38 workers have now filed charges against union bosses for fines totaling over $267,000
Seattle, WA (April 11, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, 10 more Northshore Sheet Metal employees have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against a local union for illegally fining them thousands of dollars after they refused to participate in a union-ordered strike. A total of 38 Northshore employees are now challenging the union’s strike fines with the help of Foundation staff attorneys.
All 10 employees originally joined the Sheet Metal Workers Local 66 union because they were wrongfully informed that union membership was a condition of employment at Northshore Sheet Metals. After union officials ordered a strike in August 2015, the employees learned that formal union membership is voluntary and decided to exercise their rights to resign from the union and refrain from participating in the work stoppage.
Although the employees formally resigned from the union, Local 66 officials refused to honor their resignations and subjected them to internal union disciplinary procedures for refusing to strike. The 10 workers were charged over five thousand dollars each for rebuffing the union’s strike order. Three of the employees were charged $55,000, $36,000, and $11,000, respectively. Moreover, Northshore Sheet Metal continues to deduct – and Local 66 continues to collect – money for a union “strike fund” from all 38 employees’ paychecks.
Under federal labor law, no employee can be required to formally join a union as a condition of employment. Employees also have the right to resign from a union at any time and cannot be subjected to internal union discipline for conduct after they have left the union. Local 66 union officials are now trying to collect over $267,000 in retaliatory fines from the 38 Foundation-assisted employees who continued working rather than give in to union officials’ demands that they abandon their jobs.
The employees’ charges will now be investigated by Region 19 of the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency responsible for administering private sector labor law.
“Union bosses shouldn’t be able to fine workers hundreds of thousands of dollars just for working to support their families,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The Foundation is proud to provide free legal assistance to these workers to defend them against these ugly and almost certainly illegal strike fines.”
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.
