Indiana’s Senate yesterday passed—and Governor Mitch Daniels (R) signed—the state’s long-awaited right-to-work law, making it the 23rd state in the nation and the first state in the union-heavy Rust Belt to give workers the right to choose whether or not to pay union dues. Meanwhile, 1,700 miles away, Arizona is considering a bill that would restore voter control over government by, among other measures, stripping government unions of their collective bargaining power. Indiana’s move is a victory for the state’s workers—and the state’s economy. Now Hoosiers cannot be forced to …
Here’s some news that federal bureaucrats in Washington — and indeed around the country — don’t want to hear: According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report released this week, federal workers are paid higher than their private-sector counterparts. The “alarming news” hit the national media yesterday, but there’s a funny thing about the report. None of it is really “news” — in fact, The Heritage Foundation long ago uncovered the truth about federal pay. The CBO’s report this week was spurred in part by two years of work on …
Wisconsin unions seem to have lucked out with the federal judge assigned to their latest lawsuit trying to stop the state’s new collective bargaining law for state employees. The Wisconsin Education Association, the AFL-CIO, the Wisconsin State Employees Union, and other unions that have been violently and belligerently protesting the law lost big on June 14 when the Wisconsin Supreme Court threw out the state court lawsuit that had been filed against the collective bargaining law. The state Supreme Court declared all of biased county Judge MaryAnn Sumi’s erroneous injunctions …
Consider it a victory for taxpayers and for the rule of law. On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4–3 in favor of upholding the state’s new collective bargaining law, reversing a lower court decision that sought to stamp out the will of the people, the authority of the legislature, and a major movement toward fiscal reform. And at three this morning, following a nearly 13-hour floor debate, the Wisconsin Assembly approved a budget aimed at wiping out the state’s $3 billion structural deficit. Like many states, Wisconsin this year …
Tennessee could soon become the latest state to deal public-sector collective bargaining a major blow. The Tennessee state House has just passed a measure that limits collective bargaining for teachers. Education employees would no longer be able to bargain over performance pay and school assignment policies, such as teacher compensation and layoffs. The Senate version of the bill eliminates collective bargaining altogether. The two bills will now have to be reconciled in conference committee before heading on to Governor Bill Haslam’s (R) desk for approval. Tennessee is working to curb …
As state budget reforms work their way through legislatures and courts around the country, a new front in the fight has opened up in an unlikely location: Massachusetts. Last night, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted 111 to 42 to curb the bargaining power of state employees in an effort to control spiraling health care costs. As Massachusetts House Ways and Means Chair Brian Dempsey (D) explained, the bill was necessary to ensure that essential state programs could continue to receive adequate funding. “The cost of health insurance is going …
As the standoff in Wisconsin drags on with no end in sight, Republican Gov. Scott Walker continues to make his case about the fiscal implications of collective bargaining. His office highlighted some of the most outrageous benefits and behavior that public-sector unions have institutionalized through collective bargaining. The case of Milwaukee teacher Megan Sampson is a classic example. Less than a week after the Wisconsin Council of English Teachers named Sampson its “Outstanding First Year Teacher,” she lost her job. The cause? Sampson got the pink slip because she lacked …
In the name of balancing his state’s budget, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has taken a strong stand against union bargaining privileges, braving weeks of protest and relying on the Republican majority in the state legislature to eventually override the 14 Democratic state senators who retreated to Illinois to dodge a vote on his budget-repair bill. In a new video by Reason.tv, Heritage labor analyst James Sherk said the protests in Wisconsin — strictly speaking — have never been about Walker’s bill. “The real purpose of the protests in Wisconsin …
Wisconsin. Ohio. Michigan. New Jersey. New York. Budget-battle showdowns are coming soon to a statehouse near you. Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) has provoked the ire of labor union leaders in Wisconsin, but he’s not alone. Governors across America are confronting budget shortfalls — and looking to public employees to help make up the difference. Walker’s budget repair bill asks government workers to make a 5.8% pension contribution (about the national average) and 12.6% health insurance contribution (about half the national average). In New Jersey, Republican Gov. Chris Christie proposed that …
The Wisconsin assembly agreed at 6:00 a.m. this morning to end debate on Governor Scott Walker’s (R) budget repair bill and to finally move to a decision on the proposed collective bargaining reforms. The situation in the Senate, however, remains unresolved and for over a week now Walker has been putting the fire under the feet of missing Democrats in an attempt to get the lawmakers to return to the capitol. If Walker’s collective bargaining proposal is enacted, teachers in Wisconsin will now be permitted to keep their teaching jobs …
