Many nurses reported union harassment and bullying during 300+ day union boss ordered strike, now they seek vote to remove union

Worcester, MA (January 4, 2022) – Staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation are now representing Richard Avola, a nurse at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MA, in his and his colleagues’ push to eject unpopular Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) union bosses from the hospital. Avola filed a “decertification petition” in late December with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accompanied by hundreds of his coworkers’ signatures seeking an NLRB vote whether to remove the union.

Avola and his coworkers’ petition comes as a protracted strike MNA bosses ordered against St. Vincent Hospital has drawn to a close. Media reports indicate that union militants harassed and bullied nurses who returned to the hospital to care for patients during the over 300-day strike. Union partisans reportedly put photographs of working nurses on strike paraphernalia and took illicit pictures of nurses’ license plates. Despite credible reports of union harassment of nurses who exercised their right to work, high-profile elected officials including U.S. Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren expressed support for the union boss-ordered strike.

In response to inquiries from nurses impacted by the union bosses’ strike order, Foundation staff attorneys in March issued a legal notice informing St. Vincent nurses of their right to work during the strike and to cut off dues payments to the MNA hierarchy. The notice offered free legal aid to St. Vincent nurses who encountered union pushback in the exercise of their individual rights.

Foundation attorneys have helped nurses and hospital employees in several cases in recent years. In October, nurse Jeanette Geary won her decade-long case against United Nurses and Allied Professionals bosses in Rhode Island who ignored her right not to fund union lobbying. Foundation attorneys have also represented Swedish Medical Center employees in Seattle, a therapist who successfully decertified the union at Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas, Rush University Medical Center workers in Chicago, a nurse at Corpus Christi Medical Center in Texas, and others.

“It’s easy to see why Mr. Avola and his coworkers want to oust MNA operatives from St. Vincent Hospital: Union bosses forced nurses to endure a gruelingly long strike, while those who went back to work and refused to abandon their patients faced harassment and intimidation tactics,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Foundation staff attorneys will fight to ensure that St. Vincent hospital nurses can freely exercise their right to dispense with unwanted union ‘representation,’ and will battle any union boss attempts to hamper that right.”

After NLRB refused to tally 2020 election results to enforce ‘contract bar,’ subsequent vote reveals widespread opposition to union bosses

Selbyville, DE (December 20, 2021) – In June and July of 2020, employees at the Mountaire Farms poultry plant in Selbyville, Delaware held a union decertification election on whether to remove officials of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union from their workplace. In April of 2021, union lawyers convinced the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to destroy the hundreds of ballots employees had cast before they were ever counted. Last week, a second vote conducted by the NLRB confirmed that nearly a year and a half later, Mountaire Farms employees decisively opposed the UFCW in a 356-80 vote.

The summer 2020 vote was requested by Mountaire employee Oscar Cruz Sosa, who received free legal representation from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Cruz Sosa sent a petition signed by many of his coworkers to the NLRB requesting a vote. The election was held, but the ballots were impounded while the Board considered whether its non-statutory “contract bar” policy should invalidate the election.

The “contract bar” prevents workers from holding a decertification vote, for up to three years, while a union monopoly bargaining contract with their employer remains in effect. Foundation attorneys urged the Board to reverse the bar because it is not found in the text of the National Labor Relations Act, and serves only to protect unpopular union bosses from worker accountability.

Ultimately, the Board sided with union lawyers, upheld the “contract bar,” and threw out the ballots cast by workers at the 800-employee facility. The employees were forced to wait almost a year for the contract UFCW bosses had with their employer to expire before beginning anew the process for another election.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix issued the following statement about the election results:

Despite what we now know to be overwhelming opposition to their presence at Mountaire Farms, UFCW officials took advantage of the NLRB’s rules to block a decertification vote for over a year and a half. The vote tally only emphasizes the injustice of the NLRB’s April decision to apply the “contract bar” policy and destroy  these workers’ ballots, leaving them trapped paying compulsory union dues despite such massive opposition to union officials’ so-called “representation.”

While we’re under no illusions that the Biden NLRB, stacked with former union officials, will end this longstanding impediment to workers’ right to free themselves of an unwanted union, this saga demonstrates why the injustice that is the non-statutory “contract bar” must be ended by a future Board.

2020 Labor Board reforms stopped union boss attempt to block election, resulting in 13-0 vote against union ‘representation’

Houston, TX (December 17, 2021) – Yesterday the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) formally certified the results of a union decertification election in which workers at MDS Boring & Drilling in Houston voted unanimously to remove International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) officials from their workplace. The overwhelming election results were finalized after union officials dropped charges they had filed against the company that could have used by union lawyers to overturn the result.

