Chicago, Ill. (July 26, 2005) – As top union officials pulled their unions out of the AFL-CIO, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation today announced that it will raise and earmark upwards of $2,000,000 this year to provide free legal assistance to workers seeking to free themselves from unwanted union membership and financial support.

“It’s shameful that while union brass exercise a right to disaffiliate from the AFL-CIO, millions of workers across America are being barred from – or even fired for – leaving their unions,” said National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason.

The decision by the Foundation’s leadership comes as news emerged from the annual AFL-CIO conference in Chicago that Service Employees International Union (SEIU) chief Andrew Stern and Teamsters boss James Hoffa are pulling their unions out of the AFL-CIO in protest, complaining of its spending priorities and effectiveness. At the same time, however, most unionized employees in America do not enjoy a similar right to withdraw their financial support from unions in protest of their objectionable activities.

In light of the hypocrisy shown by top union officials, the Foundation announced it will focus its efforts over the next several months in helping workers gain the same rights that these union officials are now openly exercising. Starting with $500,000 over the next 45 days, the Foundation will attempt to assist any worker who wishes to exercise their rights to resign from union membership and pay a reduced fee. The Foundation aims to raise an additional $1.5 million before the end of the year and use it to provide pro bono legal advice and representation.

Union officials enjoy extraordinary coercive privileges under federal law and the laws of many states to force employees to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment. In jurisdictions without Right to Work laws (which prohibit compulsory union dues), employees may formally resign from union membership but can nevertheless be compelled to pay union dues or fees or be fired from their jobs. However, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have established through a series of victories at the U.S. Supreme Court that employees may only be compelled to pay a union’s proven collective bargaining costs, and not for activities such as lobbying or politics. But union officials routinely block workers from exercising these rights.

“Stern and Hoffa are no longer part of an organization they disagree with,” said Gleason. “The Foundation plans to act aggressively until every American worker can say the same.”

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.