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Reason Foundation Issues Commentary: U.S. Law Shouldn't Copy Europe's App Store Regulation
LOS ANGELES, California, Dec. 23 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary:
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U.S. law shouldn't copy Europe's app store regulation
The App Store Freedom Act would undermine security features and complicate the user experiences of hundreds of millions of consumers.
By Nicole Shekhovtsova
Lawmakers in the United States are considering a major intervention in the way big mobile platforms like Apple and Google sell apps to hundreds of millions of smartphone owners. Taking a page from Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA), the App Store Freedom Act would require Apple and Google
... Show Full Article
LOS ANGELES, California, Dec. 23 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary:
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U.S. law shouldn't copy Europe's app store regulation
The App Store Freedom Act would undermine security features and complicate the user experiences of hundreds of millions of consumers.
By Nicole Shekhovtsova
Lawmakers in the United States are considering a major intervention in the way big mobile platforms like Apple and Google sell apps to hundreds of millions of smartphone owners. Taking a page from Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA), the App Store Freedom Act would require Apple and Googleto host rival app stores and give app developers equal technical access to those using official channels. Rather than greater freedom, the act would undermine security features and complicate the user experiences of hundreds of millions of consumers.
The App Store Freedom Act attempts to break up so-called "mobile walled gardens," mandating that large mobile platforms let users replace and delete apps and services that come pre-installed on their devices in favor of third-party apps downloaded from unofficial app stores. Users would also be given the ability to choose alternative in-app payments and payment systems that are not operated or controlled by the covered company's app store. On top of that, platforms would have to give third-party app developers the same kind of system-level access that official apps get--the same tools, interfaces, and technical permissions.
The core of the bill is a U.S. version of what the European Union has already done through similar provisions in the DMA. In theory, both laws aim to make digital app markets more competitive. But in practice, as critics of the DMA have noted, breaking down the walls leads to emerging security risks, clunkier user journeys, and still-uncertain gains for competition. None of that should appeal to U.S. policymakers.
Why the walls exist
There are plenty of reasons why an app store would want to limit which apps are available for download, what data an app developer can access, and which methods app developers can use to interact with and advertise to consumers. Devices and app stores carry the burden of preventing the spread of malware, blocking deceptive apps, and setting clear user consent requirements when apps access onboard systems like a device's camera and location.
Early app stores were flooded with scams and services using questionable data practices, especially around subscriptions. These so-called "fleeceware" apps advertised themselves as free, then quietly converted users into expensive recurring subscriptions that are difficult to cancel. In 2018, for instance, TechCrunch highlighted a QR code reader that advertised itself as free but quietly enrolled users in a $156 per year subscription, briefly landing it among the App Store's top grossing apps.
Over time, Apple and Google responded by tightening their rules, stepping up human review, and adding automated scanning. Apple now reports that its App Store has prevented billions of dollars in fraudulent transactions in recent years and blocked millions of risky app submissions. Google's Play Protect scans hundreds of billions of apps per day, including app submissions to the Play Store, and blocks millions of apps and developer accounts that violate policies. These protections work because platforms have the ability to set strict app store rules, but by forcing platforms to treat unofficial apps and app stores on equal terms, the App Store Freedom Act would make that job harder and more complex.
Upending the U.S. app store security model
Much of the App Store Freedom Act is ripped from the interoperability section of Europe's DMA. Under this section, the European Commission decides which big tech companies count as "gatekeepers" by looking at their turnover inside the EU, market capitalization, and user thresholds, then imposes a set of rules on their "core platform services." Those obligations include allowing users to uninstall pre loaded apps, permitting installation of third party app stores, banning self preferential rankings, and requiring fair, reasonable, and non discriminatory terms for access to app stores and key technical interfaces. The App Store Freedom Act is narrower in scope, but the regulatory logic is the same.
Europe's experience under the DMA already shows how quickly a well-intentioned regulation can produce a messy, hard-to-manage safety environment. Earlier this year, EU iPhone users found that minors could install Hot Tub, a porn app, through a third-party app store called AltStore PAL. Because the app was installed via a third-party store, it bypassed Apple's parental controls.
