By Matthew Hayward Before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME , public employees could opt out of the non-representational portion of their dues, primarily political and ideological causes that were essentially an overcharge. In some cases, this portion of dues (overcharges) amounted to 40 percent of their total dues . Of course, exercising their right to opt out of the political portion of their dues meant opting out of their membership, too. Opting out as a member meant the employee was paying 100 percent of his or her representation share but opting out of the “overt” political portion. Thus, these workers surrendered their membership, which prevented them from voting in union elections, including contract votes, and prevented them from attending union meetings to stay informed about their representation — even though they were still paying for the privilege. In the post- Janus world, public employees no longer have the option to opt out of th...

By Matthew Hayward Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME , public employees can no longer be fired for refusing to pay their designated labor union dues . Unfortunately, state laws often still require them to remain in a relationship with a union even though they’re no longer members or paying dues. In a genuine sense, this is like the government granting an abused spouse a divorce but ordering him or her to remain with their abuser. The court recognized in Janus that forced union membership or dues is a violation of the worker’s First Amendment rights to free speech and association. But by any logical interpretation of the ruling, it also bans forced representation. So-called “union security clauses,” which stipulate that a union must represent every employee in its bargaining unit — even nonmembers — are routinely inserted into state law or the collective bargaining agreement between a governmental jurisdiction and the union claiming to repr...

Lincoln County, home to 10,000 residents tucked away in rural eastern Washington, has become the epicenter of an important struggle over government transparency between the Lincoln County Commission, the Freedom Foundation, and the Teamsters Union. In one corner, weighing in with a budget of more than $270 million and led by James Hoffa, Jr. — son of the notorious labor leader and Mob associate — there’s the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. In the other, standing in for the taxpayers and County Commissions, with a budget a fraction of the union’s but punching above its weight, there’s the plucky Freedom Foundation, led by its CEO, the tenacious Tom McCabe. The contestants have been trading blows for two years now, ever since the three Lincoln County commissioners promised voters they would conduct collective bargaining negotiations with the union representing county employees in public in exchange for a modest tax increase to help fund public services. The mov...

Have you been to a public high school lately? Maybe it is just the one I was in, but between the signs on the walls and classrooms, and what the kids tell me about their teachers and what they are learning, I get some distinct impression taxpayers are funding a leftwing indoctrination program for our children. I can't tell the difference between our schools and the faction of the labor movement that believes the future of the labor movement is not in "bread and butter" issues but is social justice and liberal causes and politics. I don't want our schools indoctrinating our kids with left-wing activism or right-wing activism. I want our schools teaching "the bread and butter issues," the basics. If there are going to teach about controversial and hyper-partisan issues that the country is divided on, they should be required to explain different points of views. Our schools should be a safe place to hold different points of view without feeling ...

The entire premise behind the lefts cries about inequality regarding the pay gap between the owner, and the worker is false. The idea that the worker has a right to a percentage of the net profits of their employer is mindboggling.   Did the workers: Abandon a steady paycheck to start a company? Sacrifice personal capital and put their skin in the game? Donate personal time and health to making sure the company succeeds? When a business is breaking even, and the boss is working 80 hours a week and living in the back room in his office trying to make the company successful, are the employees willing to take a pay cut below minimum wage? When a business owner fails, will his employees that are not out of a job, pay him/her unemployment? A person’s labor is determined by their skill level; it’s based on supply and demand. If you are doing a menial task that anyone can do, but you are working for a business that someone created a model that profits large...

The more divided we are the easier it is to find ourselves being ruled. Government survives off of conflict and controversy, it thrives off of victims. The stronger we the people are, the more unified our community's, the less power government has, the need for it simply disappears. We don't all have to agree on everything to learn to be civil. We can passionately disagree about issues and still be friend's working on common goals. Both the left and the right want many of the same things, they only disagree on how to get to the ends. Most of our division is coordinated by thought-out strategic planning used to control and manipulate us. Until there is a mass awaking to these facts, we will continue to be fragile and weak to a power structure that isn't accountable to any of us.

Have you received one of these letters? " Washington State Uni notifies those affected by stolen hard drive   Posted by  Dissent  at 3:47 am   Education Sector ,  Theft ,  U.S.   Add comments Jun 10 2017   PULLMAN, Wash. ,  June 9, 2017  — Today,  Washington State University  (WSU) announced that it is addressing a security incident involving certain community members’ personal information. Though there is no evidence the personal information has been accessed or misused, WSU is notifying impacted individuals and offering free identity protection services to those individuals whose personal information may have been accessed. On  April 21, 2017 , WSU learned that a locked safe containing a hard drive had been stolen. The hard drive was used to store backed-up files from a server used by the university’s Social & Economic Sciences Research Center (SESRC). Immediately upon learning of th...