October 5, 2018 – Officials of UNITE HERE have ordered Marriott employees out on strike across the country.

The situation raises serious concerns for employees who believe there is much to lose from a union-ordered strike. Employees have the right under federal labor law to rebuff union officials’ strike demands, but it is important for you to be informed about that right before you do so.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK DURING A STRIKE READ ALL OF THIS SPECIAL NOTICE BEFORE RETURNING TO WORK – IT MIGHT SAVE YOU THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!

UNITE HERE union officials have a decades long history of disciplining, fining and abusing workers who do not kow-tow to their dictates, as these reports show:

Union Officials Attempt to Have Hotel Worker Fired for Exercising Workplace Rights

UNITE HERE Union Organizers Accuse Union Bosses of Psychological Abuse, Manipulation, and Cultlike Behavior

‘UNITE HERE!’ Union Bosses Forced to Refund Dues Illegally Seized from Nonmember Hotel Workers

Federal Government to Prosecute UNITE HERE! Local for Illegal Union Dues Seizures

Terranea Resort Concierge Files Charges Against Union for Demanding Organizing Assistance from Company

For this reason, Marriott employees may want to contact the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to learn how they can avoid fines and other vicious union discipline for continuing to report to work to support themselves and their families. Much of the important information about your rights can be found on our website here:

About Your Legal Rights: Private Sector Employees

What if I want to work during a strike?

How can I resign my union membership?

Union Discipline and Employee Rights

The Foundation wants you to learn about your legal rights from independent sources. You should not rely on what self-interested union officials tell you. For over four decades, Foundation attorneys have worked in the courts to protect and expand the rights of individual employees in situations such as strikes. It is the nation’s premier organization exclusively dedicated to providing free legal assistance to employee victims of forced unionism abuse.

Marriott employees should know they have the following rights:

1) You have the right to resign your membership in the union. If you don’t support this union, you can send it a letter resigning your membership. You cannot legally be required to be a union member.

2) You have the right to go to work even if the union bosses order a strike. Union officials can (and often do) levy onerous monetary fines against union members who work during a strike. So, you should seriously consider resigning your union membership BEFORE you return to work during a strike, which is the only way to avoid these ruinous union fines and discipline. See Union Discipline and Employee Rights. Your resignation letter must be postmarked THE DAY BEFORE you return to work, or be hand delivered BEFORE you actually return to work, ideally with a witness.

3) If you become a nonmember, you will have the right to become a "Beck objector" and pay only reduced "financial core" fees instead of full membership dues. If you become a Beck objector, you will not be forced to pay for the UNITE HERE union’s far left political and social agenda.

4) You also have the right to revoke your dues check-off and stop allowing the union hierarchy to automatically collect money from your paycheck every week while no contract is in effect. You can send letters to the union and your employer revoking your authorization to have union dues deducted from your paycheck.

5) If you wish to eject an unaccountable union hierarchy from your workplace, you have the right to sign and circulate a decertification petition to obtain a secret ballot election to do so. See Decertification Election.

Here is a sample letter for employees who wish to resign their union membership and become Beck objectors.

NOTE: Although not legally required, it is a better practice to send your letter to the union by certified mail, return receipt requested, and save a copy of your letter and the return receipt to prove delivery. If you hand deliver a letter, make sure that you have a reliable witness to the delivery. In our experience, angry and dishonest union officials often pretend they did not actually receive resignations and initiate discipline against non-striking workers anyway. A copy of the letter should also be delivered to the employer’s human resources or payroll department.

Greenbrier employee’s case demonstrates tactics used by union bosses to extort forced dues

White Sulphur Springs, WV- A Greenbrier Hotel employee has filed a federal unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 1182. Reginald Gibbs filed the charge with free legal representation provided by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. The charge states that union officials violated his rights by using mandatory union fees for lobbying efforts and failing to provide necessary disclosures of spending by union affiliates.

Gibbs, a slot machine technician at West Virginia’s historic Greenbrier Hotel & Resort, previously turned to National Right to Work Foundation attorneys for help in filing a motion to intervene in a court case defending West Virginia’s Right to Work law. That law ensures that union membership and financial support are completely voluntary. In that lawsuit, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the law should go into effect, with the Chief Justice calling a lower court’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction against the Right to Work law a “monumental failure of legal reasoning.”

Although the state Supreme Court’s ruling means that the Right to Work law is currently in effect, forced dues contracts entered into before the law’s enactment, such as that at the Greenbrier, are exempted from the law. Thus, Local 1182 officials can have Gibbs fired for not paying union fees. However, even absent full Right to Work protections, workers are entitled to certain protections under the National Labor Relations Act as interpreted in the 1988 Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court case Communications Workers v. Beck.

After receiving his Beck-mandated notice and audit that should explain in detail how forced union dues were being spent, Gibbs noticed several discrepancies that violate his rights. Specifically, as his NLRB charge notes, union officials improperly used dues for political lobbying efforts and failed to adequately disclose how the dues were spent by union affiliates. The NLRB will now investigate the charge.

“Despite U.S. Supreme Court precedent that has been the law for almost 30 years, union officials routinely violate the rights of the workers they claim to represent, to extract extra money from their paychecks,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Fortunately, due to West Virginia’s new Right to Work law, once the current union contract expires, union bosses will no longer be able to play games with the union audit process, because Mr. Gibbs can finally stop all union payments.”

“This case provides another vivid example of why West Virginia workers need the protections provided by the Mountain State’s Right to Work law,” added Mix.

