Seventeen Missouri police officers have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against a local police union, the Board of Police Commissions of Kansas City, and the mayor of Kansas City for violating their rights.


For more on the case and other developments in the Foundation's free legal aid program, watch the video below.

Hostess Delivery Driver Wins $47,000 in Federal Case Challenging Teamster Union Boss Discrimination

Teamster union bosses sought to punish worker for refraining from union membership

Tulsa, OK (April 4, 2013) – An Interstate Bakeries Wonder Bread/Hostess delivery driver has won over $47,000 in back pay and reimbursement from a local Teamster union and the company in a union discrimination case that the union twice appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oklahoma worker Kirk Rammage received free assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation during his seven year legal battle challenging a local Teamster union's discriminatory policy.

Click here to read the full release.

SEIU Union Officials Violate Federal Settlement

Worker advocate assists healthcare workers coerced into forced dues union ranks

Sacramento, CA (April 4, 2013) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Sutter Roseville Medical Center respiratory care practitioner has filed another federal charge against a statewide union for violating a federal settlement by coercing her and her colleagues into paying full union dues even though they are not union members.

In late 2011, Mary Massen won a federal settlement after filing charges against with the Oakland-based Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers – West (SEIU-UHW) union with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Because California does not have Right to Work protections for its workers, Massen, who has exercised her right to refrain from formal union membership, is still forced to pay union fees as a condition of employment. However, because of a Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck, she cannot be compelled to pay the portion of union dues used for the union's political, lobbying, and member-only activities. Union officials are also legally obligated to inform workers of these rights and to provide workers with an independently verified audit of chargeable and non-chargeable expenses.

Click here to read the full release.

Right to Work Foundation Announces Offer of Free Legal Aid to Chattanooga Volkswagen Employees

Union and company are reportedly colluding to force workers into union ranks

Springfield, VA (April 1, 2013) – Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, has issued the following statement in response to recent media reports that United Auto Worker (UAW) union and Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) officials are in talks to unionize the VW workers at the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant:

"Recent media reports suggest that UAW union officials are working to negotiate the workplace conditions of Volkswagen's Chattanooga employees even though the workers are not represented by the UAW union hierarchy.

"The National Right to Work Foundation has seen again and again the UAW union hierarchy pressure companies to cut backroom deals designed to push workers into union ranks whether the employees like it or not. For example, UAW officials vetoed pay increases and secretly pre-negotiated bargaining concessions at the expense of Freightliner workers in North and South Carolina in exchange for company assistance in unionizing the workers.

Click here to read the full release.

Additional Caterpillar Workers File Federal Charges Against Machinist Union Hierarchy for Strike Fines

Union officials demand hundreds of thousands of dollars in strike fines from workers

Chicago, IL (April 1, 2013) – In the wake of last summer's Machinists union boss-instigated strike against Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), 24 more Caterpillar workers have filed federal charges against a local Machinists union for violating their rights and levying retaliatory strike fines against them after they continued to work during the strike.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the 24 workers filed their charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Chicago. Foundation attorneys anticipate more charges will be filed for other Caterpillar workers at the facility.

On May 1, 2012, International Association of Machinists (IAM) District Lodge 851 union bosses ordered all of the over 800 Rockdale Caterpillar workers on strike. The 24 workers were among the over hundred workers who worked despite the IAM union boss demands.

Under federal law, workers who are not voluntary union members are exempt from the union hierarchy's constitution and bylaws and thus cannot be disciplined for continuing to work during a union boss-ordered strike.

However, IAM Local 851 union bosses recently levied fines totaling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars against the workers for continuing to work during the strike.

Click here to read the full release.

New Michigan Right to Work Laws Take Effect Today

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation offers free legal aid to workers seeking to exercise their rights under Michigan's Right to Work protections

Springfield, VA (March 28, 2013) – In response to Michigan's Right to Work laws taking effect today, Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement:

"No worker should ever be forced to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of their employment. That is why Michigan's new Right to Work laws are great advances for worker freedom. Today, workers in Michigan finally have Right to Work protections.

Click here to read the full release.