The controversy highlighted the importance of user trust. Most users have come to understand that apps on an iPhone have gone through the same App Store screening, age-rating, and parental-control regime they've relied on for years. But the DMA undermined this assumption. Third-party apps pass only minimal checks on iPhones to ensure they are compatible with the device, bypassing the App Store's curated review. That gap between what users think an iPhone app means and what the platform can actually guarantee is an inevitable side effect of treating third-party app stores as interchangeable with the official store despite obvious differences in oversight and risk.
This serves as just one of the core reasons why these interoperability mandates risk undoing many of the hard-won improvements to the app-store ecosystem over the last decade. They don't abolish platform review entirely, but they do make it easier for riskier app stores, sideloaded apps, and third party payment systems to reach consumers without going through the same curated, tightly controlled channels that exist today. A platform can't offer the same level of privacy or safety when it's legally required to allow apps, app stores, and payment systems it can't fully vet.
The changes mandated by the App Store Freedom Act are not simply a matter of facilitating consumer choice. The bill's supporters suppose that individual smartphone users can choose to deactivate specific security features, but this is not how complex smartphone ecosystems work. Allowing this functionality at the user level forces mobile platforms to undermine ease of use and security features for all users. The sets of features sometimes called "walled gardens" have evolved from decades of mobile platforms responding in the market to what their consumers demand. Forcing down such walls would do nothing to enhance the "freedom" of app store customers.
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Nicole Shekhovtsova is a technology policy analyst at Reason Foundation.
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Original text here: https://reason.org/commentary/u-s-law-shouldnt-copy-europes-app-store-regulation/
Foundation for Economic Education Issues Commentary: Values in the Market
DETROIT, Michigan, Dec. 23 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Values in the Market
By Kimberlee Josephson
What 'Love Actually' teaches us about buyer-business relationships.
Love Actually has become a beloved holiday classic precisely because it captures the messy, often contradictory nature of human relationships. The film's intersecting storylines show just how essential trust isand how devastating its absence can be. Few scenes hit harder than the moment Karen (Emma Thompson) puts on the Joni Mitchell album her husband Harry (Alan Rickman) gave
... Show Full Article
DETROIT, Michigan, Dec. 23 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Values in the Market
By Kimberlee Josephson
What 'Love Actually' teaches us about buyer-business relationships.
Love Actually has become a beloved holiday classic precisely because it captures the messy, often contradictory nature of human relationships. The film's intersecting storylines show just how essential trust isand how devastating its absence can be. Few scenes hit harder than the moment Karen (Emma Thompson) puts on the Joni Mitchell album her husband Harry (Alan Rickman) gaveher, after discovering that the expensive necklace she found in his pocket earlier wasn't intended for her but for another woman. The other woman, Mia (Heike Makatsch), is an office assistant at Harry's workplace and she persistently makes her interests known, with Harry succumbing to the desire to please her.
When Corporate Messaging Collides with Human Imperfection
What's most striking about Harry and Mia's storyline, in my opinion, isn't the affair itself but the setting in which it unfolds. Although it is never called out directly, the signage and decor of their office denote that the organization has an interest in social matters. Roughly six minutes into the movie, it shows Collin Frissell (Kris Marshall) walking up to a building that has a banner with the company name Fairtrade Co. Ltd. outside. And, as he walks about the office making deliveries and attempting to flirt with Mia, you can briefly catch phrases on the wall which say "Shopping that saves lives" and "Help shoulder their burden."
Now, given that I have been critical of companies that focus on signaling their virtue, rather than value, and I've expressed concerns regarding firms that emphasize ethical certification over wealth creation, it is probably not surprising that the social orientation of the company caught my eye. The irony is hard to miss: Harry and Mia work for an agency that promotes good intentionsbut their own actions fall short of doing so. And as with many things, art imitates life. A firm can wrap itself in altruistic messaging, but at the end of the day, every organization is made up of individuals with their own incentives, values, and failings.
Individuals, Incentives, and the Marketplace
Ludwig von Mises understood the central role individuals play in the marketplace, and his praxeological approach highlights that human action is always purposefuleven when it appears to run counter to societal expectations or organizational goals. "The market economy," according to Mises, "is a system of social cooperation," and the course of transactions and relationships ultimately reflects the intentions, incentives, and decisions of the individuals involved.
