24 Feb 2009

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees With Right to Work Foundation: Unions Have No Right to Payroll Deduction

Posted in News Releases

News Release

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees With Right to Work Foundation: Unions Have No Right to Payroll Deduction

More effective alternative would have been stopping government payroll deduction for all union dues

Washington, DC (February 24, 2009) — The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled 6-3 in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association that states may prohibit union officials from using payroll deduction to divert government workers’ money into union coffers.

In overturning a Ninth Circuit appeals court decision and upholding an Idaho law banning payroll deduction for union political dues from state and local government employees, the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, agreed with arguments made by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys. The lower court had blocked the state from requiring local government bodies to comply with the state law.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys – joining with the Sutherland Institute, Utah Taxpayers Association, and the National Federation of Independent Business – successfully argued in their amicus brief (pdf) that unions, in fact, have no constitutional right to use government resources to deduct dues from workers’ paychecks.

“The Supreme Court’s decision makes clear what should be obvious, that union officials have no constitutional right to use government resources to line their pockets,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. "It is bad public policy for government bodies essentially to act as bagmen for union political monies.”

(Continue reading this news release…)

24 Feb 2009

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees With Right to Work Foundation: Unions Have No Right to Payroll Deduction

Posted in News Releases

Washington, DC (February 24, 2009) – The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled 6-3 in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association that states may prohibit union officials from using payroll deduction to divert government workers’ money into union coffers.

In overturning a Ninth Circuit appeals court decision and upholding an Idaho law banning payroll deduction for union political dues from state and local government employees, the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, agreed with arguments made by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys. The lower court had blocked the state from requiring local government bodies to comply with the state law.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys – joining with the Sutherland Institute, Utah Taxpayers Association, and the National Federation of Independent Business – successfully argued in their amicus brief (pdf) that unions, in fact, have no constitutional right to use government resources to deduct dues from workers’ paychecks.

“The Supreme Court’s decision makes clear what should be obvious, that union officials have no constitutional right to use government resources to line their pockets,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. "It is bad public policy for government bodies essentially to act as bagmen for union political monies.”

“But there was a much more effective way to address this problem. The Idaho legislature should simply have banned all union payroll deductions, not just those for narrowly defined political activities,” continued Gleason. “Unfortunately, the definition of politics covered by such laws is so narrow that union bosses are essentially able to continue business as usual.”

The majority opinion also relied on the unanimous Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Davenport v. WEA victory. In Davenport, Foundation attorneys represented a group of nonunion Washington State teachers.

The three dissenting Justices in Ysursa were troubled by the appearance that the Idaho law targeted only union political speech rather than having a broader objective. Legal experts agree that laws which ban payroll deduction across the board – rather than just monies for certain political speech – would therefore be less vulnerable to legal attack and would better serve the public policy purposes underpinning such laws.

19 Feb 2009

UPS Freight Worker Files Charges against Abusive Teamsters Organizing Drive

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Mechanicsburg, PA (February 19, 2009) – National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have filed unfair labor practice charges against Teamsters Local 776 for initiating a coercive organizing drive to unionize a local UPS Freight facility.

The charges allege that Teamsters organizers never actually acquired majority support from workplace employees before receiving monopoly bargaining privileges from UPS Freight. The charges follow a decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) denying workers a secret ballot election to determine whether Teamsters officials would represent UPS Freight employees.

In April of 2008, the Association of Parcel Workers of America (APWA) union attempted to unionize the Mechanicsburg UPS Freight facility. Union organizers collected enough signed “authorization cards” from workers to trigger a government-supervised secret ballot election to determine whether a majority wished to be represented by the APWA. In the ensuing election, a majority of workers voted against the APWA.

After workers rejected the APWA union, Teamsters officials attempted to unionize the facility through a “card check” organizing drive. Teamsters operatives presented UPS Freight with what they claimed were signed authorization cards from a majority of workers, demanding the company recognize the union as monopoly bargaining agent. Disaffected workers immediately sought a union decertification election, but NLRB officials ruled that only one election could take place per year.

Under the Foundation-won NLRB Dana/Metaldyne decision, employees have the right to demand a secret ballot election immediately following unionization via card check organizing. The decision was intended to counteract the employee intimidation and harassment at the hands of aggressive union operatives that frequently occurs during card check campaigns.

However, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) provides that only one secret ballot election can take place in any given bargaining unit during a twelve-month period. Workers at the Mechanicsburg UPS Freight facility were therefore denied the opportunity to vote in a secret ballot election to determine unionization.

Despite this setback, one worker is challenging the validity of the Teamsters’ authorization cards with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation. The Foundation’s charges allege that many of the cards collected by Teamsters organizers are invalid, and that the Teamsters should not have monopoly bargaining privileges until they conclusively prove that a majority of workers support unionization.

“Workers shouldn’t have to battle for years just preserve their independence,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Card check organizing is inherently abusive, and we aim to prove that Teamsters bosses acquired monopoly bargaining privileges through fraudulent means.”

9 Feb 2009

AT&T Mobility Employees File Federal Charges Against Union for Threats if They Should Refuse to Strike

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Morristown, NJ (February 9, 2009) – Responding to employee reports across America of union intimidation, a national organization announced today that it will provide free legal assistance to AT&T Mobility employees who are threatened with fines for exercising their right to go to their jobs during an imminent national strike.

Communication Workers of America (CWA) union officials may order 20,000 AT&T employees to abandon their jobs at any moment. Numerous employees across America have contacted National Right to Work Foundation attorneys for advice after being falsely informed that they have no right to resign from formal union membership and will face hefty fines as union members if they choose to do their jobs during the strike.

Foundation attorneys have already helped two New Jersey AT&T employees file unfair labor practice charges against the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1101 union for this misconduct.

Under the Supreme Court decision Pattern Makers v. NLRB, workers have an absolute right to resign from formal, full dues-paying membership at any time. Union officials’ attempts to block workers from resigning clearly violate this precedent. Union officials have no legal power to punish nonmember employees for honoring their commitments to their employer.

Union officials have told CWA union members in Washington, Michigan, Ohio and New Jersey that any attempt to resign from union membership is prohibited. In Ohio, CWA bosses responded to one worker’s inquiry by telling him that he was employed in a “forced union” state. Foundation attorneys anticipate filing additional unfair labor practice charges for these union-abused workers in the coming weeks.

Moreover, union officials informed workers that anyone who refuses to follow strike orders will be subject to exorbitant financial penalties. In previous Foundation cases, union strike fines have exceeded thousands of dollars per worker per day.

The charges filed by Foundation attorneys seek an immediate injunction from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to prevent CWA union bosses from stopping workers’ voluntary resignations. The charges also call for a rescission of any disciplinary action taken against workers attempting to resign, a repeal of the union’s illegal rules preventing workers from resigning union membership and a notice informing all employees of their legal right to resign from the union at any time.

“It’s particularly despicable to threaten workers with fines if they refuse to abandon their jobs in the midst of an economic crisis,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “All workers should be free to support their families, free from ugly threats by union bosses.”

“The National Right to Work Foundation stands ready to defend the rights of any AT&T employee who is being illegally threatened or coerced by CWA union bosses,” added Gleason.

9 Feb 2009

Nationwide Backroom Deal between Union Bosses and Tenet Corporation Forces Philadelphia Nurses into Union Ranks

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Philadelphia, PA (February 9, 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a registered nurse at a Philadelphia-based Tenet Healthcare facility has filed federal charges against the California Nurses Association (CNA) union and Tenet Healthcare Corporation after union and company officials entered into a backroom deal designed to force unwilling nurses into union ranks.

The charges target a so-called “Election Procedures Agreement” (EPA) formulated by Tenet officials and CNA union bosses at Hahnemann University Hospital to bypass employees’ legal rights. So far, CNA organizers have successfully obtained monopoly bargaining privileges at a Houston-area healthcare facility under similarly controversial circumstances.

The charges list multiple violations of employee rights, all designed to make it more difficult for employees to resist the CNA’s professional union organizers.

Foundation attorneys have reason to believe that the agreement signed by Tenet and the CNA subverts the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) role in supervising unionization elections and bypasses key employee protections. Although the agreement calls for the NLRB to count ballots and “certify” the union, it circumvents all government oversight procedures during the actual election.

