Supreme Court Clears Path for Michigan Childcare Providers to Win Back Money Illegally Seized by Union Officials

UAW and AFSCME took in over $4 million from 50,000 childcare providers in unconstitutional scheme, but lower courts blocked lawsuit to return money from unions

Washington, DC (July 1, 2014) – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it has granted, vacated, and remanded a federal lawsuit which seeks to require that Michigan’s 50,000 home childcare providers receive a refund of union dues illegally taken during a now-defunct unionization scheme.

National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys argue that all of Michigan’s home childcare providers should be entitled to refunds of the union dues collected after former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and a UAW and AFSCME coalition, the Child Care Providers Together Michigan (CCPTM) union, colluded to force the state’s providers into union ranks against their will.

Michigan home childcare providers Carrie Schlaud, Diana Orr, Peggy Mashke, and Edward and Nora Gross originally filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Granholm and the CCPTM union for designating home childcare providers who receive state funds as public employees solely for the purpose of forcing them to accept the CCPTM’s “representation” and pay union dues.

Click here to read the full release.

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Illinois Homecare Provider Unionization Scheme

National Right to Work Foundation attorneys defend home-based personal care providers forced into union ranks

Washington, DC (June 30, 2014) – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in a case over whether Illinois homecare providers can be forced into union ranks against their will.

The case, Harris v. Quinn, is a class-action lawsuit argued by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys and filed by Pam Harris and seven other Illinois care providers after Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed an executive order rendering them vulnerable to unwanted union organizing.

Click here to read the full release.

Washington, DC (July 1, 2014) – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it has granted, vacated, and remanded a federal lawsuit which seeks to require that Michigan’s 50,000 home childcare providers receive a refund of union dues illegally taken during a now-defunct unionization scheme.

National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys argue that all of Michigan’s home childcare providers should be entitled to refunds of the union dues collected after former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and a UAW and AFSCME coalition, the Child Care Providers Together Michigan (CCPTM) union, colluded to force the state’s providers into union ranks against their will.

Michigan home childcare providers Carrie Schlaud, Diana Orr, Peggy Mashke, and Edward and Nora Gross originally filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Granholm and the CCPTM union for designating home childcare providers who receive state funds as public employees solely for the purpose of forcing them to accept the CCPTM’s “representation” and pay union dues.

Although less than 15 percent of 40,000 childcare providers then receiving state funding voted in a union certification election, CCPTM union bosses were subsequently granted monopoly lobbying privileges and the power to collect union dues from home childcare providers. The union took upwards of $4 million dollars from the childcare providers before the scheme ended.

After filing their lawsuit, the five plaintiffs won a settlement with Governor Rick Snyder ensuring that Michigan no longer forces home childcare providers into union ranks. However, because the providers’ lawsuit was denied class-action status, CCPTM union officials were not required to refund $4 million in forced union dues previously collected from over 50,000 other care providers.

Citing yesterday’s Foundation-won Harris decision – in which the Court held that homecare providers cannot be forced into union dues payments – the Court overturned the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision in the case and ordered that court to reconsider its denial of class-action status to the thousands of childcare providers.

“Union operatives used their political clout to collect forced dues from thousands of unwilling Michigan home childcare providers,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “All of those childcare providers deserve to get their money back, and the U.S. Supreme Court appears to agree.”

Washington, DC (June 30, 2014) – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in a case over whether Illinois homecare providers can be forced into union ranks against their will.

The case, Harris v. Quinn, is a class-action lawsuit argued by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys and filed by Pam Harris and seven other Illinois care providers after Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed an executive order rendering them vulnerable to unwanted union organizing.

Quinn’s executive order mirrored one issued by disgraced former Governor Rod Blagojevich, which designated over 20,000 personal care providers as “public employees” solely for the purpose of forcing them into union ranks. Quinn then expanded Blagojevich’s directive to cover an additional 4,500 providers who were not included in the original order. The scheme only designated providers as public employees for the purposes of unionization, leaving the homecare recipients as the employers for all other aspects of the providers’ work.

The Court’s ruling struck down the scheme, ruling that individuals who indirectly receive state subsidies based on their clientele cannot be forced to pay compulsory union fees. The Court’s ruling renders unconstitutional similar homecare unionization schemes attempted in at least 18 other states.

For example, a federal lawsuit brought by Minnesota childcare providers subject to a similar scheme has been held pending the outcome of the Harris case.

“This scheme, which forced parents and other relatives taking care of persons with disabilities into union political association was a slap in the face of fundamental American principles we hold dear,” stated Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “We applaud these homecare providers’ effort to convince the Supreme Court to strike down this constitutionally-dubious scheme, thus freeing thousands of homecare providers from unwanted union control.”

“We celebrate knowing that Illinois moms linked arms and refused to be bullied,” stated lead plaintiff Pam Harris. “Families in Illinois can relax knowing their homes are safe from being a union workplace and there will be no third party intruding into the care we provide our disabled sons and daughters.”

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Obama Labor Board Recess Appointments

Right to Work Foundation attorneys argued Obama’s purported recess appointments were invalid because Senate was not in recess

Washington, DC (June 26, 2014) – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Barack Obama’s controversial purported “recess appointments” to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys filed an amicus curiae brief in the case, Noel Canning v. NLRB. The brief was filed for the Foundation and Jeanette Geary, a worker who is receiving free legal assistance from Foundation staff attorneys in a case pending before the Board, which had been decided in part by the faux Board. Foundation staff attorneys had challenged the recess appointments in nearly a dozen other pending NLRB cases.

Click here to read the full release.