Ballots were mailed to eligible employees on October 22 after Seth Patrick, an MDS Boring employee, petitioned the NLRB for a vote to remove IUOE officials from his workplace. He filed his petition with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, and collected signatures from enough of his coworkers to trigger an NLRB-conducted decertification election.

On November 19, the NLRB tallied the results and announced that the workers had voted unanimously 13-0 to remove IUOE Local 450 officials. However, the NLRB would not then certify the result because union officials had previously filed unfair labor practice charges against MDS Boring that served to delay certification of the election results.

Under the NLRB’s old rules, such “blocking charge” allegations against an employer would have been grounds for cancelling the vote or delaying it for months or even years until the charges were resolved. Using the “blocking charge” tactic, sometimes repeatedly, union officials often trapped workers into union ranks nearly indefinitely, despite overwhelming worker opposition to union affiliation. In states without Right to Work laws that make financial support of unions voluntary, this incentivized union bosses to drag out the process so they could collect more forced dues from workers.

However, thanks to Foundation-backed “blocking charge” reforms adopted by the NLRB in 2020, elections themselves cannot be delayed by union litigation. Instead, a vote is held, and any extraneous litigation occurs after the election results are announced. In the case of MDS Boring, the vote demonstrated that IUOE officials lacked the support of even a single worker, making it far more difficult for union officials to justify a drawn-out effort to remain in power.

“A unanimous vote proved beyond a doubt that MDS Boring workers didn’t want IUOE officials’ so-called ‘representation,’” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Under the old system, union officials could have stalled the election for months or years to retain power. Thanks to the new Foundation-backed NLRB reforms, these workers were able to promptly hold the vote, which then demonstrated that each and every worker wanted the union out of their workplace.”

Notice: Despite union boss claims, workers who spend 30 days or less on the job cannot be forced to pay any union dues or fees as a condition of employment

Washington, DC (December 14, 2021) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has published a special legal notice for workers in transportation, retail, foodservice, and other industries who have been hired temporarily to meet demand during the 2021 holiday season. The notice warns that union officials can and often do deceive temporary staff into joining or paying dues to a union with which they do not wish to associate, and details the rights that employees have to resist such illegal demands.

The notice also provides contact information for the Foundation’s staff attorneys so temporary workers can obtain free legal assistance in exercising their right to be free of unwanted union affiliation. In one instance, Foundation attorneys aided a Stockton, CA, seasonal UPS worker, who received a paycheck for $0 after UPS management deducted full union dues from his paycheck at the behest of Teamsters union officials.

The full notice is available in both English and Spanish here: https://www.nrtw.org/special-notice-for-all-seasonal-and-temporary-employees/.

“If you are a temporary worker in any state, regardless of whether it has Right to Work protections,” the notice reads, “you do not necessarily have to join a union or pay union fees as a condition of employment for your temporary job. Union officials and some employers may wrongly tell you it is necessary for you to join a union or pay union fees, but there are some stipulations.”

State Right to Work protections ensure that no private-sector worker can be forced to financially support a union just to stay employed. However, even in non-Right to Work states where private-sector employees can normally be compelled to pay a portion of union dues just to keep their jobs, the notice explains that seasonal workers “should understand first and foremost that if you are working for LESS THAN 30 DAYS on the job, then you are not legally obligated to pay union fees or join a union.”

The notice also urges temporary workers not to sign any documents authorizing union membership or permitting union officials to deduct dues directly out of their wages, explaining that forcing a worker to sign either kind of document is illegal. “Forced union membership could trap you into paying union dues and fees well after you have ended your seasonal employment,” the notice reads.

Finally, the notice encourages seasonal employees to reach out immediately to the Foundation’s legal team if they encounter pressure from their employer or union officials or have questions about their situation.

“American workers who step up during the holidays and go the extra mile to make the season special do not deserve to be subjected to union boss coercion, but Foundation staff attorneys have encountered countless situations in which greedy union bosses misled new workers who don’t understand their rights,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Seasonal workers should not hesitate to contact the Foundation if they believe they are being forced to fund or otherwise associate with an unwanted union in violation of their legal rights.”

RWDSU officials are also trying to reverse Alabama Amazon workers’ vote against unionization, & were recently successfully ousted by NYC car wash employees

Atlanta, GA (December 10, 2021) – National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix today slammed Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union Southeast Council (RWDSU) union officials for seeking to nullify McDonough, GA, Ecolab employees’ secret ballot vote to remove RWDSU from their workplace:

“RWDSU officials have demonstrated in Alabama and in other places across the country this year that they have a penchant for opposing the will of the same employees they claim to ‘represent.’ Now they’re using questionable charges against Ecolab management to block a clear employee vote against them.

“No American worker should be trapped under the control of a union they oppose. Foundation staff attorneys will continue to help the Ecolab workers until their right to dispense with unwanted union officials is vindicated.”

