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Michigan Senate bills would revive dues skim for home health workers

Government employees can opt out of unions, but Senate Bill 790 would make it much harder

… November 2006 and February 2013. The dues skim ended in March 2013, when the SEIU’s contract expired. “The checks mailed in March are expected to be the last … reported back then. The same day Hertel submitted Senate Bill 790, the SEIU announced plans to spend $200 million to re-elect President Joe Biden. …

Endnotes

… Bennett v. Council 31 of the AFSCME, AFL-CIO, 991 F.3d 724 (7th Cir. 2021); Fischer v Governor of N.J., 842 F. App’x 741 (3d Cir. 2021), Oliver v. SEIU Loc. 668, 830 F. App’x 76 (3d Cir. 2020), Belgau v. Inslee, 975 F.3d 940 (9th Cir. 2020). While these challenges to dues deductions have failed, they …

Can Whitmer council find a way to grow Michigan?

What we know so far about the council and who will serve on it

… Conservation Voters And of course, union representatives: Steve Claywell, the president of the Michigan Building Trades Council Ray Sholtz, the president of SEIU Michigan According to the executive order: “The Council’s membership should reflect the socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, cultural, gender, occupational, …

Michigan lawmakers have not tried to solve union ‘free rider’ problem

One in three bills in Michigan in 2023 has been labor-related. None try to solve a long-claimed problem. Why?

… employees. Why would lawmakers leave a glaring problem unaddressed? A 2018 memo on public policy priorities, co-authored by the AFSCME, AFT, NEA and SEIU labor unions, sheds light. The joint memo considers it counterproductive to solve the free-rider dilemma. In the eyes of the union, to leave free-riders …

Endnotes

… Priorities for Partner Unions” (AFSCME, AFT, NEA and SEIU), https://perma.cc/2D5M-NB7B. 24 Joseph G. Lehman, … Right-to-Work and the End of the 'Dues Skim' Killed the SEIU in Michigan” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, … Jarrett Skorup, “Despite Collapse in Membership, SEIU Poised to Go All-In in Michigan” (Mackinac Center …

Antidote to coercion

… why union organizing falls by approximately 50% in states that adopt a right-to-work law.[35] [*] “HCF Inc. d/b/a Shawnee Manor and District 1199 SEIU, The Health Care and Social Service Union, AFL–CIO, Petitioner (Case 8–RC–15261),” (The National Labor Relations Board, Aug. 27, 1996), https://perma.cc/42RP-JF8X. …

Worker freedom and individual liberty

… as “dues skim” involving the SEIU.[28] The union worked with … government subsidies. The SEIU and Granholm administration … and forced to pay dues to the SEIU. These caregivers received … were not state employees, the SEIU launched a ballot initiative, … the union, workers fled the SEIU in droves. By 2020, SEIU Michigan …

Michigan home health workers would be protected from dues skim if right-to-work is repealed

Home health care workers are one group of people who would not be affected by right-to-work’s repeal

… to the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, in what is now known as a “dues skim.” The SEIU was permitted, during the administration of former … says, to learn that she won’t be forced to pay the SEIU, even if lawmakers repeal right-to-work. That’s …

Grading Michigan’s Labor Laws

… Supreme Court ruling, the nation’s four largest government unions — AFSCME, SEIU, NEA and AFT — have lost almost 219,000 union members. The Janus decision … brought by Pennsylvania government employees forced major unions — including SEIU, PSCOA, UFCW and AFSCME — to drop resignation restrictions from state contracts. …

We’ve Beaten Down the Union ‘Dues Skim’ in Michigan Again and Again

The Biden administration is trying to revive it for other states

… with their care. Last year, we were put into the SEIU without our knowledge. In our view, we are not … but parents to our children. We didn’t join the SEIU [but] we now pay monthly dues that are deducted … skim, more than 80% of home caregivers left the SEIU Healthcare Michigan union. The union convinced …

Labor Unions Are Not in a ‘Resurgence’

They’re at an all-time low in modern history

… of members. The Michigan Education Association is down 31%. Michigan Teamsters show a loss of 32%. The state AFSCME branch is down nearly 50%. And SEIU has lost almost two-thirds. A decline in manufacturing employment drives some of this loss. But over the past decade, several states began offering …

SEIU Healthcare Michigan is under trusteeship once again

Its second trusteeship in five years owes to ‘substantiated allegations of serious malpractice’

