News Release: Worker Advocate Files FOIA Request to Disclose Political Motives Behind NLRB’s Attack on Boeing
Worker Advocate Files FOIA Request to Disclose Political Motives Behind NLRB’s Attack on Boeing
Foundation offers free legal aid to current and prospective Boeing employees in South Carolina who would lose their jobs if IAM union bosses have their way
Washington, DC (May 16, 2011) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure request with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on the heels of the agency’s recent announcement that it will prosecute airline manufacturer Boeing Corp.
If International Association of Machinists (IAM) union officials and the NLRB are successful, over 1,000 Boeing employees in South Carolina would be out of work as Boeing will be forced to relocate the aircraft assembly jobs to Washington State which lacks Right to Work protections for employees.
The NLRB’s acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon, issued the complaint against Boeing late last month at the behest of IAM union bosses. In 2009, Boeing opened the new plant to produce 787 Dreamliner airplanes in South Carolina, largely because South Carolina is a Right to Work state that protects workers from being required to join or pay dues to a union just to get or keep a job.
Foundation President Mark Mix submitted the FOIA inquiry on Monday.
Read the Foundation’s FOIA request here (pdf).
Worker Advocate Files FOIA Request to Disclose Political Motives Behind NLRB’s Attack on Boeing
Washington, DC (May 16, 2011) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure request with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on the heels of the agency’s recent announcement that it will prosecute airline manufacturer Boeing Corp.
If International Association of Machinists (IAM) union officials and the NLRB are successful, over 1,000 Boeing employees in South Carolina would be out of work as Boeing will be forced to relocate the aircraft assembly jobs to Washington State which lacks Right to Work protections for employees.
The NLRB’s acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon, issued the complaint against Boeing late last month at the behest of IAM union bosses. In 2009, Boeing opened the new plant to produce 787 Dreamliner airplanes in South Carolina, largely because South Carolina is a Right to Work state that protects workers from being required to join or pay dues to a union just to get or keep a job.
Foundation President Mark Mix submitted the FOIA inquiry on Monday.
In the request, Mix asks that the agency produce all the documentation regarding communications between NLRB officials and third parties, including communications with Obama administration officials; officials from the offices of the Governors of Washington and Oregon; and any other federal, state, or local government agency personnel regarding Boeing or the IAM union, the opening of the company’s facility in South Carolina, and about the NLRB’s complaint against Boeing itself.
“Once again the Obama Labor Board is putting union boss priorities ahead of the rights and well-being of individual employees,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “If the NLRB succeeds in its prosecution of Boeing and Boeing is forced to move its production at the whim of IAM union bosses, over 1,000 jobs in South Carolina would be eliminated and a troubling precedent would be set.”
“In addition, the National Right to Work Foundation has ramped up its legal program to assist all current or prospective Boeing employees who could lose their jobs as a result of the NLRB’s aggressive posture toward independent-minded workers.”
Read the Foundation’s FOIA request by clicking here (pdf).
Fasten Your Seatbelts and Put Your Trays in the Locked Position: Delta Flight Attendants Take Fight to Next Level
As we reported before, a group of Delta Air Lines employees — with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation — are appealing (pdf) a U.S. District Court judge’s decision to uphold a major rule change on how a union is imposed on railway and airline industry workers.
Last June, a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judge refused to impose an injunction halting the new unionization election procedures for workers in the shipping and transportation industries which were hastily instituted by the National Mediation Board (NMB).
The NMB — a government agency charged under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) with mediating labor disputes within the railroad and airline industries — voted 2-1 to dictate a new system which stacks the deck in favor of unionization by granting a union monopoly bargaining power over railway or airline industry workers if the union acquires support from just a bare majority of eligible workers in an election, no matter how few actually vote. This means that a small bloc of workers could force union boss "representation" on the whole group rather than having a true majority of all workers deciding for themselves.
The two NMB members who approved the new rule, Harry Hoglander and Linda Puchala are former union officials with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) unions — two unions that have been pushing for the change — respectively.
Earlier this week, with help from Foundation staff attorneys, the flight attendants carried on their courageous fight and filed a joint appellant brief at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. To read their appeal, click here.
