Milwaukee, Wis. (December 6, 2005) — Agreeing with arguments made in an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief filed by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit yesterday struck down a Milwaukee County ordinance that required certain private employers contracting with the county to assist union officials in pressuring their employees into union ranks.

Foundation attorneys filed their amicus curiae brief in April in support of MMAC’s appeal of a lower court ruling in Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) v. Milwaukee County.

In its opinion, the court found that the ordinance, County “Chapter 31,” is pre-empted by federal labor law intended to protect third-party employers from pressure to unionize by other entities in concert with union officials. Foundation attorneys had pointed out that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) clearly outlaws such requirements in contracts by private businesses, and that government entities should be held to the same standard.

Under the unconstitutional ordinance, non-union private employers wishing to receive contracts from the County to provide services for the elderly or disabled were forced to sign a so-called “labor peace” or “neutrality agreement” requiring the employers to assist union organizers by granting them sweeping access to their facilities, providing them with employees’ private personal information, and not telling workers the full story with regard to unionization.

The court found that the arguments made by Milwaukee County attorneys – that forcing employers to hand over employees to union organizers would somehow reduce work-stoppages – were unpersuasive. The Court instead saw the law as an unconstitutional attempt to preempt the NLRA. The court even pointed out that “Chapter 31” could actually increase the number of strikes. This finding of federal preemption comes as no surprise given that one of the law’s sponsors branded the law a “…fight to change the NLRA.”

“Since workers are increasingly voting down unionization, union officials are attempting to use the heavy hand of government to corral workers into union ranks,” said Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “We are pleased that the U.S. Court of Appeals has put a stop to Milwaukee County’s actions, which are part of a growing national trend.”

The Milwaukee County’s Board of Supervisors passed “Chapter 31” in September 2000 over the objections of its own Corporate Counsel, who viewed the law as an impermissible regulation of private labor relations and contrary to the NLRA. If the Board had listened to its counsel rather than union lobbyists, taxpayer dollars would not have been wasted defending an ordinance that clearly violates federal labor law.

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.