SEIU Healthcare Michigan is under a trusteeship for the second … The letter, available on SEIU’s website, says that new trustees … effective April 27. Their job, SEIU International President Mary … fund are not misappropriated. SEIU Healthcare Michigan was also … malpractice. In the early 2000s, SEIU locals across the country, …

Why We Need ‘Impact Journalism’

… journalism” when there’s a causal relationship between one or more news stories and a move in policy in our preferred direction. Examples include ending the SEIU dues skim against vulnerable people, changing a legacy media false narrative regarding then-Gov. Rick Snyder’s education budgets, ending corporate …

Medicaid Payments Should Go to Caregivers, Not to Unions

U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

… to unionize them. First, the SEIU lobbied the state to create … providers in Michigan. The SEIU then bargained with that “employer” … members — was redirected to the SEIU as dues. By 2012, the SEIU had successfully redirected … unionized. In less than a year, SEIU Health Care Michigan’s membership …

A National Leader

Mackinac Center’s Michael Reitz wins Overton award

… right-to-work state, secured historic pension reform, expanded educational options for students, eliminated wasteful corporate subsidies, killed the abhorrent SEIU dues skim in Michigan and ended Gov. Whitmer’s attempt to govern by emergency indefinitely. Working with these fine people — it’s the best job I ever …

New Department of Health and Human Services Rule Would Reinstate Dues Skim

Health care providers should be given a choice

… Michigan. Before 2012, the SEIU had quietly worked with the … care for. Despite this, the SEIU negotiated with the state agency … caregivers voted. By 2013, the SEIU had successfully diverted over … Michigan’s citizens also rejected an SEIU-backed attempt to enshrine … dues skim ended in Michigan, SEIU Healthcare Michigan’s membership …

Giving Missouri’s Workers A Choice

Missouri House of Representatives Economic Development Committee

… evidence. And a long line of Supreme Court cases makes clear that the waiver of a constitutional right does not continue in perpetuity. In Knox v. SEIU, the court affirmed that the factors influencing a party’s decision to support a union may change over time, and that a fresh opportunity to affirm …

Fighting the SEIU Dues Skim

… small amount of money through a federal program meant to help provide care for the disabled or those with special needs in their own homes. But to the SEIU, one of the largest unions in the country, all of this was just another way to make a buck. With the help of former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, it forced …

The Largest Public Sector Unions Have Lost Support Since Janus

At the two-year anniversary of the decision

… Education Association (NEA); and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Specifically, active workers contributing to these unions fell by 2.9% for the SEIU, 3.9% for the NEA, 6.2% for AFT and 7.8% for AFSCME. And the drop in union membership is even larger in states that do not have their own right-to-work …

National Right-to-Work

The Union Opt-Out Effort in Michigan and Across the Country

… left their organizations in droves. The Michigan Education Association has lost one-third of its membership. The state AFSCME branch is down 37%. The SEIU has lost more than 50%. Each state government employee union is down at least 15% in membership. And this is at a time of sustained job growth. Many …

Despite Collapse in Membership, SEIU Poised to Go All-In in Michigan

$150 million campaign blunted by right-to-work law

The SEIU is making a huge political investment to defeat President Donald Trump … members or paying fees to a union, SEIU Michigan has lost 51% of its members and SEIU Healthcare Michigan has lost 84% of … their unions. Since then, the national SEIU has lost 8% of its dues and fee payers, …

Mackinac Wins 2019 State Policy Network Award

… discovered that the Service Employees International Union was automatically deducting union dues from home-based caregivers’ Medicaid payments. The SEIU had unionized thousands of home health care workers, unbeknownst to them, and siphoned tens of millions of dollars into its coffers. The Mackinac Center …

Line 5 is a Textbook Example of Environmental Versus Labor Concerns

The debate has reinforced the blue-green divide

… “Blue-Green Divide.” For example, some unions — like the SEIU — appear to have put politics over the needs of … building trades union may be concerned, but the SEIU’s decision to put politics over the workers they … million on politics and lobbying. In contrast to the SEIU, the Michigan-based Operating Engineers Local 324 …

