FOUNDATION ACTION: Union Bosses Caught Diverting Charitable Donations to Union Coffers
NOTE: This article is from the March-April issue of Foundation Action, our bi-monthly newsletter. You can sign up to receive a print edition of the newsletter here.
BUSTED: Union Bosses Caught Diverting Charitable Donations to Union Coffers
Union scheme may have stiffed several charities, including the NYC Firefighters’ Burn Foundation
NEW?YORK, NY?- With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Long Island teacher has won a favorable ruling against two unions at the New York State Supreme Court. Maureen Stavrakoglou originally filed suit against the two unions for refusing to tell her what they did with union dues that were supposed to have been redirected to charities.
Stavrakoglou is employed by the Brentwood School District, which requires all teachers to pay dues to the Brentwood Teachers Association (BTA) union and its state affiliate, the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) union, as a condition of employment. Because New York lacks a Right to Work law, nonunion employees throughout the state can be forced to pay union dues to get or keep a job. However, teachers with sincere religious objections to supporting a union are entitled to request that their union dues be redirected to a mutually agreed upon charity.
After Stavrakoglou made known her objections to the NYSUT union’s ideological activities, the BTA and NYSUT unions entered into an agreement in 2005 that was to have all of her NYSUT dues redirected to charity. Stavrakoglou then asked union officials to redirect her dues for 2007-2008 to the Make a Wish Foundation. The BTA’s president assured Stavrakoglou that the dues would be sent to the charity she designated.
Unscrupulous union officials kept dues earmarked for charity
After coming to an agreement with the unions, Stavrakoglou subsequently designated a new charity each year as the recipient of her union dues. However, two of the charities she chose – The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation – have no record of ever receiving a donation from the union under Stavrakoglou’s name. A third charity, The NYC Firefighters’ Burn Foundation, only received Stavrakoglou’s donation after she called union officials to inquire about the status of her dues. The donation was made over half a year after it was supposed to have been done.
“Maureen Stavrakoglou took union officials at their word, and they repaid that trust by deceiving her about where her union dues were going,” said Patrick Semmens, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Their outrageous actions prevented Stavrakoglou from contributing her dues to several worthy charities.”?
Teacher wins ruling that safeguards her beliefs
Last August, Stavrakoglou filed a lawsuit seeking an account of how her union dues were spent and the immediate payment of any illegally-confiscated dues to the charities she designated. Although they admitted to failing to donate Stavrakoglou’s dues to several of the designated charities, union lawyers filed a motion to dismiss, promising that the unions would no longer keep any dues earmarked for charitable donations.
Fortunately for Stavrakoglou, the New York Supreme Court ruled that the union must provide evidence that her dues were sent to charitable organizations, and ordered the union to hold Stavrakoglou’s dues in escrow until such proof is established.
“We’re happy to report that Mrs. Stavrakoglou has received a favorable ruling and will finally have her religious beliefs respected,” continued Semmens. “However, teachers shouldn’t have to jump through a series of bureaucratic and legal hoops to stop paying dues to an organization they’d rather not join or support. They also shouldn’t have to trust unaccountable union officials not to mispend a chunk of their hard-earned paychecks. Instead, New York should enact a Right to Work law, which would make union membership and dues payments strictly voluntary and end this type of abuse once and for all.”
Union, Company Face Federal Prosecution after Construction Worker Digs Up Illegal PAC Scheme
Union, Company Face Federal Prosecution after Construction Worker Digs Up Illegal PAC Scheme
Worker discharged from job for not contributing to “voluntary” union PAC
Beckley, WV (April 22, 2013) – A Pennsylvania construction company and a local union are facing a federal prosecution for violating the rights of a former truck driver/laborer and illegally seizing union dues from workers’ paychecks for the union’s political action committee (PAC).
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Jeff Richmond of Meadow Bridge, WV, filed federal unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Penn Line Service, Inc. and the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 453.
In July 2012, when Penn Line Service hired Richmond, company management informed him that the job was a “union job.” Between July and October, the company confiscated, and the LIUNA hierarchy accepted, full union dues from Richmond’s paychecks even though he had not joined the union nor given prior authorization for the company to take full union dues from his paychecks.
