Denver, CO (July 21, 2005) – A local Safeway worker filed federal charges against the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 1 after union officials denied his right not to subsidize union politics and failing to provide him with a legally mandated audit of union expenditures.

Robert Wilson, an employee at a Safeway distribution center in Denver, obtained free legal assistance from attorneys with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on behalf of himself and roughly 20 similarly situated employees.

Wilson began working at the facility in 2003, and promptly submitted his resignation from formal union membership.

The charges claim that since Wilson’s resignation, union officials have failed to meet the legal requirements set forth in the Foundation-won Supreme Court decision Communication Workers v. Beck. Under Beck and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials must inform employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and the right not to be forced to pay for costs unrelated to collective bargaining, such as union political activity.

“Union officials want workers like Robert Wilson to simply shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Rather than respect the rights of workers they claim to represent, union officials are bullying workers to pay for political electioneering.”

Wilson alleges that union officials never honored the resignation of his formal union membership continued deducting the full forced dues amount from his paycheck. The union hierarchy has also failed to provide an independently audited breakdown of union expenditures as required by law. The NLRB will now investigate the charge and decide whether to issue a formal complaint and prosecute the union.

“The attempts by union officials to run roughshod over workers’ rights show the inevitable greed and corruption that flow from forced unionism,” said Gleason.

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.