Recently, in a course I teach, we briefly discussed Douglas McGregor's framework which positions managerial styles to fall into two categories: Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X managers view employees in a negative light, wherein workers need to be coerced to complete tasks. Theory Y managers assume that employees are engaged, and enjoy working and taking on new responsibilities. I tell my students, if I were a Theory X professor, pop quizzes would be commonplace, and if I were a Theory Y professor, I wouldn't question the use of their laptops and there would be no need for exams. Now clearly, these are extremes, but understanding how to incentivize and motivate employees, along with providing guardrails for company activities, is an important aspect of management. Mission statements, codes of conduct, and reporting structures exist for a reason: they provide clarity about goals, expectations, and responsibilities.
Managers can help shape employee behavior, but businesses have far less control over the actions of customers, clients, and outside partners. Returning to Love Actually, Hugh Grant (playing the Prime Minister) must welcome Billy Bob Thornton (portraying the US President) out of diplomatic necessityuntil the President's arrogance forces him to draw a line. The bounds of a relationship are built on trust, and the marketplace works the same way.
Companies cater to customer interests, but the degree of trust between both sides ultimately shapes how a transaction unfolds. I was reminded of this during a recent pickup at my local Kohl's. I was struck by how frictionless the process was. I received a notification and a bin number, walked into the store, grabbed my bagged purchase from the designated cubby, and walked right out. No check-in. No scanning. No employee oversight. I couldn't help but wonder: What would happen if someone took the wrong bag? Or deliberately walked off with someone else's purchase? The system works only because Kohl's assumes that most customers will behave honestly and are comfortable with the grab-and-go method.
Compare that to my nearby Walmart, where I need an associate to unlock the case containing Lego sets. Two retailers, two different assumptions about customer behavior and views of the type of oversight neededand therefore two very different shopping experiences.
These contrasts illustrate a broader point: If we want more open shelves, smoother pickups, and fewer barriers in retail and beyond, we must remember that trust is not just something we demand from companies; it is something they must extend to us as well. And trust, whether in commerce or in everyday life, is a fragile thingeasy to fracture and difficult to rebuild.
A Marketplace Built on Mutual Responsibility
The most memorable moments in Love Actually are the ones in which characters extend goodwill despite uncertainty, revealing how meaningful trust becomes precisely when vulnerability is involved. Business transactions rely on a similar dynamic. Every seamless checkout, generous return policy, or unmonitored pickup represents a small extension of faith from companies to consumers. And those conveniences can vanish quickly if that faith is abused.
Ultimately, the relationship between buyers and businesses should be understood as a mutually beneficial partnership. Company success hinges on the ability to deliver genuine valuebecause, as Peter Drucker famously observed, "the purpose of business is to create and keep a customer." But that value can only be delivered when customers participate in good faith, honoring the systems that make modern retail fast, open, and affordable.
Good firms strive to serve customers, not work against them. And good customers contribute to an environment where such service is viable. When both sides respect the relationship, the marketplace functions as it should : cooperatively, efficiently, and in a way that benefits everyone involved. It's a delicate balanceone that depends heavily on reputation and the trust that underpins it. As Warren Buffett reminds us, "It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."
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Dr. Kimberlee Josephson is an Associate Professor of Business at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, and a Research Fellow for the Consumer Choice Center. Her academic background is in international studies and strategic management and she teaches courses covering topics on global sustainability, international marketing, and workplace diversity.
Prior to serving in academia, her professional career spanned from working in sales in Manhattan, as a producer for a web marketing firm, freelancing for on-air promotions at QVC, and as a research assistant for an international NGO. Her op-eds have appeared at University Business, Quartz at Work, and PA Capital Star. She holds a doctorate in Global Studies and Commerce from La Trobe University in Australia, a master's degree in Political Science from Temple University in Philadelphia, another master's degree in International Policy from La Trobe University, and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a minor in Political Science from Bloomsburg University.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/values-in-the-market/
Conservation Law Foundation: Trump Administration Moves to Pause Offshore Wind Leases
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Dec. 23 -- The Conservation Law Foundation issued the following news release:
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Trump Administration Moves to Pause Offshore Wind Leases
Despite losing in court, administration again attacks jobs, industry, clean energy
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The Trump administration is trying again to halt the development of clean, affordable energy, putting in jeopardy thousands of jobs in New England and undermining the regulatory certainty that private investment across all industries depends on to develop major projects. The Department of the Interior has announced it is pausing leases for offshore
... Show Full Article
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Dec. 23 -- The Conservation Law Foundation issued the following news release:
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Trump Administration Moves to Pause Offshore Wind Leases
Despite losing in court, administration again attacks jobs, industry, clean energy
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The Trump administration is trying again to halt the development of clean, affordable energy, putting in jeopardy thousands of jobs in New England and undermining the regulatory certainty that private investment across all industries depends on to develop major projects. The Department of the Interior has announced it is pausing leases for offshorewind projects along the East Coast, including several in New England that are already near completion. Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) released the following statement in response.