Union, Company Face Federal Prosecution after Construction Worker Digs Up Illegal PAC Scheme
Beckley, WV (April 22, 2013) – A Pennsylvania construction company and a local union are facing a federal prosecution for violating the rights of a former truck driver/laborer and illegally seizing union dues from workers’ paychecks for the union’s political action committee (PAC).
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Jeff Richmond of Meadow Bridge, WV, filed federal unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Penn Line Service, Inc. and the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 453.
In July 2012, when Penn Line Service hired Richmond, company management informed him that the job was a “union job.” Between July and October, the company confiscated, and the LIUNA hierarchy accepted, full union dues from Richmond’s paychecks even though he had not joined the union nor given prior authorization for the company to take full union dues from his paychecks.
In October, company management gave Richmond and his coworkers a union membership and dues deductions authorization form. The form included a section for the employees to authorize “voluntary” contributions to LIUNA’s political action committee, the Laborers’ Political League, and the West Virginia Laborer’s District Council PAC.
Richmond signed up for union membership because he thought it was required for him to keep his job. Richmond did not, however, authorize the “voluntary” PAC contributions. Shortly thereafter, Richmond was discharged from his job for refusing to sign up for the union PAC contributions.
Under federal law, no worker can be forced to join a union. However, because West Virginia does not have a Right to Work law, workers who refrain from union membership can be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Foundation-won Communications Workers v. Beck case that nonmembers may not be forced to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as union political activities and members-only events.
The NLRB issued a formal complaint against the union and the company. A hearing is set for June 4, 2013.
“Bulldozing someone into contributing to a union PAC that violates their sincerely-held beliefs is a clear violation of federal law,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “No worker should ever be forced to pay union dues or fees for a cause in which they disagree. That is why West Virginia needs to pass a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payments completely voluntary.”
FOUNDATION ACTION: Foundation’s Brief Puts Illegitimate NLRB Appointees on the Spot
NOTE: This article is from the March-April issue of Foundation Action, our bi-monthly newsletter. You can sign up to receive a print edition of the newsletter here.
Foundation’s Brief Puts Illegitimate NLRB Appointeees on the Spot
Order sought would force NLRB to cease and desist as long as illegal "recess" appointees remain
WASHINGTON, DC – In late January 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Colu
mbia struck down President Obama’s controversial “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Obama made those “recess” appointments on January 4, 2012, despite the fact that the U.S. Senate was not in recess.
Upon the court’s announcement striking down Obama’s “recess” appointments, NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce issued a statement that the rogue Board was going to continue to operate as normal despite the appeals court decision.
In response, Foundation staff attorneys filed a petition for a writ of mandamus (or prohibition) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the court to order the NLRB to suspend further action in a union political lobbying case in which the Board defied Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent and granted union bosses the power to charge nonmember workers for union political lobbying activities.
A mere 12 days after the petition was filed, the court ordered the NLRB to respond and justify its continuing operation.
“For the first time, the NLRB must justify why it is continuing to operate despite the court’s finding that President Obama’s ‘recess’ appointments are constitutionally invalid,” said Ray LaJeunesse, Foundation Legal Director. “And if the court shuts down the NLRB in this case, it will open the door for challenges in the other cases ruled on by Obama’s so-called ‘recess’ appointments.”
Worker protections at risk
As a result of the appeals court’s ruling, since at least January 3, 2012, the Board has lacked a quorum as required by a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court precedent – thus invalidating the Board’s more than 800 rulings and orders since that time.
One of those cases involves Jeanette Geary, a former Warwick, Rhode Island nurse at Kent Hospital, who filed federal charges against a local nursing union with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in September 2009. The United Nurses and Allied Professionals (UNAP) union hierarchy was illegally forcing Geary and some of her coworkers, all nonmembers, into paying for the union bosses’ lobbying, including lobbying for legislation in neighboring Vermont.
The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that nonmember workers cannot be compelled to pay for union boss politics. The U.S. Supreme Court held in the National Right to Work Foundation-won Communications Workers v. Beck case that nonmember workers cannot be forced to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as members-only events and union political lobbying.
However, in December 2012, the invalid NLRB expanded union bosses’ powers to charge nonmember workers for union lobbying by a vote of three to one – flying in the face of long-standing Supreme Court precedent. The Board then retained jurisdiction over the case pending further briefing on applying the ruling, forcing Foundation staff attorneys to file the petition that spurred the appeals court to demand an answer from the NLRB on the “recess” appointments issue.