Wall Street Journal: Boeing NLRB Case Threatens Right to Work States, Protects Forced Unionism
Regular readers are already up to speed on the Obama National Labor Relations Board’s attempt to punish Boeing for opening a new production line in Right to Work South Carolina – and the National Right to Work Foundation’s efforts to help Boeing employees. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore explain why the NLRB’s actions are so pernicious:
The Obama administration’s National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint last month against Boeing to block production of the company’s 787 Dreamliner at a new assembly plant in South Carolina—a "right to-work" state with a law against compulsory union membership. If the NLRB has its way, Dreamliner assembly will return to Washington, a union-shop state, along with more than 1,000 jobs.
The NLRB’s action, which Boeing will challenge at a hearing next month, is a big deal. It’s the first time a federal agency has intervened to tell an American company where it can and cannot operate a plant within the U.S. It lays the foundation of a regulatory wall with one express purpose: to prevent the direct competition of right-to-work states with union-shop states. Why, as South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley recently asked on these pages, should Washington have any more right to these jobs than South Carolina?
The National Right to Work Foundation is offering free legal assistance to South Carolina workers affected by this complaint. If you work at Boeing’s Charleston Dreamliner plant, we strongly encourage you to contact us today.
News Release: Homecare Providers Win Settlement with State to Permanently Stop Childcare Unionization Scheme
Homecare Providers Win Settlement with State to Permanently Stop Childcare Unionization Scheme
Right to Work Foundation attorneys continue federal class action lawsuit against union officials to recover millions in illegally confiscated dues
Lansing, MI (May 11, 2011) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, five homecare workers have reached a settlement with Governor Rick Snyder ensuring that Michigan will no longer be able to force home-based childcare providers into union ranks.
Carrie Schlaud, Diana Orr, Peggy Mashke, and Edward and Nora Gross originally filed a class-action suit against then-Governor Jennifer Granholm and a United Auto Workers (UAW) and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) coalition, the Child Care Providers Together Michigan (CCPTM) union, for designating homecare workers who accepted state assistance as state employees and forcing them to pay union dues and accept CCPTM “representation.”
Under Granholm’s direction, the Michigan Department of Human Services created an agency known as the Michigan Home Based Child Care Council to provide union officials with an entity to negotiate with as the homecare providers’ “management.” Working with the council, CCPTM operatives staged a union certification election to acquire monopoly bargaining privileges over Michigan homecare workers.
Click here to read more . . .
Homecare Providers Win Settlement with State to Permanently Stop Childcare Unionization Scheme
Lansing, MI (May 11, 2011) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, five homecare workers have reached a settlement with Governor Rick Snyder ensuring that Michigan will no longer be able to force home-based childcare providers into union ranks.
Carrie Schlaud, Diana Orr, Peggy Mashke, and Edward and Nora Gross originally filed a class-action suit against then-Governor Jennifer Granholm and a United Auto Workers (UAW) and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) coalition, the Child Care Providers Together Michigan (CCPTM) union, for designating homecare workers who accepted state assistance as state employees and forcing them to pay union dues and accept CCPTM “representation.”
Under Granholm’s direction, the Michigan Department of Human Services created an agency known as the Michigan Home Based Child Care Council to provide union officials with an entity to negotiate with as the homecare providers’ “management.” Working with the council, CCPTM operatives staged a union certification election to acquire monopoly bargaining privileges over Michigan homecare workers.
Although only 15 percent of the 40,000 homecare providers receiving state assistance voted in the union certification election, CCPTM union bosses were then granted monopoly bargaining privileges and the power to collect union dues from home-based care providers.
The Michigan Home Based Child Care Council has since been disbanded, but the new settlement ensures that the state will never force homecare workers to financially support a union as a condition of receiving state assistance.
Despite this victory, the plaintiffs and their Right to Work attorneys continue to pursue the class-action lawsuit against the CCPTM union to reclaim the forced dues collected from child care providers before the Michigan Home Based Child Care Council was dismantled. The plaintiffs and their attorneys are currently pressing their case at a hearing before the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division.
“We’re pleased that the settlement with Governor Snyder guarantees that Michigan homecare workers will never be forced into union ranks again,” said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director for the National Right to Work Foundation. “However, our work won’t be over until UAW and AFSCME union bosses are forced to give back over two million dollars in forced dues they extracted from unwilling childcare providers since 2008.”
Wellington Industries Employee Files Federal Unfair Labor Practice Charges against UAW Local
Belleville, MI (May 6, 2011) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Wellington Industries employee has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 174 and UAW Independent Local One unions for forcing her to pay full union dues and enrolling Wellington employees in the UAW without their consent.
