Auto Parts Manufacturing Workers Seek to Disassemble Unpopular Union Boss Bargaining Powers

Labor board investigation throws wrench into case, finds union contract with company illegal

Long Island, NY (November 1, 2011) – A Levittown automobile parts manufacturing worker is asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to halt an unpopular local union from forcing its representation on him and his colleagues.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Charlie Shannon filed unfair labor practice charges for himself and his coworkers against the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine, and Furniture Workers-Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA) Local 463 union.

IUE-CWA Local 463 union officials no longer enjoy majority support from the employees after a majority of them signed a petition to remove the unwanted union from their workplace. However, union officials unlawfully continue to negotiate a new monopoly bargaining agreement with the employer, Sterling Instruments, Inc.

After investigating the matter, the NLRB regional office in Brooklyn found that IUE-CWA Local 463 union officials were illegally demanding forced union dues payments from the workers because the contract's forced-dues clause with the company was not valid.

Read the entire release here.

Legal Aid Foundation Demands Radical Obama-Recess Appointee to Recuse Himself from 12 Pending Cases

New federal labor board member Craig Becker has demonstrated malice against National Right to Work Foundation and pre-judged cases about workplace freedom and union boss malfeasance

Washington, DC (March 29, 2010) – After President Barack Obama installed Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lawyer Craig Becker as a recess appointee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Saturday, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys are now filing 12 recusal motions asking Becker to step aside in any pending case involving the Foundation.

As associate general counsel of the SEIU, Becker directly litigated against Foundation attorneys and helped orchestrate legal strategies for SEIU affiliates across the United States, so he should recuse himself from cases involving the SEIU or its affiliates. Moreover, his published writings indicate an extreme level of hostility against the Foundation and its legal arguments on behalf of workers, even when the NLRB or United States Supreme Court have agreed and ruled against union officials for their abusive practices.

The Foundation’s free legal aid cases frequently involve unfair labor practices committed by union officials, such as coercive practices to corral workers into union membership and illegal use of fees paid by nonmembers for political purposes. Becker’s record suggests he is unable to give workers who turn to the Foundation for help an impartial hearing and instead will simply rubber-stamp whatever union boss wrongdoings are put before him.

The full press release is available here.  Download two of the motions (PDF) here and here.

Workers Prevail in Battle for Secret Ballot Vote After Corrupt Card Check Unionization Scheme

Communications union bosses collude with AT&T to lock local group into union ranks without majority support

Seattle, WA (February 11, 2010) – A group of AT&T Mobility employees have won a legal victory countering union officials’ domination of their workplace using a coercive card check unionization campaign that occurred after union organizers colluded with AT&T officials to sweep the workers into union ranks in exchange for contract concessions.

Per a so-called “neutrality agreement” between the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union hierarchy and AT&T, workers in a 140-employee bargaining unit (which consists of various locations across the state of Washington) were “card checked” into the CWA union’s regional monopoly bargaining unit which consists of thousands of employees.

In exchange for AT&T foisting CWA monopoly bargaining on workers through a card check organizing drive, union officials agreed to subject employees to a contract which results in lost benefits for the workers, including promotion opportunities. Moreover, the employees’ inclusion in the larger regional unit would make it virtually impossible for them to later organize to remove the union officials’ monopoly bargaining privileges.

However, using precedent won by Right to Work Foundation attorneys in the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) landmark 2007 decision in Dana Corporation, Joseph Simpson of Redmond and his colleagues filed a decertification petition demanding a secret ballot election to remove the unwanted union from their workplace.

Click here to read the full release.

Two years ago, an employee at a San Diego-area childrens' hospital filed a union decertification petition to eject an unwanted SEIU local. Instead of submitting to a formal decertification election, SEIU union officials filed a series of frivolous "blocking charges" in an attempt to indefinitely delay any decision.

After years of legal wrangling, however, the SEIU's charges were finally resolved. But rather than face a union decertification election, SEIU officials opted to withdraw from the bargaining unit, knowing full well that they'd lose employees' votes by a wide margin.

This is the paradox of union "representation": instead of allowing themselves to be held accountable to workers through a secret ballot election, SEIU lawyers took advantage of a few loopholes to stall the entire process -- when that ultimately failed, the union bosses finally took a hike. Does anyone think these cynical antics resulted from a sincere desire to represent workers' interests?

Here's a copy of the union's letter (.pdf) disowning any interest in retaining its monopoly bargaining privileges at the hospital. Here's the National Labor Relations Board's decision (.pdf) formally revoking the union's workplace authority. The San Diego Tribune also featured a decent article on the union's decision to withdraw from the hospital. 

UAW Tries to Block Employee Election to Toss Out Union at JCIM Grand Rapids

Meanwhile, UAW operatives work to pressure employees at Holland JCIM plant into union ranks

Grand Rapids, MI (January 13, 2009) — A majority of Johnson Controls (JCIM) employees at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood have filed a decertification petition seeking an election to oust the United Auto Workers (UAW) union as the JCIM workers’ monopoly bargaining agent, but UAW union lawyers argued in a formal hearing yesterday that the employees should be barred from access to a decertification election.

JCIM worker Dawn Lambert filed the decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking a secret ballot election to determine whether or not a majority of the workforce wants to retain the UAW union as their monopoly bargaining agent. Under federal labor law governing the private sector, when a union hierarchy has been granted monopoly bargaining authority, it is illegal for any present or future employees – whether they are members of the union or not – to negotiate with their employer for themselves unless they can prove that the union hierarchy does not retain majority support.

A clear majority of the employees at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood have now expressed their intent to remove the UAW. National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have also sent a letter to JCIM management demanding that it cease further contract negotiations and also withdraw recognition of what is now a minority union at Talon Court. Under the law, recognizing and negotiating with a union that does not have majority support is an unfair labor practice.

(Continue reading this news release...)

In Michigan, Foundation staff attorneys are providing legal aid to Johnson Controls (JCIM) Grand Rapids employees who want the UAW union hierarchy removed as the monopoly bargaining agent. Meanwhile UAW union organizers are attempting to force their way into JCIM’s Holland plant:

Grand Rapids, MI (December 23, 2008) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Johnson Controls (JCIM) employee at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood has filed a decertification petition seeking an election to oust the United Auto Workers (UAW) union as the JCIM workers’ monopoly bargaining agent.

The development is another blow to the UAW union hierarchy which has taken a major public relations hit in recent months because of its role in driving the Big Three automakers to the brink of bankruptcy.

JCIM worker Dawn Lambert filed the decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which should conduct a secret-ballot election to determine whether or not a majority of the workforce wants to retain the UAW union as their monopoly bargaining agent. Under federal labor law governing the private sector, once the NLRB grants union officials monopoly bargaining status, it is illegal for any present or future employees – whether they are members of the union or not – to negotiate with their employer for themselves unless they can prove that the union hierarchy does not retain majority support.

Because a clear majority of the employees at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood have expressed their intent to remove the UAW, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have also sent a letter to JCIM management demanding that they cease further contract negotiations and also withdraw recognition of what is now a minority union. Under the law, recognizing and negotiating with a union that does not have majority support is an unfair labor practice.

Read the rest of the Foundation's press release here.

This story from the September/October issue of Foundation Action shares the story of Patricia Pelletier, a Connecticut worker who successfully initiated a decertification election to eject an unwanted union from her workplace. In response, union officials started a campaign of intimidation and harassment against Pelletier.  You can hear Patricia talk about her case in this video.

Read the whole story here (pdf) and sign up today for a free print subscription.

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In Wisconsin today, a local newspaper reported that employees at Woodman’s Food Stores in Janesville and Beloit will likely be granted a decertification vote to oust the unwanted United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1473 union.

The GazetteXtra reported:

“We’re going to do what the employees tell us to do,” [company president Phil] Woodman said. “We’re going to do what’s in the best interests of the employees.”

The secret ballot election (scheduled for next week) comes after the National Labor Relations Board held hearings on the validity of the employees’ decertification petition.

UFCW Local 1473 officials delayed the workers’ vote after they asked the grocery store chain for records and files on over 2,100 employees at the 11 Woodman’s stores.

Such “blocking” tactics are not unusual for UFCW union officials to use, as recently witnessed by grocery employees in Illinois.

There, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys helped over 300 Treasure Island grocery workers win a vote to oust the unwanted UFCW union from their workplace, after UFCW union lawyers blocked a decertification election for nearly three years.

One National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge recently overturned a very close decertification election and more than suggested that another election take place after union operatives practically rigged a vote in their favor.

Actually, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 399 did win the tainted election – but by a difference of two highly questionable votes.

According the NLRB investigation, SEIU union thugs used intimidation tactics, including threats, harassment of employees, and efforts to bribe the petitioner into withdrawing the decertification petition, in order to help with the electioneering. Administrative Law Judge Gregory Z. Meyerson wrote that the SEIU union’s underhanded tactics likely scared employees so badly, that they were afraid to oppose the union in the decertification election:

“…wherein union business agent Ronquillo verbally and physically threatened Alan Smith…[and] union business agent Rodriguez offered Smith a number of benefits for abandoning his support for the decertification effort, including purple scrubs, a position as a keynote speaker at the Jesse Jackson rally, and most significantly, a job with the [SEIU] Union.”

Meyerson continued that the SEIU union’s low down dirty tactics “prevented the employees from freely and fairly exercising their choice in the election.” It is plain despicable these thugs will do anything in order to keep forced dues coming into their coffers.

Read Meyerson’s full recommendation here.

Late last week, the fight by Treasure Island Foods grocery workers to kick the unwanted UFCW union out of all six Chicago-area stores officially ended in the employees' favor.

In July, Wilmette store manager Dan Schalin told a major Chicago newspaper:

"People felt that the union wasn't looking out for them. They weren't earning our union dues."

However, as explained last week, decertification elections like those won by the employees in Chicago are uphill battles and no substitute for passing a Right to Work law in combatting compulsory unionism abuse.