Boeing Employees Hit Machinist Union with Charge for Discriminating against Workers in Right to Work States

Union bosses abuse process to force Boeing to locate production in state without a Right to Work law

Washington, DC (December 28, 2011) – Three Charleston-area Boeing company (NYSE: BA) employees filed a federal retaliation charge against the Washington State union behind the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) high-profile case against Boeing for building a new facility in South Carolina.

The Charleston-area Boeing employees filed the unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB Wednesday with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.

The charge comes in the wake of the recent announcement of a backroom deal cut between IAM, its Local 751 union, and Boeing officials which led to the end of the NLRB's case. The Charleston Boeing employees, who were granted intervenor status in the case by the NLRB in Washington, D.C., were denied participation in the hearing concluding the case.

The charge spells out how IAM union bosses abused the NLRB's adjudicative process to bully Boeing into locating production of the company's 737 Max and future airplane production in Washington State, which does not have a Right to Work law. The IAM union bosses' accusations against Boeing had a chilling effect on Boeing and other companies, deterring them from locating work in South Carolina and other Right to Work states where workers can not be forced to join or pay fees to a union as a job condition.

Read the entire release here.

Regular Freedom@Work readers are already familiar with a growing body of evidence that points to Right to Work states' superior economic performance. A new fact sheet from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research further bolsters the economic case for worker freedom. The Institute's findings show that citizens in Right to Work states enjoyed faster growth and more purchasing power than their counterparts in forced unionism states over the past 10 years. Here are a few of the highlights:

Right to Work States Benefit From Faster Growth, Higher Real Purchasing Power – 2011 Update

Percentage Growth in Non-Farm Private-Sector Employees (2000-2010)

Right to Work States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +0.3%
Forced-Unionism States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . -5.5%
National Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  -3.3%
Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

Percentage Real Growth in Private-Sector Employee Compensation (2000-2010)

Right to Work States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.3%
Forced-Unionism States. . . . . . . . . . . . .  . 0.7%
(2000-2010) National Average . . . . .  . . . . 4.3%
BEA; BLS

Cost of Living-Adjusted Compensation Per Private-Sector Employee (2010)

Right to Work States . . . . . . . . . . . . . $56,575
Forced-Unionism States . . . . . . . . . . . $55,420
National Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $55,896
Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC);
BEA; Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (BOC)

Right to Work is first and foremost about protecting employee freedom, but the economic performance of Right to Work states is a nice bonus. For more on the economic benefits of Right to Work laws, check out this op-ed from Foundation President Mark Mix in The Washington Examiner. 

In the New York Times, columnist Joe Nocera writes how the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) unprecedented persecution against Boeing for locating additional production of its Dreamliner airplanes in South Carolina — in part because South Carolina is a Right to Work state — has changed the game for job providers:

It is a mind-boggling stretch to describe Boeing’s strategy as "retaliation." Companies have often moved to right-to-work states to avoid strikes; it is part of the calculus every big manufacturer makes. The South Carolina facility is a hedge against the possibility that Boeing’s union work force will shut down production of the Dreamliner. And it’s a perfectly legitimate hedge, at least under the rules that the business thought it was operating under.

That is what is so jarring about this case — and not just for Boeing. Without any warning, the rules have changed. Uncertainty has replaced certainty. Other companies have to start wondering what other rules could soon change. It becomes a reason to hold back on hiring.

When even the staunchly pro-forced unionism New York Times and its columnist most known for calling the Tea Party "terrorists" acknowledge the dangerous precedent President Barack Obama's NLRB is creating, you know there is a problem.

It's worth noting that the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union hierarchy actually enjoyed monopoly bargaining control of the South Carolina facility before the Boeing workers removed the union. If IAM union officials can retaliate against companies for locating work in a Right to Work state and against independent-minded employees for choosing to shake off union control, then the rules haven't just changed for job providers, but also for America's workforce.

National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix recently appeared on "The Willis Report" on the Fox News Channel to talk about the economic benefits of Right to Work laws, the costs of government-sector forced unionism, and the Foundation's legal aid to workers in South Carolina whose jobs are in jeopardy due to the Obama Labor Board's outrageous complaint against Boeing.