Endnotes

… 228 NLRB 1311, 1313 (1977). 37 1621 Route 22 W. Operating Co. LLC v. 1199 SEIU, No. 12-1031 (3rd Cir., March 14, 2018). 38 Shirlington Supermarket, Inc., … 5–6, https://perma.cc/EH6M-GFVR. 41 Ibid., 5. 42 Ibid. 43 Ibid., 6. 44 “SEIU Union Must Abandon ‘Card Check’ Union Organizing Drives in Pacific Northwest …

Problems with Decertification

… employee of Kaiser Permanente Northwest, told the House Education and the Workforce Committee that in July 2011 her workplace was organized by the SEIU via card check in less than two weeks. She said that she was never presented with a card.[71] Ivey and her colleagues then collected signatures for …

Corporate Campaigns

… targets.”[49] In 2011, the SEIU “Contract Campaign Manual” … Labor and Pensions how the SEIU ravaged his company through … would not capitulate to the SEIU’s demands for a neutrality agreement, … According to Bego’s testimony, an SEIU organizer told him, “Mr. Bego, … suit filed by PJS against the SEIU for their aggressive corporate …

Deception

… a neutrality agreement with SEIU prior to the union’s organizing … statement, Mayhew detailed how the SEIU hosted a question and answer … exclusive representation by SEIU,” she said. “We were told by … exclusive representation by the SEIU.”[41] When the union received … and other tactics used by the SEIU against Kaiser Permanente employees …

10 Years of Victories: The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation Celebrates … and Looks Forward

… Union was skimming dues from the governmental aid the Haynes received for watching over their own children instead of institutionalizing them. The SEIU unionized over 45,000 home-help providers. A Mackinac Center Legal Foundation lawsuit on behalf of the Pat Haynes, and Steve Glossop, who was providing …

Public Employees Should be Allowed to Exercise Their Rights

Some states still force workers to fight for their freedom

… The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) reported an 8 percent drop, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a 5.2 percent decline. These three unions, the largest public-sector unions in the nation, have witnessed a decline of some 279,000 workers. Conservatively …

By the Numbers: The Dues Skim

… Amount of money annually siphoned even after the dues skim was ruled unconstitutional 84% — Percentage of home care givers who opted to leave the SEIU once given a choice

Ending the 'Dues Skim' in Michigan

How the government was stopped from taking money from paychecks

… voted. That was enough for the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, to be named as the collective bargaining agent for providers. The Mackinac … about the scheme. The Legislature ended the funding to the council, so the SEIU started to finance it, even as the council’s director collected unemployment …

Michigan’s Laboratory for Liberty

Letter from the executive vice president

… supporters. We discovered this problem in Michigan in 2009. Our creative team gave it a name — “dues skim” — that is now universally used. We killed the SEIU skim in Michigan in 2013 and contributed to litigation that led to a favorable U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Still, the practice continued in nearly a …

By The Numbers

Workers for Opportunity

… the Mackinac Center is working with through Workers For Opportunity 8% — AFSCME national has experienced a 8% drop in total dues/fee payers 5.2% — SEIU national has experienced a 5.2% drop in members/fee payers 2.8% — National Education Association national has experienced a 2.8% drop in total dues/fee …

Dues Skimming Meets Its Demise

Federal rule ends a union's ability to involuntarily take money from home health care givers

… from the Legislature. Then the SEIU held an election, in which … that was enough to install SEIU Healthcare Michigan as the … the dues began flowing to the SEIU. By March 2012, a total of … legislation to end it. But still, the SEIU persisted, going so far as … payments and membership in SEIU Healthcare Michigan plummeted. …

Mackinac Center Applauds Federal Change Ending Dues Skimming

Unions can no longer skim an estimated $200 million in dues from home health care workers

… agencies to “unionize” home caregivers and skim money from their paychecks. The SEIU maintained that these were “public” employees for the purpose of unionization, … see a massive drop in revenue — 84% of home caregivers dropped out of the SEIU affiliate once given a choice. “Ever since the Mackinac Center learned …

A Steady Decline for Unions Under Michigan’s Right-to-Work Law

The birthplace of the modern labor movement finds workers increasingly opting out

… placed under the control of outside trustees. And the end of a dues scheme by which tens of thousands of home caregivers were forcibly unionized by the SEIU Healthcare has meant an astounding 84 percent membership loss. In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that all public sector …

Opt-in Requirement to Ensure Clear Consent

… home care providers in Minnesota reported that the SEIU forged their signatures for the purpose of authorizing … Substantial precedent supports these requirements: SEIU and AFSCME membership enrollment and political … University of California, https://perma.cc/2XX8-C2LU; SEIU Healthcare Florida Local 1991, https://perma.cc/WEY3-397G; …