The unfair labor practice charges also allege that Tenet officials provided CNA operatives with unlawful organizing assistance in violation of federal statutes. Under the agreement, Tenet managers are gagged from responding to employee questions about the CNA, and nurses who oppose unionization are forbidden from using Tenet facilities to express their views. Outside union organizers, on the other hand, are given free reign to push for a union presence.

“California union militants, with the assistance of complicit Tenet officials, are attempting force unwilling nurses into union ranks,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “We’ve seen this scheme before, and it’s flat out illegal. What isn’t yet clear is exactly what Tenet received in exchange for helping union officials gain access to hundreds of thousands of dollars in union dues.”

The charges, which will now be investigated by NLRB officials, also allege that the EPA amounts to illegal pre-recognition bargaining, with union officials negotiating substantive terms of employment for nurses before they acquire the legal authority to represent them. Foundation attorneys filed similar charges against the CNA and Tenet for several Houston-area nurses in 2008.

9 Feb 2009

Public Employee Union Officials Sued for Forcing Employees to Stay in Union Ranks

Posted in Blog, News Releases

Union bosses’ illegal scheme violates employees’ constitutional rights

Harrisburg, PA (February 9, 2009) – Three Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) employees filed a federal suit challenging two Pennsylvania laws that unconstitutionally prohibit workers from leaving union ranks.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, providing CATA employees Brenda Hall, Karen Ilgen, and Martha Hoy with free legal aid, filed the suit today in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Union officials rebuffed the employees’ repeated requests to resign from formal union membership in the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) local affiliate 1203B and District Council 83 unions.

Local 1203B and District Council 83 union officials are using the Pennsylvania Public Employee Forced Unionism Law and the Public Employee Relations Act as justification to compel the employees into continuing formal union membership and require the CATA illegally to extract full union dues from the employees.

As well as challenging the state law, the employees are suing for their right to retroactively object to formal union membership and obtain refunds. The employees are backed by decades of case law and U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Click here to read the rest of the Foundation’s press release.

9 Feb 2009

Public Employee Union Officials Sued for Forcing Employees to Stay in Union Ranks

Posted in News Releases

Harrisburg, PA (February 9, 2009) – Three Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) employees filed a federal suit challenging two Pennsylvania laws that unconstitutionally prohibit workers from leaving union ranks.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, providing CATA employees Brenda Hall, Karen Ilgen, and Martha Hoy with free legal aid, filed the suit today in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Union officials rebuffed the employees’ repeated requests to resign from formal union membership in the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) local affiliate 1203B and District Council 83 unions.

Local 1203B and District Council 83 union officials are using the Pennsylvania Public Employee Forced Unionism Law and the Public Employee Relations Act as justification to compel the employees into continuing formal union membership and require the CATA illegally to extract full union dues from the employees.

As well as challenging the state law, the employees are suing for their right to retroactively object to formal union membership and obtain refunds. The employees are backed by decades of case law and U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

As a result of the National Right to Work Foundation’s precedent-setting case Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public employees can be forced to pay some union dues, but cannot be compelled to pay for politics and other union dues beyond the cost of collective bargaining. Abood thus also established that full union membership cannot constitutionally be required as a condition of employment. The Foundation’s Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson Supreme Court victory requires union officials to provide employees with an independently-audited financial breakdown of all forced-dues union expenditures. Local 1203B or District 83 union officials did not provide such a breakdown.

“These union bosses know full well what the law requires of them, but they have deliberately kept rank-and-file workers in the dark to keep the forced-dues gravy train going,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation.

“Pennsylvania needs a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payment completely voluntary,” added Gleason.

5 Feb 2009

Teamsters Union Bosses Renege on Legal Settlement, Illegally Force Nonunion Employee to Pay Excessive Dues

Posted in News Releases

Butte, MT (February 5, 2008) – National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have filed a new round of unfair labor practice charges for Michael Weller, a union-abused employee of Hanson Trucking and Resin Haulers, Inc.

As detailed in the charges, Teamsters union officials hindered Weller from opting out of payments for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, failed to provide him with a federally-mandated disclosure of union expenditures, and threatened to get him fired for failing to pay the union’s onerous fees.

Under the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Communication Workers v. Beck, nonunion employees cannot be forced to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace negotiation. Foundation attorneys originally filed charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for Michael Weller after International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 2 union officials threatened him with termination for failing to pay union dues unrelated to collective bargaining. The NLRB announced it would prosecute, but Weller withdrew his unfair labor practice charges after Teamsters officials agreed to stop threatening him and to refund all illegally-seized forced dues.