"This is a desperate rerun of the Trump administration's failed attempt to kill offshore wind - an effort the courts have already rejected," said Kate Sinding Daly, senior vice president for law and policy at CLF. "Many of these clean energy projects passed years of rigorous review, were upheld in court, and are moving forward. Trying again to halt these projects tramples on the rule of law, threatens jobs, and deliberately sabotages a critical industry that strengthens, not weakens, America's energy security. At a time when climate change itself poses one of the greatest national security threats we face, blocking clean energy projects is reckless and dangerous."
Just last week, a federal judge issued a final judgment that formally invalidates the Trump administration's moratorium on wind energy permitting. CLF and other environmental groups filed a legal brief in that case, State of New York v. Trump, in support of state and industry efforts to overturn the moratorium.
CLF is reviewing the department's announcement and determining next steps.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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Original text here: https://www.clf.org/newsroom/trump-administration-moves-to-pause-offshore-wind-leases/
TPPF Celebrates Pause of Vineyard Wind Project
AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 22 -- The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following news release:
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TPPF Celebrates Pause of Vineyard Wind Project
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AUSTIN - The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) applauds the U.S. Department of the Interior for announcing that it is pausing the construction on all large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the United States, including the Vineyard Wind 1 Project off the coast of Massachusetts. This is welcome news for the offshore fishing industry, who can breathe a sigh of relief knowing this ill-conceived project will not be able to proceed
... Show Full Article
AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 22 -- The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following news release:
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TPPF Celebrates Pause of Vineyard Wind Project
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AUSTIN - The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) applauds the U.S. Department of the Interior for announcing that it is pausing the construction on all large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the United States, including the Vineyard Wind 1 Project off the coast of Massachusetts. This is welcome news for the offshore fishing industry, who can breathe a sigh of relief knowing this ill-conceived project will not be able to proceedwith further disrupting the area's marine wildlife habitat.
In 2021, TPPF filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden Administration challenging the approval of the Vineyard Wind project, claiming it would severely harm the commercial fishing industry in the area and destroy the lives of countless families, as well as create irreparable harm to the environment, ocean wildlife, and national security. Last July, TPPF's warnings came true when an enormous windmill blade the size of a football field collapsed into the ocean, scattering fiberglass debris for miles and closing beaches on the East Coast.
Today's announcement follows an administrative petition filed by TPPF in July and supplemented just a few days ago requesting the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to reconsider the prior administration's approval of the project's Construction and Operations Plan.
"We've been fighting the Vineyard Wind project for four years on behalf of our clients, commercial fishing families who have been using the area to feed Americans for generations. Finally, the federal government has realized that the project was ill-founded from the beginning," added TPPF Senior Attorney Ted Hadzi-Antich. "The next step is for the government to order the developer to remove every last bit of equipment installed during construction and bring the area back to a pristine, fishable habitat for the benefit of all Americans."
TPPF Attorney Eric Heigis added, "This welcome step is long overdue. The Biden Administration knew that offshore wind posed a threat to national security and defense radar. But the Biden commitment to the Green New Deal overrode these practical concerns. We encourage BOEM to review the additional evidence we have presented that shows this project should have never been built in the first place."
For additional background on the case, click here.
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Original text here: https://www.texaspolicy.com/press/tppf-celebrates-pause-of-vineyard-wind-project
Stillwater students raise $15,000 for OMRF cancer research
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, Dec. 22 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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Stillwater students raise $15,000 for OMRF cancer research
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Every cookie matters.