Meanwhile, various federal appeals courts across the country are hearing similar challenges to the NLRB recess appointments. Foundation staff attorneys brought the issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and have another challenge pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Moreover, challenges from other organizations are pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for both the Third and Fourth Circuits.
NLRB appeals loss to U.S. Supreme Court
The three judge panel on the appeals court that struck down President Obama’s “recess” appointments ruled that Obama violated Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which requires the President to obtain the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate for appointments to the most powerful positions in the executive branch, and Article 1, Section 5, Clause 4 of the Constitution, which clearly states that Congress decides when there is a recess.
The appeals court adopted arguments made in an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief filed by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys for four workers who are receiving free legal assistance from the Foundation in cases pending before the Board.
After conferring with President Obama’s Department of Justice, the NLRB announced in mid-March that it will appeal the appeals court’s decision striking down Obama’s “recess” appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. The NLRB’s appeal sets up a no-holds-barred fight over Obama’s “recess” appointments before the High Court.
“We hope the Supreme Court will take this opportunity to rein in the out-of-control NLRB and restore the balance of power the constitution intended,” stated Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “A favorable ruling could shut down the NLRB for the rest of Obama’s presidency, or at least flood it with a backlog of old cases the Board will have to reconsider, thus slowing its onslaught against workers’ rights.”
Machinist Union Hierarchy Faces 15 Additional Federal Charges in Wake of Last Summer’s Caterpillar Strike
Machinist Union Hierarchy Faces 15 Additional Federal Charges in Wake of Last Summer’s Caterpillar Strike
Union officials demand at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in strike fines from workers
Chicago, IL (April 17, 2013) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, 15 additional Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) workers have filed federal charges against a local Machinist union for violating their rights and levying retaliatory strike fines against them in the wake of last summer’s union boss-instigated strike against Caterpillar.
The 15 workers join 24 other workers who filed similar charges late last month and two who filed charges late last year with free legal assistance from Foundation attorneys.
Machinist Union Hierarchy Faces 15 Additional Federal Charges in Wake of Last Summer’s Caterpillar Strike
Chicago, IL (April 17, 2013) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, 15 additional Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) workers have filed federal charges against a local Machinist union for violating their rights and levying retaliatory strike fines against them in the wake of last summer’s union boss-instigated strike against Caterpillar.
The 15 workers join 24 other workers who filed similar charges late last month and two who filed charges late last year with free legal assistance from Foundation attorneys.
On May 1, 2012, International Association of Machinists (IAM) District Lodge 851 union bosses ordered all of the over 800 Joliet Caterpillar workers on strike. The 41 workers who have filed charges to date were among the over hundred workers who worked despite the IAM union boss demands.
Under federal law, workers who are not voluntary union members are exempt from the union hierarchy’s constitution and bylaws and thus cannot be disciplined for continuing to work during a union boss-ordered strike. However, IAM Local 851 union bosses recently levied fines totaling hundreds of thousands to over a million dollars against the workers for continuing to work during the strike.
Some workers allege that they were never truly voluntary union members because IAM Lodge 851 union officials never informed them of their right to refrain from union membership. Some workers were even illegally told that union membership was mandatory as a condition of their employment when they tried to resign membership. Others have additional defenses.
Some workers allege that union officials gave them permission that it was acceptable to go back to work to continue to support their families. One worker alleges that union militants threatened him with violence if he returned to work. Two others allege union officials illegally charged them for union dues at times when they were briefly laid off from their jobs at Caterpillar.
“As more abused Caterpillar workers come forward, the pattern of rights abuses perpetrated by IAM union bosses becomes clearer,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The ugly aftermath of the Caterpillar strike underscores the need for an Illinois Right to Work law. IAM union bosses have become so mad with their forced-dues power that it appears their standard operating procedure is simply to intimidate and otherwise violate the rights of Caterpillar workers who do not toe the union line.”
Twenty-four states have Right to Work protections for workers. Public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans and union members support the principle of voluntary unionism.
