With the new year barely under way, the union assault on employers under the guise of worker protections already going strong. On January 9th, 2025, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) descended on Austin in attempt to expand their political machine. Combined, these two organizations boast a membership of 15 million workers, including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the largest public arm of the AFL-CIO.
Their goals for the roundtable were to announce the “redoubling” of their efforts in growing their membership, lobbying elected officials to support pro-union measures, and using their substantial political arm to demand stronger labor regulations and access to more public dollars to grow their movement.
It is no coincidence that these organizations decided to hold this roundtable discussion in the state’s capital the week before Texas’ 89th Legislative Session began. Unions like the AFT have used their substantial influence to lobby against parents in the school choice debate for decades, but their performative objections are finally wearing thin.
Union lobbying efforts are funded largely through membership dues. In Texas, the state is used as a bursar, collecting and distributing dues from paychecks to unions. While there is nothing untoward about a teacher or public employee belonging to a union, it is not the place of the government to act as a middleman for unions. The state’s role as a middleman is an entirely improper use of state resources as it causes the state to essentially be a pro-union mechanism.
While politics are a large part of the electoral process, the administration of the state is supposed to be apolitical. Using the state to collect and disburse union dues drags the state and its public money onto the side of unions, fueling their activities against the wishes of citizens and taxpayers who are firmly against union efforts. To avoid a conflict of interest between the state, the taxpayers, and the unions, the Texas Legislature should prohibit the state from deducting dues from the paychecks of their public employees. If a public employee wishes to be a dues paying member of a union, then they should pay the dues themselves instead of using taxpayer resources to have it done for them.
We cannot allow the state to remain a resource for unions. Divesting the state from union activity will ensure a fairer fight for the parents and taxpayers who are defending freedom.
Austin Prochko
https://www.texaspolicy.com/protecting-texans-paychecks/
January 25, 2025
texaspolicy.com