That's why Stillwater High School teacher Jody Webber so strongly encourages students to buy one - or more - during the bake sale of "Pink Out Week," the school's annual fundraiser for cancer research at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
"We tell them, 'What if the dollar you spend on that cookie helps a scientist perform the research that finally solves cancer?'" Webber said. "That's the
... Show Full Article
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, Dec. 22 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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Stillwater students raise $15,000 for OMRF cancer research
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Every cookie matters.
That's why Stillwater High School teacher Jody Webber so strongly encourages students to buy one - or more - during the bake sale of "Pink Out Week," the school's annual fundraiser for cancer research at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
"We tell them, 'What if the dollar you spend on that cookie helps a scientist perform the research that finally solves cancer?'" Webber said. "That's theultimate goal of Pink Out Week."
Each football homecoming week for the past 15 years, Webber has overseen the fundraiser as sponsor of Stillwater's Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) chapter. In addition to the traditional bake sale, this year's Pink Out Week also featured specially embroidered pink bandanas and a 5K run.
The school designated OMRF as its beneficiary of Pink Out Week proceeds in 2011. Students have since raised nearly $145,000, including $15,000 this year.
Two dozen FCCLA students presented this year's check at OMRF on Dec. 17, then heard from two scientists, one of whom has developed a special connection with Stillwater students.
Jake Kirkland, Ph.D., studies the foundational science of cancer cells. Of particular interest to him is doxorubicin, a breast cancer chemotherapy drug often called "the red devil" for its distinctive color and its reputation.
"It kills cancer cells faster than they can reproduce, but it makes most patients really, really sick," Kirkland told the students.
The chemotherapy drug is effective in about half of those who receive it. Kirkland hopes to someday predict who will or won't benefit to help oncologists make better treatment decisions.
A beloved girls' basketball coach at Stillwater, Kendra Kilpatrick, was on doxorubicin before dying of cancer at age 36 in 2022. Most of her students and players have since graduated, but among those who still remember her is Ally Aguilar, a senior who is president of the FCCLA and Pink Out Week director.
"We all associate Pink Out Week with Coach K," Aguilar said. "When we were planning it this year, we talked about how we needed to go all out, because the seniors on this year's girls' basketball team are the last ones who ever had her as a coach."
Aguilar is also an OMRF Teen Leader, one of 56 Oklahoma high school students who come to the foundation monthly to learn about nonprofits and the impact that charitable giving makes on a community.
Hearing from Kirkland, Aguilar said, brought home the importance of Pink Out Week.
"It opens your eyes, especially for the students who knew Coach K," she said. "It reminds us that cancer affects everyone and that our money is going to help people that we know."
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Original text here: https://omrf.org/2025/12/22/stillwater-students-raise-15000-for-omrf-cancer-research/
Statement from Prosperity Now on Congress Failing to Extend the ACA Subsidies
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 [Category: Economics] -- Prosperity Now (formerly the Corporation for Enterprise Development) posted the following news release:
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Statement from Prosperity Now on Congress Failing to Extend the ACA Subsidies
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WASHINGTON, D.C. On Friday, the United States Congress adjourned without extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits. Marisa Calderon, President and CEO of Prosperity Now, issued the following statement:
"Congress leaving town without extending the ACA premium tax credits has real financial consequences for families heading into 2026. When these
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 [Category: Economics] -- Prosperity Now (formerly the Corporation for Enterprise Development) posted the following news release:
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Statement from Prosperity Now on Congress Failing to Extend the ACA Subsidies
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WASHINGTON, D.C. On Friday, the United States Congress adjourned without extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits. Marisa Calderon, President and CEO of Prosperity Now, issued the following statement:
"Congress leaving town without extending the ACA premium tax credits has real financial consequences for families heading into 2026. When thesesubsidies expire, monthly premiums for people who rely on them are projected torise by an average of 114 percent, with many seeing their costs more than double. An estimated 2.2 million people could lose coverage next year, with millions more affected in the years to follow.
For people who buy coverage on their own, including freelancers, small business owners, and self-employed workers, this change is immediate and personal. Monthly insurance costs could rise by hundreds of dollars, and insome cases as much as $700 per month, depending on age, income, and where someone lives. For a family earning around $60,000, that level of increase competes directly with everyday necessities like groceries, housing, and child care.