Background

… enrollment resulting from Supreme Court rulings, labor unions began an aggressive campaign to enroll more dues-paying members. In some cases, unions like SEIU have reportedly resorted to forging signatures on membership forms.[5] The amount of union deductions skimmed by state governments from family child …

Even After Right-to-Work, Unions Still Big Political Spenders in Michigan

… This data comes from state and federal campaign spending reports. The SEIU’s affiliated super PAC, United We Can, made almost $1.3 million in independent … the Michigan Democratic Party and $68,000 to Gov. Whitmer’s campaign. The SEIU Michigan State Council made a $25,000 contribution to Gov. Whitmer’s campaign. …

Right-To-Work Repeal Bill Denies Government Workers’ Civil Rights

Michigan Dem’s legislation appears to defy US Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus ruling

… of Michigan's government unions have seen double-digit declines in fee-paying employees. For example, the Michigan State Employees Association and SEIU Local 517M saw 20 percent drops. Among other things, declining revenue affects the union’s ability to engage in political activism. Economist James …

How Right-to-Work Affected Michigan’s State Employee Unions

See the status of five of the state's top unions

… is a union for state police officers, who were exempted from the law.) These unions are the Michigan State Employees Association, UAW Local 6000, SEIU 517, AFSCME Council 25 and the Michigan Corrections Officers. Here is a look at the percentage of workers choosing to remain members of these unions …

Even After Right-to-Work, Unions Still Big Political Spenders in Michigan

Organized labor gave millions to Democratic candidates and groups in 2018

… This data comes from state and federal campaign spending filings. The SEIU’s affiliated super PAC, United We Can, made almost $1.3 million in independent … board elections, state board of regent races and judicial elections. The SEIU Michigan State Council made a $25,000 contribution to Gov. Whitmer’s campaign. …

Public Sector Unions’ Mixed Fortunes After Michigan Right-To-Work Law

Too soon to tell how much U.S. Supreme Court’s extension of RTW to public sector nationwide will affect union finances

… Others, including the Michigan State Employees Association (MSEA) and the SEIU Local 517M, have seen declines of 20 percent or more. The number of workers paying fees to MSEA fell by 345, from 3,079 to 2,734. SEIU Local 517M decreased by 782 individuals, going from 3,532 to 2,750. Before …

Teachers Union Could Face Millions In Clawback Payments To Workers

Federal class-action lawsuit contends compulsory fee payments violated government workers' free speech

… across the country to stop withholding union fees from the paychecks of people who had opted out of dues payments, if they had been doing so.  The SEIU settled the lawsuit for $2,200 with an Oregon woman who had claimed the union had violated her constitutional rights by taking money from her even …

Victory for Mark Janus

How the Mackinac Center's years advancing worker freedom in Michigan have paid off across the country

… Capitol. A couple of months later, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Knox v. SEIU, and the majority opinion in that case — decided in June 2012 — included … Michigan and make collective bargaining agreements trump state law. The SEIU, whose efforts to take money from home health aides in a dues-skim operation …

Medicaid Dues Skim May Come To An End, After All

Friends, relatives of disabled individuals among those swept into public sector unions

… Department of Community Health ended a contract with the SEIU that had been established during the term of former … from Medicaid checks to union coffers, usually the SEIU or the American Federation of State, County and … “According to a report by the U.S. Department of Labor, SEIU Healthcare Michigan’s membership fell from 55,265 …

Detroit Council Calls For $15 Minimum Wage; Many City Workers Get Less

Statement ‘strongly encourages downtown developers’ to pay a living wage

… pay at least $15 an hour, the city government is still posting jobs paying less than that. The union behind the local minimum wage campaign is the SEIU, which a week earlier organized a rally that was attended by Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones. The resolution reads in part, “The Detroit …

Recent Corruption Scandals Involving Some of Michigan’s Largest Unions

Embezzlement, financial malpractice plague unions

… of Electrical Workers Local 876 was convicted of embezzling more than $300,000 from the union. She was sentenced to four years in federal prison. SEIU Healthcare Michigan was placed under an emergency trusteeship in 2017 by its parent organization after allegations of financial malpractice came to …

A Look at Unions in Michigan, Five Years After Right-to-Work

Most of state’s largest unions have seen a collapse in members and political spending