Bank Employee Wins Settlement After AFSCME Union Bosses Illegally Seized Forced Dues for Politics

Wisconsin needs Right to Work law to protect workers from forced unionism abuses

Milwaukee, WI (May 31, 2011) – A U.S. Bank customer service and support employee reached a settlement with local union officials last week after union officials illegally attempted to force him and his colleagues into full-dues-paying union membership.

Peter Quinones of Milwaukee filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 777 union officials in March with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.

After AFSCME Local 777 union bosses were granted monopoly bargaining privileges over approximately 300 U.S. Bank employees, Quinones sent a letter to union officials stating that he was exercising his right under National Right to Work Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

Read the entire release here.

In an editorial yesterday, the Wall Street Journal made both the moral and economic case for states to end forced unionism by passing Right to Work laws:

Contrary to much union rhetoric, right-to-work laws don't ban or bust unions. They simply grant individual workers the right to join or not to join, even once a workplace is organized by a union. Workers who decline to join the union can't be forced to have dues taken out of their paycheck and thus used to finance union political campaigns. Most right-to-work states are in the South and West, and only Oklahoma has adopted this freedom to choose in the last 20 years.

Right-to-work states outperform forced-union states in almost every measurable category of worker well-being. A new study in the Cato Journal by economist Richard Vedder finds that from 2000 to 2008 some 4.7 million Americans moved from forced-union to right-to-work states.

The study also found that from 1977 through 2007 there was "a very strong and highly statistically significant relationship between right-to-work laws and economic growth." Right-to-work states experienced a 23% faster rise in per capita income over that period. The two regions that have lost the most jobs in recent years, the once-industrial Northeast and Midwest, are mostly forced-union states.

These arguments demonstrate why poll after poll shows that 80 percent of Americans -- even rank-and-file union members -- support the Right to Work principle. Unfortunately, the Wall Street Journal warns, politicians who claim they agree could instead appease the union bosses:

[Indiana Governor Mitch] Daniels adds that the lack of a right-to-work law "does hold us back economically. There is no doubt about it." He estimates that when competing with Southern states for businesses, "a very large number—perhaps as many as a quarter—of the deals we don't get a shot at are for just this reason."

This damage has motivated Indiana Republicans, who now control both legislature chambers, to announce that they want to pass a right-to-work law. Unions immediately went to Defcon 1, Democrats are up in arms, and Republicans could yet buckle under this union pressure. Even Mr. Daniels, who has stood up to union opposition in the past, seems hesitant. He told the Indianapolis Star that right to work "may be worth a look," but he added it "is not on my agenda." He's worried that the issue so antagonizes unions that it could derail the rest of his legislative agenda.

We hope Republicans don't flinch. Right-to-work laws make states more economically competitive, but the bigger issue is about individual rights. Workers should have the right to join a union but also the right not to. Indiana and other states with new Republican majorities have a rare opportunity to pass a major reform that will reduce union power, help to attract new jobs, and liberate workers from union coercion.

Read the rest of the editorial here (subscription required).

Labor Board Slaps Grocery Union Bosses with Federal Complaint for Statewide Illegal Forced-Dues Scheme

Suspecting widespread abuse, Right to Work Foundation gears up legal aid program to assist any of the tens of thousands of employees affected

Phoenix, AZ (April 1, 2010) – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Phoenix has issued a statewide complaint alleging that local union bosses and Fry’s Food Stores are illegally blocking independent-minded workers from stopping union dues payments.

The prosecution is the result of a four month long investigation of charges filed by Fry’s employees with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys. Employees from several Fry’s locations filed the federal charges challenging the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 99 union hierarchy and Fry’s management, after union and company officials refused to honor the employees’ legal rights to revoke their dues deduction authorizations and continued to illegally seize union dues from their paychecks.

Upset by the UFCW Local 99 strike threat last November, the employees resigned from the union and revoked their dues deduction authorizations – used by union officials to automatically withhold dues from employee paychecks – during a time in which the union did not have a contract at their workplaces. Under Arizona’s popular Right to Work law, no worker can be required to join or pay any money to a union; and under federal labor law, employees can revoke their dues deduction authorizations once a contract terminates.

The Phoenix NLRB regional director found that the dues deduction authorizations used by UFCW Local 99 union officials at all Fry’s locations are illegal because the dues deduction authorizations do not allow employees to revoke them during contract hiatus periods, as required by federal law.

Suspecting that the illegal dues deduction forms are used in all workplaces in Arizona where UFCW union bosses enjoy monopoly bargaining privileges, Foundation attorneys are now offering free legal aid to all employees affected by the illegal UFCW dues deduction authorizations.