Unfortunately, Teamsters officials promptly reneged on their agreement, failing to provide adequate disclosure of union financial expenditures and imposing an onerous annual opt-out requirement on any worker who attempts to withhold payments for activities unrelated to workplace negotiations. The union bosses’ extensive and often-contradictory opt-out processes – as well as their failure to provide an adequate breakdown of what workers’ dues are actually paying for – made it nearly impossible for Weller to refrain from paying for union activities outside the workplace, as is his right.

Moreover, Teamsters bosses again threatened Weller with termination if he refused to comply with their excessive financial demands. Under protest, Weller paid the contested fees to Local 2 to keep his job.

“Teamsters bosses are frequently repeat offenders, and this incident demonstrates a profound disrespect for the rule of law and employee rights,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The only way to protect Montana’s workers is to ensure union membership and dues payments are completely voluntary through passage of a Right to Work law. Anything less leaves the door open to continued abuse of Montana’s employees.”

4 Feb 2009

State Court Refuses to Enforce Georgia’s Popular Right to Work Law

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Atlanta, GA (February 4, 2009) – National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys announced they will appeal last week’s stunning ruling by the Court of Appeals of Georgia that despite Georgia’s longstanding and popular Right to Work law, a local union may force nonmembers to pay for the privilege to work.

Georgia is one of 22 states with Right to Work protections which ensure that no worker can be forced to join or pay dues to a union in order to get or keep a job. The state law unambiguously states that “[n]o individual shall be required as a condition of employment or continuance of employment to pay any fee, assessment, or other sum of money whatsoever to a labor organization.”

Nonetheless, the Georgia Court of Appeals, affirming a lower court ruling, held that the International Longshoreman Association Local 1414 union may legally force nonmembers to pay a referral fee to the union on jobs obtained at a union hiring hall between June 2005 and September 2006. The controversial contract between the union and the Georgia Stevedores Association requires that all employees be hired through the union hiring hall. The union forces all nonmembers to pay referral fees as a condition of employment.

Attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation are providing free legal aid to eleven nonmember employees who perform longshoremen work at the port of Savannah. Local 1414 union bosses have demanded the employees turn over approximately $1.33 each per hour worked.

The ruling took a position that the Georgia Right to Work law does not apply to a hiring hall scenario, and federal labor law does not permit states to prohibit unions from forcing workers to pay monies to an exclusive union hiring hall. However, Foundation attorneys argue that the Right to Work law unambiguously prohibits any mandate on employees to pay a union for the privilege to work, and state Right to Work laws cannot be preempted by federal law in this regard.

“Despite the clarity of Georgia’s popular Right to Work law, this court has concluded that the Right to Work law does not mean what it says,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “We are confident this ruling will be overturned.”

“This case shows you that even in Right to Work states, union tyrants will trick, lie, and steal their way into workers’ wallets,” continued Gleason.

Foundation attorneys are preparing a petition for certiorari to the Georgia Supreme Court.

30 Jan 2009

Obama Makes First Major Payback to Big Labor

Posted in Blog, News Releases

Labor Secretary handed sweeping new enforcement powers, while workers remain in the dark about right to refrain from union membership

Washington, DC (January 30, 2009) – President Barack Obama issued two decrees today intended to corral millions more American workers into forced unionism.

“After spending more than a billion dollars in forced union dues to get Obama elected, the union bosses have received their first major payoff – two executive orders intended to grease the rails for coercive union organizing, set up the Secretary of Labor as federal labor law czar, and keep workers in the dark about their rights to refrain from union membership,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “Obama’s two executive orders serve one basic goal: to seize more forced dues revenue to fund Big Labor’s political agenda.”

Obama repealed Executive Order 13201 signed by President George W. Bush which had helped ensure that employees of federal contractors were informed of their rights under the U.S. Supreme Court case Communication Workers v. Beck (1988). Won by attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation, Beck held that private-sector employees may be compelled to pay certain union dues, but may not be compelled to pay any dues or fees earmarked for union politics, lobbying, and other non-bargaining activities.

Click here to read the rest of the Foundation’s press release.