… primarily by six different unions:  the MSEA, MCO, SEIU Local 517, Troopers Association, AFSCME Council … 2016 has plummeted from $844,766 to $319,766. SEIU Michigan is composed mostly of private sector health … the state are up 38,400 jobs (about 7 percent). SEIU Healthcare Michigan, which was composed almost …

Mackinac Center Legal Foundation

… Sherry Loar is a home daycare provider in Petoskey, Michigan. With the Legal Foundation’s help, she managed to fight and win her case against the SEIU. Read her story. < 1 / 3 > “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing you guys were there, and I was not fighting this battle …

30 Years for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Our research helped usher in significant reforms

… policy research, we’ve also successfully litigated to protect Michigan families against government overreach. The most notable of these examples is the SEIU’s “dues skim,” which allowed this government union to literally steal money from some of our most needy residents. We exposed this racket and eventually …

Mackinac Center Heroes

Profiles of a few of the Michiganders we’ve helped over the years

… and Robert Haynes were caring for their disabled adult children when the SEIU unionized them against their will. Although the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation … state to pass legislation ending the dues skim, and voters rejecting an SEIU effort to reinstate it.

Michigan’s Largest Teachers Union Funds Leftist Activist Group

Michigan Education Association gave Progress Michigan $71,000 this year

… employee unions. They include Doug Pratt, the MEA’s public affairs director, Bob Allison, executive director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Michigan State Council, and Georgi-Ann Bargamian, a regional director of the United Auto Workers. The UAW represents thousands of Michigan state government …

How Right-to-Work and the End of the 'Dues Skim' Killed the SEIU in Michigan

Membership, revenue and political spending plummet

… choice about supporting the SEIU, they responded by opting out … Jennifer Granholm worked with the SEIU to “organize” home caregivers. … “government employees” so that the SEIU could claim to be representing … annually from Medicaid recipients. SEIU Healthcare-Michigan then tried … choice. If they believed the SEIU was doing a good job “representing” …

Unions Admit Forcing People to Pay Dues is Political

U.S. Supreme Court considers right-to-work for all

… Without those resources, the union movement was unable to mount a winning campaign for the Democratic candidate for president in Wisconsin. When the SEIU bankrolled a ballot proposal to continue the “dues skim” from home caregivers in Michigan, the president of the union said at the Democratic National …

Home Health Caregivers Might Find Relief from Union Coercion at Supreme Court

Mackinac Center joins groups to call an end to the union dues skim

… Mackinac Center and National Federation of Independent Business have signed on to an amicus brief authored by the Cato Institute in the case Hill v. SEIU. The plaintiff in is being represented by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and contends that Constitution forbids the act of forcing …

The Legislative Clock is Ticking

It’s time for free-market reformers to act

… tied revenue sharing to best practices, banned monopolistic union hiring practices, enacted significant collective bargaining reforms and banned the SEIU’s “dues skim” of day care providers. The Legislature kept up a good pace of reform in 2012, cutting the personal property tax on tools and equipment, …

The Legislative Clock is Ticking

It's time for free-market reformers to act

… tied revenue sharing to best practices, banned monopolistic union hiring practices, enacted significant collective bargaining reforms and banned the SEIU’s “dues skim” of day care providers. The Legislature kept up a good pace of reform in 2012, cutting the personal property tax on tools and equipment, …

Union Behind Michigan ‘Dues Skim’ Facing More Corruption Allegations

SEIU Healthcare Michigan has a history of problems

… the ongoing saga surrounding SEIU Healthcare Michigan. This union is not new to scandals. SEIU Healthcare Michigan secretly … forced to belong to the union, SEIU Healthcare Michigan membership … been breaking away from the SEIU and repeatedly alleging corruption … almost unanimous vote, claiming SEIU Healthcare Michigan was spending …

Time for Labor Unions to Collect their Own Dues

The on-going SEIU dues skim must end

… organizations — primarily the SEIU — still siphon an estimated … in private sector unionism, SEIU sought to regain ground by … government-administered aid program. SEIU entrapped workers any way it … children, decided to stand up to SEIU. The Legislature banned the practice but not before SEIU collected $34 million from …

Public School Union Members Protest Their Own Union

… Public Schools support staff members went to Lansing to conduct a protest against their own union recently. They are taking steps to separate from the SEIU Local 517M and represent themselves. One Taylor support staff union member explained their complaints in a video.