Brenda Kowalski, a welder at the Wellington Belleville plant, and over 150 of her coworkers were threatened with termination by UAW officials if they refused to join the union, sign dues deduction authorization cards, and pay full union dues.
Because Michigan lacks a Right to Work law, employees can be forced to pay certain union dues as a condition of employment. However, no worker can be forced to join a union just to keep a job. The Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Communication Workers v. Beck also holds that nonunion employees cannot be forced to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as politics and political lobbying.
Despite these protections, UAW officials failed to notify workers at the Belleville plant of their rights to refrain from formal union membership and opt-out of full union dues. UAW officials also failed to provide Wellington employees with an audited breakdown of union expenditures, which is required by law to help nonunion workers determine what dues they must pay as a condition of employment.
Because no one at the Belleville facility was informed of their rights by UAW officials, Kowalski’s charges call for the immediate refund of all union dues collected for non-bargaining activities by Local 174 operatives. The charges will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.
“This episode shows why Michigan so desperately needs a Right to Work law, which would make union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary,” said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director for the National Right to Work Foundation.
Seattle Nurse Files Charges against Union Officials for Unlawfully Forcing Her to Join Union, Pay Dues
Seattle, WA (April 29, 2011) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Seattle nurse has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) union. The charges state that union officials forced unwilling nurses to pay full union dues and automatically enrolled new nurses as union members without receiving their consent.
Therese Mollerus-Gale became a nurse at Virginia Mason Medical Center in December 2010, during a contract hiatus between the WSNA union and the hospital. Although employees cannot be compelled to join a union as a condition of employment, WSNA officials automatically enrolled Mollerus-Gale as a union member. In February 2011, she was notified that she would have to pay full union dues.
The charges follow similar allegations raised in early April by Maureen Lenahan, another Virginia Mason Medical Center nurse who was forced to join the union and pay full dues since late 2010. Lenahan is also receiving legal assistance from Foundation attorneys.
Because Washington lacks a Right to Work law, employees can be compelled to pay certain union dues as a condition of employment. However, no worker can be forced to join a union against his or her will. Moreover, the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Communication Workers v. Beck holds that employees cannot be charged for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, including members-only events and political activism.
Despite these requirements and the nurses’ efforts to opt out of union dues unrelated to workplace activities, WSNA officials continued to bill Mollerus-Gale and other nurses who wished to leave the union for full WSNA membership. WSNA bosses also failed to provide nurses with an independently-audited breakdown of union expenditures, which is required by law to help nonunion employees determine what dues they have to pay.
Mollerus-Gale’s charges will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.
“Hard-working nurses shouldn’t be pushed into union ranks and forced to pay tribute to WSNA bosses just to keep their jobs,” said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director for the National Right to Work Foundation. “Nobody should have to pay union dues or join a union just to make a living, which is why Washington needs a Right to Work law that makes union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary.”
Worker Advocate: Obama Labor Board’s Case Against Boeing “An Assault on Right to Work Laws”
Washington, DC (April 21, 2011) – In response to the National Labor Relations Board’s complaint against Boeing that, if successful, would eliminate over 1,000 jobs in South Carolina, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix released the following statement:
"The National Labor Relations Board’s complaint is just the latest giveaway to Big Labor by an Obama Administration that has already erased union financial disclosure requirements and kept workers in the dark about the right to refrain from union membership. Once again the Board is putting union boss priorities ahead of the rights and well-being of individual employees.
"This case is nothing more than an attack by the Obama Administration on Right to Work laws and all workers in Right to Work states where employees cannot be forced to pay union dues as a condition of getting or keeping a job. Workers in South Carolina should not be denied the opportunity to continue providing for their families to satisfy the outrageous forced unionism demands of union bosses.
"All current or prospective Boeing employees who could lose their jobs may request free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys by calling 1-800-336-3600."
Right to Work on the Radio: Mark Mix talks about the Costs of Government Union Monopolies
National Right to Work President Mark Mix was interviewed on Baltimore’s C4 Show about his recent Congressional testimony on the dangers of public sector monopoly bargaining. Use the embedded player below to listen to the whole thing:
As always, you can always listen to the Foundation’s podcast via iTunes or manually subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also watch Mix’s introductory remarks at the Congressional hearing online:
