Category: Unions
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A Rising Democratic Star Disappoints Teachersโ Unions in Virginia
by Kevin Mahnken, The 74 Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed an expansion of collective bargaining rights last week. Her allies in the labor movement werenโt pleased. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanbergerโs rejection of a new law expanding collective bargaining rights for teachers has led to a division in the stateโs Democratic coalition. It also generated discontent…
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Spanberger Right to Veto Public Employee Unionization Bill
by Derrick A. Max Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, the sponsor of a sweeping public-sector collective bargaining bill (Senate Bill 378) said Governor Spanberger told him Wednesday that she planned to veto the legislation.โฏ If she does, she will be making the right decision for Virginia taxpayers, local governments, students, public employees and for her status as the…
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Testing a New Governor’s Resolve
by Derrick A. Max and Steve Haner This session, the General Assembly sent over 1,000 bills to Governor Spanberger for her signature. She signed 852 into law, vetoed 8 and proposed amendments to 180. Even though some of her amendments were little more than window dressing (see article on Paid Family and Medical Leave) and…
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Will Union “Dues Skimming” Come to Virginia?
by Chris Braunlich There are many reasons why Governor Abigail Spanberger should veto the collective bargaining bill headed to her desk, a bill requiring local and state governments to bargain with union bosses even if less than a majority of public employees want the union or the bargaining. There is the fact that it will…
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Mandated Public-Sector Unions Will Drive Up Property Taxes
by the Liberty Unyielding staff In Virginia, the Democratic state legislature is likely to adopt legislation that requires local governments to engage in collective bargaining with public-employee unions. If the local government and the union canโt agree on a big wage hike, an arbitrator will still be able to order the big wage hike if the arbitrator…
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The Inherent Conflict of Interest in Bargaining with Public-Sector Unions
by J. Kennerly Davis In the spring of 2020 — with Democrats controlling the Senate, the House of Delegates, and the Governorโs mansion โ the General Assembly narrowly passed and Governor Northam signed HB-582, now set out in Section 40.1-57.2 of the Code of Virginia. That law, enacted during the widely disorienting onset of Covid,…
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Spanberger Support for Mandatory Union Jobs Not “Moderate”
By Chris Braunlich Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger wants voters to believe sheโs a moderate. Thatโs understandable.ย At a time when the Democratic Partyโs favorability is at 33 percent and with an avowed socialist as the partyโs nominee in the most highly visible election in the nation, the smart money is for Democrats in Virginia…
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Spanberger’s Right-to-Work Dodge
by James A. Bacon Abigail Spanberger, the Democrats’ gubernatorial hopeful, has declared that she would not sign a bill to repeal Virginia’s right-to-work law, which guarantees employees’ right to work at a company without paying dues to a union. But she’d be open to modifying it, she said. Here’s what she told WRIC-TV: “I think…
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When Did Democrats Begin to Resemble the Rockettes?
Virginia Democrats long defended and preserved the stateโs โright-to-workโ law. They’re shifting in unison. by Gordon C. Morse Join a labor union, if you like. Or do not join a labor union, if you like. Your choice. Virginia law says that no one can force you to financially support a union as a condition of…
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Building a Virginia Workers Paradise in Just One Meeting
By Steve Haner Virginia Democrats envision a Workers Paradise and are busy trying to create it. By way of illustration, below are ten bills that were approved by the House Labor and Commerce Committee last week in just one of its meetings. This is by no means a complete list of the new mandates on…
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Bait and Switch: Reform Reverts to Mo’ Money
By Chris Braunlich Some years back, I ran into a friend, a Virginia Education Association unit chair, outside the General Assembly building, there to lobby on behalf of a state-wide teacher salary increase.
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Index Minimum Wage? Do the Tax Code, Too.
By Steve Haner One bill that certainly is heading for Governor Glenn Youngkinโs desk is the increase in the stateโs minimum wage to $15 an hour as of two years from now. Both versions, House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1, raise it to $13.50 for next year, with the $15 level kicking in a…
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Local Government Unions Raise Your Taxes
By Chris Braunlich Subscribers to Netflix will soon see rate increases because of the Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA Hollywood strikes.ย Buyers of new and used cars will, as a result of the United Auto Workers strike, see prices go up as supply dwindles and costs rise. The current spate of labor actions โ involving more than…
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Another Race Institute at UVa
by James C. Sherlock Fund it and they will come. The Daily Progress reports that thanks to a $4.9 million gift from an anonymous philanthropist, a new โInstituteโ has been launched at UVaโs School of Law. The new organization, the Education Rights Institute, plans to “find ways to improve K-12 education and help educators address…
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Countering the VEA… on a Shoestring Budget
๏ปฟ๏ปฟ The Internet ad displayed above, produced by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, reached 12,000 Virginia teachers. The return on the modest investment has been impressive. Says Co-President Chris Braunlich: “Inquiries about alternative educator associations are pouring in. Some have already cancelled their union membership (taking $700 in annual dues with them).” —…