The costs do not stop at the kitchen table. Hospitals, particularly rural and community facilities, would face higher levels of unpaid care as people delay treatment or go without coverage. Any reduction in federal spending would likely be offset by higher costs borne by families, states, and the health care system.
From a financial stability standpoint, predictability matters. Revisiting this issue early in the new year would help prevent avoidable strain on household budgets and give families the certainty they need to plan ahead."
About Prosperity Now - Since1979, Prosperity Now has been a trusted leader in strengthening financial security, expanding access to capital, and ensuring economic stability for businesses, families, and communities. Learn more at www.prosperitynow.org.
Contact:
Sarah Schwartzberg - (516) 419-0908
media@prosperitynow.org
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Original text here: https://www.prosperitynow.org/news-and-insights/statement-from-prosperity-now-on-congress-failing-to-extend-the-aca-subsidies
Penske Leasing Workers Free Themselves from Teamsters' 'Representation'
SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, Dec. 22 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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Penske Leasing Workers Free Themselves from Teamsters' 'Representation'
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Dallas area workers increasingly demanding individual freedom from unions
Dallas, TX (December 22, 2025) - Employees of Penske Truck Leasing's facility in the Redbird neighborhood of Dallas have freed themselves from the control of Teamsters Local 745 union officials. A majority of workers, with assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, filed a petition requesting decertification
... Show Full Article
SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, Dec. 22 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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Penske Leasing Workers Free Themselves from Teamsters' 'Representation'
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Dallas area workers increasingly demanding individual freedom from unions
Dallas, TX (December 22, 2025) - Employees of Penske Truck Leasing's facility in the Redbird neighborhood of Dallas have freed themselves from the control of Teamsters Local 745 union officials. A majority of workers, with assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, filed a petition requesting decertificationof the local union with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on November 14, 2025.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering votes to install (or "certify") and remove (or "decertify") unions in workplaces. By law, the NLRB should administer a decertification election if employees submit a petition in which at least 30% of workers demand such an election (this petition far exceeded that threshold).
The decertification election was scheduled for December 18, but on the day of the election, union officials formally disclaimed interest in continuing as the workers' "representative," removing the need for an election. Teamsters bosses presumably knew they would have lost the vote overwhelmingly, and preemptively conceded defeat.
Texas Employees Free from Union's Twin Coercive Powers
Texas is a Right to Work state, meaning that Teamsters union officials cannot enforce union contracts that require workers to pay union dues or fees to keep their jobs. In non-Right to Work states, union bosses can have workers fired solely for refusing to financially support union officials' activities.
However, in both Right to Work and non-Right to Work states, union officials can wield exclusive "representation" power over every employee in a workplace, unless the union is decertified. The workers at Penske's Redbird facility are now free of both of these powers granted to union bosses by the government.
"I support decertifying the Teamsters union because the union isn't benefiting us the way it should," commented Penske employee Epifanio Hernandez in early December, shortly after his petition for decertification was filed. "The union rules aren't beneficial to everyone, and instead of helping us progress, they end up holding many of us back. We deserve the freedom to exercise our own rights, speak for ourselves, and make decisions that reflect what we actually want not what the union decides for us."
Teamsters Union Continues Streak of Decertification
In just the last year, Foundation staff attorneys have helped several groups of employees free themselves from unwanted union "representation" by the Teamsters. These include two other cases in Dallas, where both delivery drivers for Restaurant Technologies, Inc. and employees at FCC Environmental Services recently booted Teamsters Local 745 bosses from their workplaces, the same union as in this case.
Foundation staff attorneys have also noticed a marked rise in requests from workers seeking legal assistance in Teamsters decertification cases. Recent NLRB statistics also suggest no union faces more decertification petitions than the Teamsters.
"More and more, American workers across the country are deciding they are better off without Teamsters union bosses who prioritize their own interests over that of the workers they claim to 'represent,'" commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. "We're proud to support the growing number of workers engaged in the transportation and trucking industries who are demanding freedom from coercive unionism."
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The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.
Posted on Dec 22, 2025 in News Releases
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Original text here: https://www.nrtw.org/news/dallas-penske-workers-free-from-teamsters-12222025/
