU, this makes them public employees and thus members of the union, which...

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Wednesday stepped up criticism of calls by some members of Congress to withhold or slash U.S. funding of the United Nations, saying such moves were "backward" and would seriously undermine America's role as a world leader. Republican-led efforts in Congress could force the U.S. to withhold half of its annual contribution to the world body. A senior State Department official said the administration's engagement with the United Nations and promise to pay its dues had bolstered once-languishing U.S. influence at the world body that should not be squandered. "We oppose the backwards calls we...

It looks like the National Education Association is not putting its money where its mouth is. In its mission statement, the nation’s largest teachers union asserts that “we will focus the energy and resources of our 3.2 million members on improving the quality of teaching, increasing student achievement and making schools safer, better places to learn.” But a secret union document reveals that the NEA’s commitment to “improv(ing) teaching and learning” works out to a paltry $7.44 per member every year. This is according to a document obtained from an internal source of the Indiana State Teachers Association, one of...

Just got some great funk music in this series of 45's that came out around 1968-1975, Florida Funk, because the guitar stuff was amazing. Turns out the rest was truly amazing too, not only was it funk, it was jazz, soul, blues, rock, and a whole lot of artist that were in the groove. Drums, the horns, keyboards, I think I even heard some funky claive(sp?). Your going to love it, and mercifully may even forget all about the budgeting woes.

Demonstrators at the Wisconsin capitol, union representatives and absent Democratic state senators concede in interviews that they don't object to a bill requiring teachers and other public employees to pay 12.5 percent of their health insurance (up from five percent), or up to half of their pension deposits. It is the curbing of collective bargaining that has brought on near hysteria and a fierce campaign to discredit Governor Scott Walker's legislation. For the union leaders the consequences of passage of the legislation could be devastating to their sinecures. Amid all the shouting, placards and banging on pots and pans in...

where can I find what % public union dues go to elect democrats ? Is there a place to find out on a union by union matrix of what % of dues are used to politic and electioneer?

Last month, citizens across the country sent a strong message to politicians - Republicans and Democrats alike - that they do not want more congressional meddling. But the leaders of the lame-duck Congress didn't listen. One of Big Labor's top objectives is to ram the so-called Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (reintroduced last week as S. 3991) into law. Under this cynically mislabeled legislation, all states and localities would be denied the option to refuse to grant a single public-safety union the power to speak for all front-line employees, including those who don't want to join.

A little over a year ago, I wrote a column suggesting that due to the blatant hostility the National Education Association was expressing towards Christians, it was time for Christian teachers to withdraw their membership from the NEA. As it turns out, the focus of my call to abandon this radically left lobby group was a bit too narrow. As evidenced by its own website, the NEA is not merely anti-Christian, they are anti-American as well. How else can you explain the plan that appeared on the NEA's "Diversity Calendar" instructing teachers to make October 1st a special recognition of...

U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson and James Oberstar, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, and the Minnesota Senate Caucus are the only entities paid up through mid-July, according to the spreadsheet attached to Melendez's memo. State officials say the bad economy, changes in the state law reimbursing campaign contributions, and the natural election cycle have forced them to twist arms among contributors -- including their own elected officials. In his memo, Melendez complained to the delinquent officeholders about the need for them to catch up on dues to the UDF, a fund within the party that helps pay for basic party campaigns...

THE word “tax” was never pretty. But it has lately become the ugliest word in the English language, right up there with its evil twin, “death.” Even in time of war, ostensibly patriotic politicians blithely pledge to slay any tax that rears its ghastly head. Public officials dodge work they know desperately needs doing because of the possibility that it may cause an increase in taxes. It’s time to take a page from the conservative playbook, the one where they reframe the debate by changing the language — for instance, calling the “estate tax” a “death tax,” or making equal...

A federal judge has ordered the state's largest public employee union to repay as many as 28,000 non-union state workers who were not given a chance to challenge a 2005 dues increase to fight initiatives backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Judge Morrison England, in a decision Thursday, ordered Service Employees International Union Local 1000 to send notices to the workers who opted out of union membership. The union must issue refunds, with interest, to those non-union members who object to the special assessment. The rebate would amount to $135 plus interest for a worker who made $4,500 a month in...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON, DC / PR FREE / Jun 19 2007 -- NAWER praises the good work of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and the people of Washington state who worked tirelessly to remove the yoke of Big Labor from the shoulders of hard- working families. The unanimous SCOTUS decision last week took away Labor's presumed intent to decide for workers who disagree with them where and how their union dues are being spent .

WASHINGTON -- Democracy is rule by persuasion, but the unpersuasive often try to coerce the unpersuaded. Recent days have provided two illustrations of this tendency, both of them pertaining to labor unions, whose decades of declining membership testify to their waning power to persuade workers that unions add more value to workers' lives than they subtract.

When it comes to dues being used in lobbying efforts, union members should be allowed to: Prohibit all lobbying Vote on every issue Vote on controversial issues Set spending threshold Let leadership decide

To see the original article, go to http://www.effwa.org/main/article.php?article_id=1632. EFF delivers a message from teachers to the NEA Convention: "No Means No!" www.teachers-vs-union.org ORLANDO—An organization that defends the First Amendment rights of teachers will deliver a message to union officials at the National Education Association’s (NEA) convention in Orlando, Florida this weekend. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s Labor Policy Center will be at the Orange County Convention Center during the convention with a professionally prepared billboard truck (click here for images). The truck will have three key themes: “It pays to be a union boss.” When it comes to salaries, benefits and...