Ken Girardin, with the fiscal watchdog group The Empire Center, said the new state law is a “favor to the union leaders” and bad public policy. But he said unions in New York still stand to lose significant revenue — and possibly, political clout — from the changes. Read More
“What today’s decision affirms for all public workers is the right to choose, and that’s the most important part of it,” said Tim Hoefer, the Empire Center’s executive director. Read More
New York has the nation’s most heavily unionized public sector, with 1.2 million of 1.4 million government employees in unions, according to the Empire Center. The think tank estimates that all the New York public-sector workers opting out of union membership could cost unions $110 million in revenue. All told, New York’s public-sector unions collect at least $862 million annually in dues and fees, according to the Empire Center. Read More
Ken Girardin, policy analyst for the fiscally conservative Empire Center for Public Policy, said New York's public sector unions collect an estimated $860 million in dues and fees from members each year. Of that, about $112 million pay "agency fees," or the payments in lieu of dues from non-members that the ruling now says are no longer mandatory. Read More
New York public-sector unions could lose 200,000 or more members in the wake of Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on collective bargaining, though a law the state adopted in March could blunt the impact by making it harder for people to opt out of union representation. Read More
It’s tempting to dismiss this as political posturing. Unfortunately, the governor’s rhetoric hints that his assault on the public’s right to know might not end there. Read More
Teachers in the Lawrence school system are calling on district officials to resolve a contract-negotiation impasse that is about to enter its eighth year. Read More
A private charity is seeking the New York Legislature’s go-ahead to build housing for critically ill kids and their families on state-owned property. The Legislature’s answer: sure, you can go ahead and build—if you’re willing to pay extra (possibly a lot extra) to our union friends to do the work. Read More