SEIU Sues Its Own Members for Banquet Hall They Paid For

Taylor school employees decertify, so union retaliates

… decade-old merger between the SEIU’s Taylor and Lansing affiliates. … merger. Because of the merger, SEIU Local 517M of Lansing is technically … nearly 400 signatures to the SEIU headquarters in Washington, … “We had planned on staying SEIU — just dissolve the merger,” … and represent ourselves.” SEIU Local 517M did not respond …

Worker Freedom Won Tuesday

… initiative pushed by unions to keep groups like the Freedom Foundation from contacting home health care workers to inform them of their rights to leave the SEIU. The measure succeeded  by a vote of 72 percent to 28 percent, which will mean that it will be harder for home health care workers to learn about their …

Michigan Pushes Back Against Feds on Labor Regulations

NLRB ruling could end franchising 'as we know it'

… “Their latest gambit would undo decades of precedent in the franchise industry and do irreparable harm to one of the bedrocks of small business.” The SEIU national office didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Labor Union Protests Outside Mackinac Center Office

… Executive Vice President Michael Reitz said in a statement to the media that the SEIU protest was a fitting nod to First Amendment protections, which the Friedrichs … Friedrichs case,” Reitz said. Reitz went on to remind the media that the SEIU took over $34 million from home health care workers, many of them simply …

Unions are Super PACS

Former Democratic Party Chairman admits double-standard

… according to a POLITICO analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service. Bob Allison, the executive director of the SEIU Michigan State Council, did not respond to an email offering him the opportunity to comment. Doug Pratt, the director of public affairs for the Michigan …

Union Activists Protest Opposition to Coerced Union Dues

U.S. Supreme Court to consider case next week

… Service Employees International Union (SEIU). From 2005 to 2013, the SEIU had a dues skimming scheme by which … by sending its press release on behalf of SEIU Michigan. “We’re protesting the Mackinac … home-based caregivers on behalf of an SEIU affiliate in 2013, its membership dropped …

Mackinac Center Subject of SEIU Protest

Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association at issue

… protest has been planned in front of its Midland office at 4 pm today by the SEIU of Michigan in connection to Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, … they want to support, which is the central issue in the Friedrichs case. SEIU was involved in skimming tens of millions of dollars from individuals with …

Endnotes

… http://perma.cc/Y7EJ-B2ZV. 16 Paul Pringle, “SEIU Official Steps aside in Inquiry,” … “Congress Scrutinizes L.A. Local of SEIU,” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 29, … http://perma.cc/48T7-BAHC. 18 Paul Pringle, “SEIU Alleges Misuse of Funds,” Los … Richard Winton, “Former Leader of SEIU Local Is Indicted,” Los Angeles … and Hailey Branson-Potts, “Ex-SEIU Local Exec Convicted of Stealing …

Detailed Reporting of Receipts and Disbursements in the LM-2

… dollar debts in order to free up cash to spend. The SEIU, one of the nation’s largest unions, appears to … In 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported: An SEIU spokeswoman says the union works on a four-year … recent presidential election year, reveals that SEIU was the top spender among unions on political activities …

Los Angeles Times SEIU Investigation

… in Hawaii.[18] Freeman was also alleged to have failed to provide documentation to support the legitimacy of a second trip to Hawaii.[19] After the SEIU conducted its own investigation, it banned Freeman for life and sought repayment from him of more than $1 million to cover his misappropriations.[20] …

Study: They Spend Millions, but Minimal Transparency Required for Government Union Finances

… union of Steffke’s local, the AFT, is one of the top 10 labor organizations in political spending nationally, with a tally of $21,457,153 in 2012. (The SEIU tops the list, spending nearly $113,820,009 that year on political activity and lobbying.) Steffke would also like to know how much local member dues …

SEIU Affiliate’s Revenue Cut in Half After 'Dues Skim' Ended

SEIU Healthcare Michigan dues collection went from $11.3 million to $5.4 million

… enabled the exploitation ended. SEIU Healthcare Michigan reported … back to the mid-2000s when SEIU moved to grab a share of the … of Gov. Jennifer Granholm, SEIU was allowed to carry out the … into the union's coffers. SEIU Healthcare Michigan's required … after dues and fees, most of SEIU Healthcare Michigan's remaining …

