Free Republic

It’s no secret that government unions need reform. Government workers earn nearly twice as much as their private sector counterparts, and taxpayers are paying for it. These inflated salaries and benefits are threatening to bankrupt Arizona cities. On top of that, unions spend millions to influence the outcome of elections, estimated to be $400 million this year alone, and support issues that are at odds with the limited government policies you and I support.  The vast majority of that money comes from dues that are automatically deducted from workers’ paychecks. Right now when a government employee joins a union, a...

by Mark Finkelstein August 29, 2006 - 07:23 A New York Times editorial and an op-ed piece by one of its house columnists have something interesting in common this morning: stamp-your-feet frustration with the way the world is and an inability to suggest what should be done about it. In The Falling Paycheck, the Times editorial board complains that real wages aren't keeping up with the economy's continued expansion. "American employees have not shared in the wealth they’ve helped to create," laments the Old Gray Lady. Sure sounds as if the Times subscribes to the 'surplus value' theory of labor....

Teachers reject union; form independent professional association Teachers in the Sprague-Lamont School District (an hour west of Spokane) voted October 10 to decertify the Washington Education Association (WEA) as their collective bargaining representative. Led by science teacher Jim Dishon, the teachers formed a local professional organization, the Sprague-Lamont Professional Educators Association. The teachers received assistance from Northwest Professional Educators, a non-union, non-profit professional educators association based in Spokane. Michael Reitz, the director of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's Labor Policy Center, released the following comment: "The National Education Association and its local affiliate, the Washington Education Association, disrespect teachers by overcharging...

NEW! POLL SHOWS OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR REFORM A recent public opinion poll of likely voters in California shows overwhelming support of Propositions 73, 74, 75, 76, 77. Proposition 75- Paycheck Protection- received the highest level of support at 60% in favor. Among Likely voters: PROP 73 59% Yes 39% No 2% Undecided PROP 74 55% Yes 44% No 2% Undecided Prop 75 60% Yes 37% No 3% Undecided Prop 76 58% Yes 36% No 6% Undecided Prop 77 59% Yes 36% No 5% Undecided Conducted by: Survey USA Sponsoring News Organizations: KABC-TV Los Angeles , KPIX-TV San Francisco 1,200 California...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A small group of teachers and lawyers who are seeking class action status for a lawsuit against the California Teachers Association was drowned out by screams and chants Thursday as they tried to hold a news conference outside the union's office. The National Right to Work Foundation, which filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Jose on behalf of six named teachers and professors, claims the CTA is illegally collecting a $60 levy in each of the next three years to pay for electioneering. The union voted to raise dues by that amount in hopes...

SACRAMENTO - An anti-union group filed a federal lawsuit Thursday to block the powerful California Teachers Association from raising dues to fight four ballot measures pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The class-action suit -- prepared by the National Right to Work Legal Foundation on behalf of six instructors, including Franklin Lowenthal, a professor at Cal State East Bay -- alleges the $60-per-member increase is an involuntary loan and violates their free-speech rights. "We should not have to pay that," said Lowenthal, who contacted the nonprofit foundation after learning of the fee hike. The teachers association dismissed the challenge as a...

A number of California Teachers have teamed up with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRTW) to fight back against the union bosses who (without a vote of the membership) authorized an increase in their membership dues to fight the Governor’s reforms on the November special election ballot. Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

Bob Baker is a union president and a Los Angeles police officer who considers himself generally conservative. "Don't ever call a cop a liberal," said Baker, head of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. He even blanches at the word "union," saying it reminds him of corrupt Teamster bosses. Baker, who often works in concert with liberal labor leaders, prefers "recognized bargaining unit." So it goes with police unions, a hybrid of law-and-order conservatism and bread-and-butter liberalism. They may tilt Republican in party loyalty, but their labor representatives frequently turn to Democrats on matters such as pay and pensions. That...

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Turning up the heat in his ongoing battle with public employee unions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger officially endorsed a ballot measure Saturday that would require those unions to seek written permission from members before using dues money for political purposes. Democrats, the principal beneficiaries of labor union contributions, have viewed the measure as a virtual declaration of war on their political power in the state. Addressing an enthusiastic luncheon crowd at the state Republican Party convention, Schwarzenegger announced his support for the measure dubbed "Paycheck Protection," which will appear on the ballot as Proposition 75. The initiative...

SACRAMENTO - Labor groups opposing a special election measure that would restrict the use of union dues are asking a state watchdog agency to order the release of a list of donors supporting the measure. Opponents of Proposition 75 said the identities of individual donors have been illegally hidden behind a business-oriented political action committee that provided more than half the money used to qualify the measure for the ballot. Unions filed a complaint earlier this year with the state Fair Political Practices Commission and said they need to see the list of donors to the Small Business Action Committee...

The California Teachers Association recently raised dues by $60 per member in order to fight initiatives on the upcoming Nov. 8 ballot. The temporary dues increase is expected to raise over $50 million. Too bad the teachers didn't have a choice. In a triumph of union "democracy," the decision to raise dues was approved by the union's 800-person governing body, only two-tenths of 1 percent of the union's 335,000 members. Ironically, one of the initiatives the CTA plans to fight would require public employee unions to get individual member permission before spending dues on political activity - a measure known...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - With more than four months to go before the special election, a majority of voters said they support a measure that would restrict the use of dues paid to public employee unions for political campaigns, according to a new statewide poll. Another initiative on the special election ballot that would require parental notification before a minor child could get an abortion was favored by a smaller plurality of voters, according to the Field Poll released Thursday, while two measures aimed at bringing down the cost of prescription drugs received strong support from voters statewide. The so-called Paycheck...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election agenda to reshape California appears to be losing ground, attention is shifting to a ballot measure aimed at Democrats that would limit the use of union dues in political campaigns. Supporters of the so-called Paycheck Protection initiative said Thursday they will turn in more than 600,000 signatures early next week - far more than the 373,816 required for qualification. If so, the little-noticed initiative could displace the governor's own weakening platform and become a focal point of the expected fall election. "Paycheck protection is designed and written with one goal in...

Battle over union dues A group led by an ally of the governor is funding the 'employee consent' bill.By Andy Furillo -- Bee Capitol Bureau Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 7, 2005 A pro-business group whose leader is closely connected to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is funding the signature-gathering effort to make it tougher for public employee unions to spend their members' dues money on political campaigns. The Small Business Action Committee has contributed $375,000 to the Coalition for Employee Rights, which is trying to get the "employee consent" measure on a possible special election ballot this November. The committee...