Orlando, FL – In response to multiple inquiries from Disney World employees regarding their legal rights, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys have issued a Special Legal Notice for all Disney World employees who wish to resign their membership in Teamsters Local 385 and exercise their right to end payment of union dues.

In recent years, numerous workers have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against Teamsters Union Local 385 with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in response to union officials’ refusal to accept their membership resignations and/or dues checkoff revocations.

The National Right to Work Foundation Special Legal Notice for Disney employees can be found here.

To learn more about your legal rights in general, go to the Foundation’s “Know Your Rights” page. To request free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation call toll free at 1-800-336-3600, or use our legal aid request form.

Springfield, VA – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has issued a Special Legal Notice for all temporary workers during the Holiday Season who may be unaware of the rules and laws surrounding forced unionism and forced union dues.

Often times, union officials mislead individuals about their legal rights to refrain from union membership and payment of union dues or fees. This is especially true when it comes to temporary or seasonal employees. Under federal law, workers cannot be forced to pay any money to a union during their first 30 days of employment.

When employees are misinformed about their rights, they can end up paying their entire paycheck to union officials as one National Right to Work Foundation-aided worker found.

National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix issued the following statement regarding this legal notice:

“Each year during the Holiday Season, union bosses play the role of Grinches by seizing the paychecks of temporary workers trying to earn some extra money for themselves and their families around the holidays. ”

“Temporary workers should be wary of deceitful tactics used by union officials, and even some employers, designed to fill union coffers with dues money that workers cannot be required to pay. All temporary workers should read the Foundation’s legal notice to ensure their legal rights are not being violated and contact our Foundation attorneys for free legal aid if they suspect their rights have been infringed upon.”

Please read the Foundation’s Special Legal Notice for temporary workers here.

National Right to Work Foundation offers free legal aid to public sector employees ahead of court case that could end forced union fees

Washington, DC (October 24, 2017) – On September 28, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear Janus v. AFSCME, which challenges mandatory union fees for public employees as a violation of the First Amendment. If the High Court agrees with Janus and his Foundation staff attorneys, the ruling would create a precedent protecting every public employee from being forced to subsidize union activities, including teachers, police officers and firefighters who currently pay mandatory dues or fees.

Mark Janus, an Illinois civil servant childcare worker, filed the case with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the Illinois-based Liberty Justice Center. Oral arguments in the case are expected to occur in January 2018 with a ruling most likely in June 2018. National Right to Work Foundation staff attorney William Messenger will argue for Janus at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fearing a ruling against forced union dues, union officials nationwide are already responding with schemes designed to limit the ability of workers to utilize a ruling that they can no longer be required to pay union dues or fees. In some instances union organizers are pushing workers to sign cards that authorize dues payments in perpetuity “irrespective of union membership” unless the worker revokes the authorization in a union-determined two week period.

Although Foundation staff attorneys question the legality of such cards, the special legal notice reminds workers that signing such a card could limit their legal options later. Workers should be very cautious about signing anything from a union, no matter the reason union officials give. In many documented instances, especially during coercive union card check campaigns, union organizers have solicited signatures under misleading or false pretenses.

The full notice can be found online at: https://www.nrtw.org/Janus-Legal-Notice

Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation released the following statement regarding the notice and offer of free legal aid.

“Unfortunately, there is a long history of union officials refusing to accept limits on their forced dues powers. Rather than respect the decisions of workers who do not want to subsidize union activities, invariably after Foundation-won legal precedents or enactment of state Right to Work laws, union officials attempt to block the very workers they claim to represent from exercising their rights.

“Given that a Foundation win in the Janus case could free 5.2 million teachers and other public employees from forced union payments, it is not surprising to see that Big Labor is already working overtime to prevent workers from escaping forced dues. In response, Foundation staff attorneys have issued a special legal notice, warning workers against signing any new dues authorizations that could later limit their options. Every worker should know they can turn to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation for free legal assistance and advice in their battle against Big Labor.”

National Right to Work Foundation offers free legal aid to West Virginia workers seeking to exercise right to end forced union payments

Morgantown, West Virginia (October 18, 2017) – Recently, West Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of the State’s Right to Work law which protects workers from being forced to join or fund a union they do not support. This law is now in full effect.

With the ruling, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys have issued a special legal notice for all West Virginia employees. Under the state’s Right to Work law, union membership and payment of union dues or fees are strictly voluntary. However, union officials frequently use underhanded or illegal tactics to block workers from cutting off union payments. The special notice is designed to help workers overcome such tactics.

The notice can be found here: https://www.nrtw.org/WVSpecialLegalNotice/

Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation released the following statement regarding the notice and offer of free legal aid:

“Union officials across America continue to waste tax dollars and workers’ money by making outlandish legal claims in their attempts to hold onto their power to have a worker fired for refusing to pay money to the union. Right to Work laws have long been upheld by appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, so it is not a surprise that the West Virginia Supreme Court rejected the arguments against the Mountain State’s Right to Work law.

“Still, it is important that all workers in West Virginia understand their rights and protections under West Virginia’s Right to Work law, as union officials frequently attempt to block workers from using the protections established by Right to Work laws. Any worker seeking to exercise their rights under West Virginia’s Right to Work law should know they can turn to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation for free legal assistance. ”

Employees seeking more information about their rights under the law, or in need of assistance in exercising those rights, can call the Foundation’s legal hotline toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, e-mail legal@nrtw.org, or contact the Foundation online at www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid to request free legal assistance.