UFCW Union Bosses forced to cease attempts to require CVS employees to join union in violation of federal protections

Columbus, OH (August 11, 2016) – CVS employees in Columbus, Ohio have won a federal settlement in their case against the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 1059 remedying a litany of rights abuses at the hands of union officials.

The settlement comes in the wake of a federal unfair labor practice charge filed by employee Eric Todd, with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, alleging UFCW officials violated his and other CVS employees’ rights. The workers are all employed by CVS Pharmacy, which has a monopoly bargaining agreement with UFCW Local 1059 officials.

Because Ohio lacks a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payments strictly voluntary, workers can be forced to pay union dues and fees as a condition of employment. However, under Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent, workers who become or remain nonmembers have the right to refrain from paying for union politics and members-only events.

Last year, Eric Todd and the other employees of the CVS location in Bexley, Ohio were informed that UFCW Local 1059 was now the exclusive bargaining agent for all local workers after a suspect “card check” drive.

After the introduction of the union, Todd and many other employees were told that they had to sign union membership applications and dues deduction authorizations as a condition of employment. Union agents even came to their CVS store and threatened employees with termination, or being taken off the schedule and not allowed to work, if they failed to comply with the union’s demands.

Despite the deliberate misrepresentation of the Local 1059 union bosses, Todd and several others learned of their legal rights available under CWA v. Beck, a Foundation won case. They then sent non-member dues objection letters to the union, which it completely refused to acknowledge.

Under the settlement, UFCW union officials must respect nonmember workers’ right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership and refrain from illegal bullying tactics such as threatening loss of employment for refusing to join the union. The union must also mail to each worker a NLRB-mandated notice of their rights.

“These workers were fortunate to have the Foundation’s assistance to make the UFCW back down from their militant bullying tactics,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The best way to end the union bosses’ pattern of rights abuses is for Ohio to enact a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary.”

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.