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That’s No Way to Run a Railroad

What are public sector unions for, exactly? What problem are they trying to solve? And what does the evidence show about whether they solve it? I dig into those questions in my latest for @theatlantic.com. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.com

Reformed collective-bargaining laws would bring what unions want into better alignment with the public interest.

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Harming student education in order to gain political advantage is, well, ok, it’s definitely an argument! Doesn’t seem likely to be a long-term winning electoral strategy to me.

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Maybe not! But the research indicates that it has improved Wisconsin’s schools. Either you don’t buy the research (but why?) or you’re OK with worse outcomes for kids (but why?).

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That’s No Way to Run a Railroad

theatlantic.com

Reformed collective-bargaining laws would bring what unions want into better alignment with the public interest.

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Reposted by Nicholas Bagley

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Because solar panels have now become very cheap, the rhetoric and superficial markers of a clean energy abundance agenda have become very mainstream among green types but beneath the surface much less has changed than ought to. www.slowboring.com/p/the-case-f...

slowboring.com

The case for clean energy abundance

It’s a good idea — and strikingly different from conventional environmentalism.

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Nicholas Bagley @nbagley.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

If you want good schools and high-quality policing, we're going to have to change how we hire, retain, and discipline teachers and cops. Public sector unions aren't gonna like it. With @robertgo.bsky.social at The Argument: www.theargumentmag.com/p/democrats-...

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Nicholas Bagley @nbagley.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 07/05/2026

wandering the Sonora desert in a carefree fashion like

A Saguaro cactus that looks as if it has two eyes and is striding through the landscape in a jaunty manner, perhaps whistling a tune

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

This week in Too Much is Happening

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Vital City @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

What to do when public sector organized labor conflicts with public interest? @nbagley.bsky.social of @umichlaw.bsky.social has some ideas ⬇️ www.vitalcitynyc.org/public-secto...

vitalcitynyc.org

The Unions and the Cities

When public sector organized labor conflicts with the public interest — and what to do about it

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Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

A huge winner on both politics and substance — pay higher salaries to the most effective teachers. www.slowboring.com/p/we-should-...

slowboring.com

We should pay more for the best teachers

A popular, compelling, correct idea

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NYU Law Democracy Project @democracyproject.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

🚨New "What's Next?" essay by @nbagley.bsky.social — "The Unions and the Cities" @nyulaw.bsky.social "What's Next?" features reform ideas, critiques, & original proposals from across the ideological spectrum Read the full essay here: democracyproject.org/posts/the-un...

democracyproject.org

The Unions and the Cities

A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

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Nicholas Bagley @nbagley.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

It's contested! The best answer is that one House of Congress, and almost certainly not a single member, would not have standing to sue, that district court decision in House v. Burwell notwithstanding.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Quite literally “we have always been at war with Iran.”

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Jamal Greene @jamalgreene.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

All of this.

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Glad you're on my side on at least a few things!

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Also, we're not arguing to immiserate anyone! But we need our tax dollars (which will always be scarcer than we'd like) to provide good public services, and public-sector unions too often stand in the way. A bargain of higher wages for real accountability is one I could get behind.

Oh got it. Yes, I'm on board about the need for more progressive taxation. I'm also on board for higher wages for public workers, though they ought to be conditioned on genuine accountability / quality. There's an imbalance on the benefits side that ought to be addressed.

We don't conflate and switch. Both are included in our criticism.

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Is your argument that we should not criticize anyone on our own team during a time of authoritarian menace? If so, I don't share that view -- I think the lack of self-criticism is what helped get us into this mess.

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Nicholas Handler @nicholashandler.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

So we wrote a piece about whether public-sector unions create governance problems in blue cities. We think they do. Do you? Public-sector unions are prodemocratic in some ways and antidemocratic in others. Especially to the extent that they are the latter, they are not above criticism.

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This is a provocative piece. Some features of federal sector bargaining might address some of these critiques if ported over to state and local sectors. (E.g., wages are set by boards rather than directly bargained over; law enforcement is prohibited from unionizing).

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I'd like Democrats to get their house in order, and I fear they won't do so unless they take seriously their governance problems. As for arguments about solidarity, I think they are deployed too often on the left to limit or end debate on important matters.

I will add that there is a lack of urgency around education that angers me. I taught middle school in the South Bronx 25 years ago and it was stupid and inhumane what those kids experienced. It is no better today than it was back then. We should be pulling ALL the levers at our disposal to fix that.

Again, there are lots of problems. We focused on one. It's a big one, in my view! Just because there are other problems doesn't mean this one isn't worth addressing.

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A point we mention in the piece.

There are lots of problems in the world. This is one, and I think it's a much bigger problem than you do. But you're right that there are others.

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I regard the slow-rolling failure of our public schools as a five-alarm fire. If I thought unions were allies in the fight to fix them, I would be enthusiastic about supporting them. But I observe the opposite, and it frustrates me no end that so much of the left valorizes unions over kids.

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Finally, on "regressive labor policies in the South" -- we do not extol them. We extol the successes that their schools have had, and observe that those were possible because of low union power. Schools in CA and NY and MI are languishing -- it's appalling. Yet the unions fight reform.

As for blaming unions, well, I think they are doing exactly what they're set up to do. And I think that is often bad for the public. I *also* think they are being short-sighted. If they are alienating Dems like Robert and me, the political risk here does not seem remote!

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I still don't get it. "Feeding into the animosity on the right" -- maybe! But the right doesn't matter much in the nation's biggest cities. That's an intra-left fight. And we've got to get our own house in order.

I don't understand this criticism? If public-sector unions are a problem for Democrats, we should address it. If they aren't, we shouldn't. What's your view? B/c it'd be odd to think that they are a problem and that we should do nothing because of concerns about private-sector unions.

Reposted by Nicholas Bagley

Opinion | Blue Cities and States Are in Trouble. Democrats Need to Change How They Run Them.

Democrats have a public-sector union problem. It’s not a popular thing to say, but continuing to ignore it won’t serve us well. My latest, together with the excellent @robertgo.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

nytimes.com

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Opinion | Blue Cities and States Are in Trouble. Democrats Need to Change How They Run Them.

If Democrats want to stay relevant, and to deliver for the public, they cannot wait for unions to change. They need to break more often with their friends. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

nytimes.com

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