Wooster, OH (April 12, 2012) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, a ArtiFlex Manufacturing employee has won a settlement from a local union for violating his and his coworkers’ rights.

In October 2011, Shreve-based United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-801 union officials illegally threatened Dave Monahan and his colleagues with termination if they refused to formally join the union.

Union officials neglected to inform Artiflex workers of their rights to refrain from formal union membership and the payment of full union dues. In the Right to Work Foundation’s Communications Workers v. Beck Supreme Court case, the Court held that union officials cannot compel nonmember workers to pay the portion of union dues used for political, lobbying, and member-only activities.

Because Ohio does not have a Right to Work law, however, workers who refrain from union membership can still be compelled to pay union dues for workplace bargaining as a condition of employment.

On October 25, 2011, Monahan signed a union membership card under protest to keep his job. He then contacted the National Right to Work Foundation for free legal assistance. Monahan subsequently filed federal unfair labor practice charges against Local 1-801 with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Cleveland.

As a result of the charges, USW Local 1-801 officials were forced to settle the case. The settlement requires union officials to return all illegally-seized dues to objecting nonmember employees and mail and post notices in the workplace informing all workers of their right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

“Steelworker union officials exploited their monopoly bargaining powers to force workers into full dues-paying union ranks,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “Ohio desperately needs a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payments completely voluntary.”

“Until then, workers will be forced to pay for unwanted ‘representation’ from union bosses who disingenuously claim to have employees’ best interests at heart,” added Mix.

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.