Labor Union Caught in Dues Skim Fails to File Annual Report with Federal Government

SEIU Healthcare Michigan reported losing 80 percent of its members after dues skim ended

Last year when SEIU Healthcare Michigan reported losing more … U.S. Department of Labor. “For SEIU Healthcare Michigan, their … late they are in violation.” SEIU Healthcare Michigan’s reported … more than $34 million to the SEIU. In 2014 the union waited … entirely without the dues skim. SEIU Healthcare Michigan now apparently …

Court of Claims Tosses MEA's Right-to-Work Lawsuit

State Capitol was closed when union protesters pushed past guards, impeded medical workers

… conscience on the job." ~~~~~ See also: VIDEOS: Union Right-to-Work Protest Goes Violent Most of the Arrested Anti Right-to-Work Protesters Have SEIU 'Dues Skim' Connections 'We'll Be at Your Daughter's Soccer Game'

CapCon Interview with Founding Editor Ken Braun and Mackinac Center President Joseph G. Lehman

On its fifth year anniversary, a history lesson

… of the shine came off the program and it was eventually scaled back substantially. I think it’s also fair to say that we wouldn’t have ended the SEIU’s unconscionable skimming of so-called dues dollars from Medicaid recipients without CapCon reporter Jack Spencer’s work. That union quietly stole $6 …

The Best of the Best: CapCon's Top 10 Stories of 2014

Police seize property; religious discrimination in school contracts; Obamacare piles on disabled family’s burdens

… be forced to pay property tax on their business tools and equipment. 10. SEIU Membership Drops 80 Percent After Dues Skim Ends Once they were free to choose for themselves whether to pay dues money to the SEIU union, most home-based caregivers in Michigan quickly bailed. About 44,000 …

Two Wins for Freedom from Union Coercion in 2014

The end of the dues skim and the busting of the 'August Window'

… what later became known as the SEIU dues skim. It was a scheme … forced unionization and the SEIU maneuvering to keep it going. … of the millions of dollars SEIU was taking from home-based … to outlaw the dues skim. The SEIU went to court to keep it alive … of 2013 – but only after the SEIU had extracted more than $34 …

Top 25 of 2014

Our most popular offerings of the year

… Obamacare Making Sense of the Complicated Ballot Language for Proposal 1 SEIU Membership Drops 80 Percent After Dues Skim Ends Legislators Block Low-Cost … Haven’t Paid Dues; Some Teachers Say Union Intentionally Misled Members SEIU Allowed to Keep Millions in ‘Dues’ Money it Siphoned Away from Medicaid …

What Heroes Might You and I Meet in 2015?

… his principles, Adam told us. And how about Robert and Patricia Haynes, the Clinton Township couple who first exposed what came to be known as the SEIU “dues skim”? Their willingness to come forward back in 2012 helped us figure out the skim, which helped us submit arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court …

For the Record

… semester at the University of California – Berkeley. Under her leadership, Michigan led the nation in job loss with a decline of 576,900 positions. The SEIU is urging home caregivers in Michigan to join some fast food protesters in going on strike. The vast majority of these workers look after family or …

Endnotes

… “Corporate Campaigns” (Competitive Enterprise Institute, April 30, 2012), http://goo.gl/wjUhgR (accessed July 10, 2014). 25 F. Vincent Vernuccio, “SEIU Intimidation Manual Exposed!” (Competitive Enterprise Institute, Sept. 17, 2011), http://goo.gl/ GzSQqw (accessed July 10, 2014). 26 Ibid. 27 Steven …

Centered on Workers vs. Worker Centers

… worker center engages in regulatory pressure or reputational attacks, which in some cases venture into personal criticisms of company officers. A 2011 SEIU “Contract Campaign Manual” instructed workers how to successfully put pressure on a business, saying “outside pressure can involve jeopardizing relationships …

Unionization for the 21st Century: What It Is and What It Is Not

… general counsel for the Service Employees International Union) and Catherine Fisk of the University of California-Irvine School of Law (and member of the SEIU Ethics Review Board) recently wrote in the Los Angeles Times: Requiring unions to offer free representation to workers who do not want a union in …

Appointments: A Rarely Recognized Gubernatorial Power

Which can have major effects

… the 2012 election. This was the action that finally led to the end of the SEIU healthcare dues skim. Governors also make appointments to the Michigan … to which a governor makes appointments is extensive. ~~~~~ See also: SEIU Dues Skim Finally Grounds to a Halt

