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A 50-state report card on Big Labor shows how labor unions have lost a significant amount of members over the past couple of years.
Per a report on Worker Freedom in the State sent exclusively to Fox News Digital from the Commonwealth Foundation, the big four national government unions saw legislative victories in state legislatures and courts, yet saw a net drop of nearly 219,000 union members between 2017 and 2021.
The Worker Freedom in the State report card shows each state's progress in breaking away from labor union control.
The National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) were among the four big unions that lost over lost 200,000 members since 2018.
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A 50-state report card on big labor’s legislative victories, including National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers even as they’ve hemorrhaged members.
The membership loss was felt since Janus v. American Federation of States, a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled mandatory public union agency fees for nonmembers were unconstitutional.
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Rebecca Friedrichs, the lead plaintiff of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which challenged the constitutionality of mandatory dues, told Fox News Digital that "the union stranglehold on government workers and teachers is fueled by the same politicians that labor leaders spend millions of dollars to elect."
The three-decade California teacher went on to say that, "Even after the Supreme Court recognized our rights, unions continue to receive privileges like automatic paycheck deductions and easy access to employees because of the influence they gain through campaign donations. Collective bargaining for government unions pits labor leaders and teachers against taxpayers, parents, and students. Reigning in the power and control government unions exert on education will improve teacher quality, student outcomes, and restore the rights of parents to take charge of their child's future."
After the Janus ruling, the NEA lost 87,774 fee-paying members and the AFT lost 82,713. The general drop in membership of the NEA was 84, 980 and the AFT was 39, 773.
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The Commonwealth Foundation Executive Vice President Jennifer Stefano told Fox News Digital that "even with the Supreme Court’s Janus ruling, government union labor executives and their allies in government are not going to make it easy for public servants to break free of union control."
"Union executives have transferred vast sums of money from workers’ wages to politicians who create roadblocks to worker freedom," she continued. "To ensure that the promise of Janus is realized, lawmakers across the country must stand up to ensure that every civil servant has the right to choose whether or not to be associated with a union – they should not be forced to join a union or fund their political agendas."
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten praised the deal as a "game-changer for teachers and families drowning in an ocean of online dishonesty." (REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo)
AFT and the National Education Association were blasted last year after it was discovered the powerful teachers unions had corresponded with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ahead of school reopening guidance, which appeared to result in a slow walking of a return to in-person instruction. The CDC appeared to use the unions' suggestions word-for-word in more than one instance in the final text of the CDC document.
The AFT defended the correspondence, saying it was routine and that it also worked closely with the Trump administration.
"The AFT represents 1.7 million educators, healthcare professionals and public employees who spent the last 14 months serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. So naturally, we have been in regular touch with the agencies setting policy that affect their work and lives, including the CDC," AFT spokeswoman Oriana Korin said.
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McKinsey & Company research examined the effects of the pandemic on the 2020-21 school year and found that students were on average five months behind on math and four months behind in reading. For schools with largely minority populations, students fell six months behind in math and five to six months behind in reading.
The closures have also exacerbated a mental health crisis among young people often forced to isolate from their peers, experts have agreed.
Fox News' Cortney O'Brien contributed to this report.
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