Local 1700 and Fiat Chrysler officials ignored Michigan Right to Work protections, illegally deducted union dues and refused to refund dues to worker
Sterling Heights, MI (April 19, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a local Fiat Chrysler employee filed federal unfair labor practice charges against his employer and the United Autoworkers (UAW) Local 1700 union. According to David Wiedbusch, Fiat Chrysler officials deducted Local 1700 dues from his paychecks after he had submitted his union membership resignation and his dues checkoff authorization revocation. Local 1700 officials have refused to refund the illegally seized dues.
Wiedbusch works at Fiat Chrysler’s Sterling Heights assembly plant as a factory worker. He first submitted a written request to resign and stop paying union dues in late October, and union dues ceased being deducted from his paychecks. However, in late December and early January, Wiedbusch noticed that union dues were once again being taken from his paychecks.
He contacted company officials who initially told Weidbusch that dues deductions would stop and the wrongfully seized dues would be refunded. Soon thereafter, those officials informed Weidbusch that he must contact Local 1700 officials to receive the refund. As of the time the charges were filed, Local 1700 officials have refused to refund the confiscated dues.
Under Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work laws, employees have the right to leave a union and stop paying union dues at any time. The laws exempted forced-dues contracts agreed to by employers and union officials before the legislation went into effect, including the UAW’s agreement with the “Big Three” automakers. Now that the UAW’s previously grandfathered contract with the automakers has expired, all Big Three employees are free to leave the union and stop paying dues under Michigan’s private sector Right to Work law.
Weidbusch’s charges will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency responsible for enforcing private sector labor law.
“It is indefensible that more than three years after Michigan’s Right to Work laws were enacted, union bosses are still refusing to accept that they no longer have privileges that allow them to confiscate a portion of a worker’s paycheck against their will,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
“We encourage any Michigan employee who needs help asserting his or her rights under Michigan’s Right to Work laws to contact the National Right to Work Foundation for free legal assistance, because no worker should ever be forced to pay union dues or fees just to get, or keep, a job” 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.