Ecolab employee Irvin Arnold spearheads the effort to kick out RWDSU bosses. In late October, with free Foundation legal aid, he submitted a petition signed by enough of his colleagues to prompt the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to conduct a decertification vote amongst his colleagues.

Arnold and his coworkers’ effort marks the second time Foundation attorneys have assisted workers in removing unwanted RWDSU officials in the past month alone. In October, Ervin Par of Queens, NY-based Main Street Car Wash submitted the second valid decertification petition in his and his coworkers’ three-year attempt to remove RWDSU bosses from their workplace. Rather than face an employee vote that would have likely ended in RWDSU’s defeat, its agents disclaimed interest in continuing their control over the car wash in early November.

The NLRB, the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal private-sector labor law and for adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual workers, administered the vote among Arnold and his Ecolab coworkers on December 2, in which the employees voted against continued union control in the facility. The RWDSU is notably the same union that Bessemer, AL, Amazon employees rejected by a more than 2-to-1 margin during a highly publicized April 2021 union election.

According to Arnold’s original petition, the election was held among more than 50 Ecolab employees that were under RWDSU officials’ monopoly control, including “reliability technicians…maintenance leads, production associates, mixers, bulk bay spotter/loaders, logistics associates, production team coaches, warehouse lead workers and label control associates.”

RWDSU officials are now trying to overturn the employees’ vote by alleging that Ecolab officials interfered in the employees’ effort to get rid of union bosses. Filing these objections allows the union to remain in control in the workplace until the NLRB investigates the union’s claims.

The Ecolab and Main Street Car Wash decertification attempts come as RWDSU officials continue their efforts to install themselves at the Bessemer, AL, Amazon plant, despite the overwhelming employee vote against them. Litigation continues over whether RWDSU lawyers can nullify the Amazon workers’ vote in which barely 12% of eligible voters indicated support for the union bosses’ monopoly “representation.”

Former top Labor Board prosecutor found SEIU’s confusing forms misled workers about rights during contract hiatus

Seattle, WA (December 7, 2021) – Eighteen hospital employees at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle together received thousands of dollars of union dues refunds, ending a legal case that challenged union officials’ failure to tell nonmember workers they were under no obligation to pay dues during a contract hiatus. Roger White, whose federal charges led to the refunds, was represented for free by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys.

In January 2020, White sent a letter to officials of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare 1199NW resigning his membership and invoking his right to pay reduced union fees under the Foundation-won Beck U.S. Supreme Court decision. Beck prevents workers from being charged for union activities unrelated to bargaining, like union boss political lobbying.

White filed an unfair labor practice charge at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in April 2020 after SEIU officials failed to inform him that during a recent contract hiatus, when no forced dues agreement was in place between the hospital and union officials, he and other nonmembers were under no obligation to pay union dues. Then-NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb agreed with White’s Foundation attorneys that union officials had unlawfully kept White in the dark about his rights during the contract lapse.

General Counsel Robb – who was later removed in an unprecedented action by President Biden minutes after taking office despite almost a year left on the General Counsel’s four year statutory term – also found that union officials used membership forms that were “confusing and ambiguous,” and did not provide enough information to allow an informed decision about union membership. The form signed by Swedish Medical Center employees that authorized SEIU officials to take dues from their paychecks “may be interpreted to preclude employees from revoking their authorization upon expiration of the contract,” Robb found.

The SEIU’s forms misled White and his coworkers about their rights. Though union bosses stopped charging White after his complaints, other nonmembers continued paying forced union dues even when they were not legally required to pay because union officials hadn’t given them an accurate picture of their rights.

Following the General Counsel’s ruling, the case returned to the NLRB Seattle Region, and a settlement was reached that required SEIU officials to pay back over $3200 of union dues they had seized from 18 current and former Swedish Medical Center employees who had resigned their union memberships but still paid dues during the contract hiatus. The settlement also requires union officials to inform nonmember Beck objectors that they have no obligation to pay union dues during any future contract hiatus.

“To maximize their forced dues revenues, SEIU bosses kept Roger White and his coworkers in a state of ignorance about their rights, and maintained that ignorance by drafting membership forms that misled the very workers the SEIU supposedly represents,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “As nonmembers who wanted as little involvement with the SEIU as possible, it is outrageous that these workers were forced to pay any money just to be ‘represented’ by union bosses who didn’t respect them enough to fully inform them of their rights.”

“Cases like this, where General Counsel Robb sided with independent-minded workers whose rights were being violated by union bosses, are exactly the reason for President Biden’s unprecedented removal of Robb despite nearly 11 months remaining on his Senate-confirmed term,” added Mix. “Unfortunately given Biden’s partisan power grabs at the NLRB, if Roger White and his coworkers brought this case today, there is every reason to believe SEIU bosses would get away scot-free.”