Washington, DC (June 26, 2014) – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Barack Obama’s controversial purported “recess appointments” to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys filed an amicus curiae brief in the case, Noel Canning v. NLRB. The brief was filed for the Foundation and Jeanette Geary, a worker who is receiving free legal assistance from Foundation staff attorneys in a case pending before the Board, which had been decided in part by the faux Board. Foundation staff attorneys had challenged the recess appointments in nearly a dozen other pending NLRB cases.

Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement in light of the Court’s decision:

“As National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have argued in several courts, the Obama NLRB ‘recess appointments’ clearly violated the U.S. Constitution.

“As a result, the Board lacked a quorum from as early as April 2011 to August 2013, and under a U.S. Supreme Court precedent established in New Process Steel, L. P. v. NLRB (2010), the Board’s biased and decidedly pro-Big Labor rulings since then are therefore invalidated. Over 1,500 NLRB decisions may be invalid as a result. This case underscores the constitutional chaos this President created by gaming the system for the benefit of union bosses.

“Today’s decision is a victory for independent-minded workers who have received unjust treatment at the hands of the then illegal pro-forced unionism NLRB.”

SEIU Officials Face Charge for Violating County Pharmacist’s Rights

Case shows desperate need for California Right to Work law to make union membership and dues strictly voluntary

San Jose, CA (June 18, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation-provided staff attorneys, a Santa Clara Valley Medical Center pharmacist has filed a state charge against a local union for illegally refusing to honor her right to refrain from full dues-paying union membership.

Han Kwan Wong, a pharmacist from San Jose, filed the charge with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) against Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521 for illegally forcing her into full union dues payments against her will.

In December 2013, Wong attempted to hand deliver a letter to SEIU Local 521 notifying the union hierarchy that she was exercising her right to refrain from formal union membership. An SEIU official refused to accept Wong’s letter.

Wong then sent a certified letter to the union hierarchy. SEIU Local 521 union officials responded by acknowledging Wong’s resignation letter but still continue to extract full union dues from her paychecks – claiming the union membership resignation did not meet the union’s criteria.

Click here to read the full release.

San Jose, CA (June 18, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation-provided staff attorneys, a Santa Clara Valley Medical Center pharmacist has filed a state charge against a local union for illegally refusing to honor her right to refrain from full dues-paying union membership.

Han Kwan Wong, a pharmacist from San Jose, filed the charge with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) against Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521 for illegally forcing her into full union dues payments against her will.

In December 2013, Wong attempted to hand deliver a letter to SEIU Local 521 notifying the union hierarchy that she was exercising her right to refrain from formal union membership. An SEIU official refused to accept Wong’s letter.

Wong then sent a certified letter to the union hierarchy. SEIU Local 521 union officials responded by acknowledging Wong’s resignation letter but still continue to extract full union dues from her paychecks – claiming the union membership resignation did not meet the union’s criteria.

Under California state law and federal case law, workers have the unconditional right to refrain from formal union membership. However, because California does not have Right to Work protections for workers, nonmember workers can be forced to pay a part of union dues and fees.

Wong’s charge seeks an acknowledgment from the union that she is no longer a union member, an independently-audited breakdown of union expenditures, a refund of illegally-seized forced union dues from her paychecks dating back to December, and the posting of notices in the workplace informing workers of their right to refrain from union membership.

“SEIU bosses are illegally forcing workers to jump through hoops to exercise their right to refrain from full dues-paying union membership,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “To prevent these types of forced unionism abuses in the future, California desperately needs to pass a Right to Work law making union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary.”

Twenty-four states have Right to Work protections for workers. Recent public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans and union members support the Right to Work principle of voluntary unionism.

Bus Driver Union Fails to Block Workers’ Overwhelming Request for Election to Remove Union

102 of the 105 workers requested secret-ballot election to determine whether to remove the union from their workplace

Monroeville, PA (June 13, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Gateway School District bus drivers have won the right to a secret-ballot vote to determine whether if they want to remove the union from their workplace.

The bus drivers will finally have a chance to vote on June 27, 2014, after driver Robert Williams and his coworkers petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for the secret-ballot election four times.

In July of last year, Student Transportation of America, Inc. took over bus services at the Gateway School District. Student Transportation of America then recognized Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1729 union officials as the drivers’ monopoly bargaining representative after a majority of their workforce was hired from the previous, unionized student transportation contractor.

After eight months of failed negotiations, 102 of the roughly 105 bus drivers signed the fourth petition they filed with the NLRB asking for a secret-ballot election to determine whether or not to keep the union bosses as their exclusive representative.

Click here to read the full release.

Monroeville, PA (June 13, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Gateway School District bus drivers have won the right to a secret-ballot vote to determine whether if they want to remove the union from their workplace.

The bus drivers will finally have a chance to vote on June 27, 2014, after driver Robert Williams and his coworkers petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for the secret-ballot election four times.

In July of last year, Student Transportation of America, Inc. took over bus services at the Gateway School District. Student Transportation of America then recognized Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1729 union officials as the drivers’ monopoly bargaining representative after a majority of their workforce was hired from the previous, unionized student transportation contractor.

After eight months of failed negotiations, 102 of the roughly 105 bus drivers signed the fourth petition they filed with the NLRB asking for a secret-ballot election to determine whether or not to keep the union bosses as their exclusive representative. ATU union officials moved to block the workers’ petition, arguing that not enough time had passed for the workers to request an election. On May 8, an evidentiary hearing was held in Pittsburgh, at which Williams was represented by Foundation attorneys.

Late last week, the NLRB Regional Director ruled in favor of the workers’ request for the election, which has been scheduled for June 27.

“Transit Union bosses repeatedly blocked these bus drivers’ attempts for a secret-ballot election to determine their union representation, even though nearly every single one of them expressed their desire for one,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This case underscores the need for Pennsylvania to become a Right to Work state making union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary.”

Twenty-four states have Right to Work protections for workers. Recent public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans support the Right to Work principle of voluntary unionism.