View the full press release and the list of UFCW Local 99 union organized employers in Arizona here.

Steelworker Union Bosses Slapped with Federal Charges for Continuing to Seize Dues from Worker’s Paycheck

Union officials ignore own rules to force worker into full dues paying union membership

Des Moines, Iowa (December 31, 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Bridgestone Corporation employee filed federal charges after his employer illegally diverted a portion of his paycheck to a local union to which the employee does not belong.

The case points out the need for strong and fully enforced Right to Work laws and other protections against forced unionism abuse. A few Iowa legislators have recently tried to repeal the state’s Right to Work law that makes union membership and dues payment voluntary – even though doing so would lead to employee rights violations on a massive scale.

Terry L. Welch of Polk City filed federal unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against United Steelworkers Local 310 union bosses and Bridgestone.

In October, Welch resigned from the Steelworkers union and revoked his dues deduction authorization. Dues deduction authorizations are used by union officials to automatically withhold union dues from employee paychecks.

Under Iowa’s popular Right to Work law no worker can be required to join or pay any money to a union as a condition of employment. Additionally, the union’s own dues authorization card allows Welch to revoke his authorization at any time.

Click here to read the full release.

The National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR) has just released a report entitled "Tax-Paying Families Are Fleeing Forced-Unionism States" that details how and why families are moving from the 28 states that do not protect employees from forced unionism to the 22 states that do:

The IRS’s Statistical Information Service (SIS)... data for the Tax Filing Year 2008 show that a total of 1.523 million personal income tax filers were residing that year in a Right to Work state after residing somewhere else in the 50 states or the District of Columbia the previous year.  Meanwhile, a total of 1.338 million tax filers were residing in a Right to Work state in 2007, but filed from one of the other 49 states or the District of Columbia in
2008.

That means a net total of 185,000 tax filers moved from a forced-unionism state to a Right to Work state between 2007 and 2008.

The SIS also calculates and makes available to the public the aggregate adjusted gross incomes for migrating households in the year immediately following the move.  Personal income tax filers moving to a Right to Work state between 2007 and 2008 reported a total of $76.432 billion in income in 2008, or roughly $50,190 per filer.  Tax filers moving out of a Right to Work state during the same period reported a total of $61.773 billion in income in 2008, or roughly $46,165 per filer.

Both because of their substantial taxpayer losses due to net domestic out-migration, and because the taxpayers they gained earned significantly less per capita in 2008 than did the taxpayers they lost, forced-dues states lost a total of $14.659 billion in adjusted gross 2008 income in a single year.

The research report also highlights how those workers who flee forced unionism benefit with an adjusted gross income more than $4000 higher than their counterparts who moved from a pro-worker freedom state into a forced unionism state.

Of course, the most important aspect of why workers are fleeing to Right to Work states is because Right to Work laws give workers the needed protections to counter Big Labor's forced dues monopoly in the workplace.  Right to Work laws allow workers to keep their own hard-earned money if they find union dues payment to be objectionable or even just undesirable. Because of that right, Right to Work laws allow independent-minded workers the ability to better hold union bosses accountable for their actions.

To read the full NILRR report, click here.

Worker Advocate Offers Free Legal Aid to Employees Ordered Off the Job During Fry’s/Safeway Strike

National Right to Work Foundation releases legal notice to inform workers of their rights during likely upcoming UFCW-ordered strike

Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona (November 12, 2009) – America’s preeminent workers’ rights advocacy organization which helps victims of union coercion is offering free legal aid to workers whose rights are abused during the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union-ordered strike scheduled to begin tomorrow.

Union officials apparently intend to impose fines upon union members who wish to continue to go to their jobs in opposition to the union’s militant approach.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has received numerous calls from Arizona Safeway Stores, Inc. and Kroger-owned Fry’s Food Stores employees who want to continue providing for themselves and their families during the UFCW union-ordered strike.  The Foundation encourages workers to learn about their rights from independent sources and posted a special legal notice for workers on its website at http://www.nrtw.org.

"Not long ago, UFCW union bosses ordered an unpopular strike in Southern California, and for five months employees were out of work," said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation.  "Now the union brass wants to replicate that situation in Arizona, and concerned workers are contacting the Foundation seeking help."

(Read the full press release)