SEIU Allowed to Keep Millions in ‘Dues’ Money it Siphoned Away from Medicaid in Stealth Unionization, Court of Appeals Rules

‘Union has refused every opportunity to defend Granholm administration and itself in concocting this scheme’

… Court of Appeals granted the SEIU’s motion to dismiss the case, … than they requested. “The SEIU overpaid our clients to prevent … “It was pretty obvious the SEIU did not want the court to take … longer interested parties.” The SEIU sent checks to the MCLF on … was unconstitutional.  “The SEIU saw the writing on the wall …

Democrat Mark Schauer Receiving the Big Donations in Gubernatorial Race

But despite appearances, political race contributions reflect typical pattern

Though Michigan’s gubernatorial candidates differ on issues like right-to-work, the SEIU dues skim and government regulations, the apparent contrast between their campaign finance reports could come as a surprise to many. Lists of campaign contributions to former Congressman Mark Schauer, the Democratic …

SEIU: Go on strike against your family members

The SEIU represents hundreds of thousands of health care workers and is now encouraging them to march … Michigan, 75 percent of those home-care aid workers the SEIU is urging to strike are taking care of a relative … country were formerly forcibly unionized by the SEIU. That ended this summer when the U.S. Supreme Court …

MICHIGAN CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL

Summer 2014 Edition

In this issue: SEIU Membership Drops 80 Percent After Dues Skim Ends Michigan Families Helped Harris v. Quinn Succeed The 89,000 Clean Energy Jobs Myth How To Tell What a Bill Actually Does Michigan Loses 40K Grads; Corporate Welfare Program Paid $127K Each To Keep 125 Of Them Beverly Hills Cop Daycare …

Supreme Court Ends ‘Dues Skim’ Nationwide

… decades-long membership slump. SEIU began organizing caregivers … arrangement was quite simple: SEIU would convince a state agency … of the Medicaid payments to SEIU in the form of union dues, … caregivers greatly enriched SEIU. We exposed a similar scheme … the program, but not before SEIU skimmed $34 million away from …

Harris v. Quinn

… Jennifer Granholm. The first to arrive was the SEIU, which sought the creation of a faux employer so … individuals. The home help unionization got the SEIU around $6 million a year, while the day care providers … seek a repayment of the dues money taken by the SEIU from home-based caregivers, an amount that exceeds …

Who needs a vacation anyway?

… partners at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to make our voices louder. We know in Michigan that when folks weren’t forced to pay the SEIU, 80 percent dropped off the union’s membership rolls. (Patrick Wright sums up our involvement in our feature article.) Summer brings in a new class …

Supreme Court Ruling Opens Door For Daycare Workers To Get Money Back

Unions took $4 million from Michigan daycare workers; class action lawsuit now possible

… its scheme in place than it took the SEIU with the home-based caregivers. The … Michigan Capitol Confidential of the SEIU Dues Skim Legal Foundation Seeks Return Of 'Dues Skim' Money SEIU Election Battle Hinges On Home-Based … Unionization Scheme Infighting At The SEIU How the Forced Unionization of Day …

Supreme Court Ends Dues Skim Nationwide

… Employees International Union (SEIU) that unionized these home-based … Quinn, and again involved the SEIU. Eight other states — California, … ended, the dues skim filled the SEIU’s coffers with approximately … caregivers. In Illinois, the SEIU’s skim took about $3.6 million … 4 in 2012, after which the SEIU was assessed a $199,000 fine …

Supreme Court Takes One Step Away from Forced Unionization

A blow to SEIU's recruitment scheme

… decades-long membership slump. SEIU began organizing caregivers … arrangement was quite simple: SEIU would convince a state agency … of the Medicaid payments to SEIU in the form of union dues, … caregivers greatly enriched SEIU. The Mackinac Center for Public … the program, but not before SEIU skimmed $34 million away from …

Michigan Families Set Stage For Helping End Forced Unionization Schemes

Supreme Court ruled daycare, home-based caregivers not public employees and can't be unionized

… unionization attempts. The SEIU went after the home-based caregivers … which later became known as the SEIU "dues skim" involved numerous twists, turns and detours.  The SEIU's scheme in Michigan was orchestrated … caregiver forced unionization were SEIU officials from California with … Stern, who headed the national SEIU until 2010, and in the early …