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OCTOBER 27, 2011 | Commentary by CARA DOCHAT, PRIYA ABRAHAM
Government Unions Steal Worker Freedom
Pennsylvania is one of 28 states in which workers can be compelled to give part of their paycheck to a union just to keep their job. Moreover, even non-membership is costly. Those able to evade union coercion are still compelled to pay hundreds of dollars in fair share fees, or agency fees, to cover their supposed share of benefits
OCTOBER 27, 2011 | Policy Points by COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION
Pennsylvania's Government Unions
Pennsylvania is a forced union state, meaning that workers can be forced to join a union or pay a "fair share fee" just to keep their job. Most government units in Pennsylvania are "agency shops," with a specified union to which workers must pay a fee. When state and local governments automatically deduct dues and fair share fees from g
JULY 6, 2011 | Commentary by NATHAN BENEFIELD
Corbett's First Inning Scorecard
July signals the coming of two breaks in Pennsylvania—Major League Baseball's All-Star break and the end of the state budget season. Having endured his first budget as the commonwealth's chief executive, Gov. Tom Corbett has effectively finished the first inning of a nine-inning baseball game. The question is, how did
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JANUARY 3, 2012
Teachers' Union Dues at Leisure
A full-time teacher and member of the Pennsylvania State Education Association pays $654 a year in union dues to state, national and local affiliates of the union. While part-time teachers and other school workers such as janitors and secretaries pay less, nearly all must pay "fair share fees" to keep their jobs.
So how does the PSEA spend its members' hard-earned money? By valiantly defending our teachers, right?
Well, only if you count golf outings, ski trips and luxury getaways as fighting for the little guy. The pie chart below on the PSEA's 2010-11 spending shows 18 percent went to "union administration"—including the aforementioned junkets, which frequently appear as "leadership conferences" in the union's annual report. A further 21 percent went to overhead costs. A reported 6 percent went to lobbying and political activities.
In other words, almost 45 percent of PSEA's expenditures simply went to running the union, lobbying and leadership meetings, while union bosses devoted a mere 14 percent to "representational activities" that are meant to directly benefit rank-and-file members.
Here's a sampling of the luxury outings the PSEA took around the state (and beyond) last year, according to its annual report:
- $29,000 at Eden Resort Inn in Lancaster, for a "region house of delegates meeting."
- $31,000 at Liberty Mountain Resort in Carroll Valley, for a "region leadership conference."
- $8,000 at Pinecrest Golf Club in Lansdale, for another "region house of delegates meeting."
- $48,000 at Seaview Dolce Resort on the Jersey Shore (with golf club and spa), for a "regional continuing professional education conference."
- $30,000 at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion, for another "regional continuing professional education conference."
- $26,000 at Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie for a "region meeting."
posted by PRIYA ABRAHAM | 04:13 PM | 0 comment
DECEMBER 16, 2011
County Data Shows Prevailing Wage Hikes Costs
We have documented the racist origins of Pennsylvania's prevailing wage law, how it artificially raises the costs of taxpayer-funded construction projects by 20 percent (or approximately $1 billion per year), and how real reform is possible in the form of six bills the Pennsylvania House will consider.
County-by-county data from the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs illustrate how prevailing wage mandates raise labor costs between 30 percent and 76 percent across the commonwealth. If lawmakers and school districts are looking for savings without cutting educational and arts programs or laying off teachers, getting rid of prevailing wage is the most effective reform they can enact.
posted by PRIYA ABRAHAM | 02:57 PM | 0 comment
NOVEMBER 21, 2011
Right to Work Helps Oklahoma Economy
A new analysis from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs shows that since the Sooner State passed a right to work law in 2001—allowing all workers to choose whether or not to join or pay a fee to a union—the state has outpaced the nation in manufacturing job growth.
At the same time, Oklahoma has become a net winner in state-to-state migration, as more residents moved to Okalahoma from other states than left the state for elsewhere. This reverses a downward trend Oklahoma had been expericencing prior to 2000.
Naturally, the vast majority of domestic imigrants came from forced unionization states. Concidentally, Pennsylvania, a forced union, state has been among the biggest losers in state migration for decades.
posted by NATHAN BENEFIELD | 10:30 AM | 0 comment