Four Workers Move to Defend Michigan’s Right to Work Law against Union Boss Federal Lawsuit
Four Workers Move to Defend Michigan’s Right to Work Law against Union Boss Federal Lawsuit
New state law frees workers from paying compulsory union dues as a condition of employment
Detroit, MI (April 16, 2013) – Four Michigan workers have moved to intervene in a Big Labor-backed federal lawsuit challenging Michigan’s newly-enacted Right to Work law, which frees workers from paying union dues just to get or keep their jobs.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, workers Terry Bowman and Brian Pannebecker, who work for Ford Motor Company in Ypsilanti and Sterling; Aaric Aaron Lewis, who works for AT&T in Kalamazoo; and Robert G. Harris, who works for Aunt Millie’s Bakery in Jackson, filed the motion to intervene today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The four workers are forced to financially support a union in order to keep their jobs.
Four Workers Move to Defend Michigan’s Right to Work Law against Union Boss Federal Lawsuit
Detroit, MI (April 16, 2013) – Four Michigan workers have moved to intervene in a Big Labor-backed federal lawsuit challenging Michigan’s newly-enacted Right to Work law, which frees workers from paying union dues just to get or keep their jobs.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, workers Terry Bowman and Brian Pannebecker, who work for Ford Motor Company in Ypsilanti and Sterling; Aaric Aaron Lewis, who works for AT&T in Kalamazoo; and Robert G. Harris, who works for Aunt Millie’s Bakery in Jackson, filed the motion to intervene today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The four workers are forced to financially support a union in order to keep their jobs.
If granted, the workers’ motion to intervene would make them full participants in the lawsuit.
In February, the Michigan State AFL-CIO union, the union-affiliated group Change to Win, and the AFL-CIO-affiliated Michigan State Building and Construction Trades Council union filed a federal lawsuit claiming that federal labor law preempts Michigan’s Right to Work law.
However, federal labor law explicitly gives states the power to pass Right to Work laws. National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have successfully defended state Right to Work laws from union-backed challenges numerous times, and the U.S. Supreme Court has long held that state Right to Work laws are constitutional.
Although Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work law states that no employee can be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment, forced dues contracts between unions and employers entered into prior to the effective date of the law remain in force throughout the state.
Government Union Bosses Face Federal Suit for Illegal Forced Dues Scheme
Government Union Bosses Face Federal Suit for Illegal Forced Dues Scheme
Right to Work Foundation attorneys challenge union hierarchy for violating civil servant’s constitutional rights
Philadelphia, PA (April 10, 2013) – A Downingtown Area School District school teacher has filed a federal lawsuit against a local union and the school district for violating her rights and refusing to follow federal disclosure requirements.
Maria del Carmen Gonzalez Tucker filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Government Union Bosses Face Federal Suit for Illegal Forced Dues Scheme
Philadelphia, PA (April 10, 2013) – A Downingtown Area School District school teacher has filed a federal lawsuit against a local union and the school district for violating her rights and refusing to follow federal disclosure requirements.
Maria del Carmen Gonzalez Tucker filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Tucker resigned from formal union membership in the Downingtown Area Education Association (DAEA), an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Education Association and the National Education Association (NEA) unions, in early December 2012.
The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that workers have the unconditional right to refrain from union membership at any time. Additionally, the Court ruled in the Foundation’s Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson case that union officials must provide nonmember public workers with an independently-audited breakdown of all forced-dues union expenditures and the opportunity to object and challenge the amount of forced union fees before an impartial decision maker.
This minimal safeguard is designed to ensure that workers have an opportunity to refrain from paying for union political activities and member-only events.
Despite Tucker’s resignation, DAEA union officials notified her that she “will be part of the DAEA through the 2012-2013 school year.” Tucker’s suit alleges that the school district continues to deduct full union dues from her paychecks at union officials’ behest even though the union hierarchy has refused to follow the federal disclosure requirements outlined by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hudson.
Tucker is asking the court to halt the deduction of full union dues from her paychecks until she receives proper disclosure and to order a refund of any illegally-seized union dues and fees. The suit also challenges as unconstitutional two Pennsylvania laws that purport to grant union officials the power to force nonmember workers into paying full union dues against their will.
“Because Pennsylvania does not have a Right to Work law, union bosses can compel nonmember workers into paying union dues and fees as a condition of employment,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This case underscores why Pennsylvania needs a Right to Work law making union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary.”
