Springfield, VA (May 22, 2014) – The National Right to Work Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal assistance to employees nationwide, has just filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in defense of Michigan’s recently-enacted public sector Right to Work law. The brief was submitted to the Michigan Employee Relations Commission in a case involving the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 1085 union.

Several teachers have accused AFT Local 1085 union officials of deliberately suppressing their rights under Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work laws. Under the new laws, no employee can be forced to join or pay dues to a union just to get or keep a job. However, union contracts with forced-dues clauses that predate the enactment of the Right to Work laws are still legally enforceable until those agreements expire.

AFT officials sought to take advantage of this exemption by hastily entering into a stand-alone 10- year forced-dues contract with the Taylor School District in January of 2013, just two months before Michigan’s public sector Right to Work law went into effect. This agreement was not prompted by the expiration of the union’s existing contract with the school district and was aimed solely at ensuring that union officials could continue to force nonunion teachers to pay dues for another ten years.

The National Right to Work Foundation’s brief points out that the union’s actions were motivated by a desire to circumvent Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work protections. Consequently, the opportunistic forced-dues agreement between AFT officials and the Taylor School District should not be allowed to remain in effect.

“Union bosses may have lost the legislative battle over Right to Work protections for Michigan workers, but that hasn’t stopped them from attempting to exploit legal loopholes to continue collecting forced dues,” said Patrick Semmens, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation.

“Michigan’s Right to Work laws won’t mean anything if they’re not vigorously enforced,” continued Semmens. “That’s why Right to Work staff attorneys are working to ensure that union officials are held accountable for their actions in court.”

Foundation staff attorneys are currently representing 17 employees defending or enforcing Michigan’s Right to Work laws in cases before the the Michigan Employee Relations Commission and federal court.

Southern Bakeries Worker Moves to Intervene in Federal Court to Stop NLRB from Foisting Unwanted Union on Workers

Unprecedented new Obama Labor Board policy is to go to court to block employee attempts to remove an unwanted union with a majority petition to their employer

Texarkana, AR (May 16, 2014) – A Southern Bakeries, LLC worker has moved to intervene to block a federal agency from foisting unwanted union representation back on his workplace after he and his coworkers overwhelmingly expressed their desire to remove the union.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Southern Bakeries worker John Hankins filed the motion in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Texarkana Division.

After the workers at the Southern Bakeries facility in Hope voted in a secret-ballot election to determine whether they wanted to remove the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Local 111 union officials from their workplace, the union hierarchy filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to impound the workers’ ballots.

Hankins and two-thirds of his coworkers then signed a petition to remove the union from their workplace. After the workers presented the petition to their employer, Southern Bakeries withdrew recognition of the union as the workers’ monopoly bargaining representative as the law prescribes.

Click here to read the full release.

Texarkana, AR (May 16, 2014) – A Southern Bakeries, LLC worker has moved to intervene to block a federal agency from foisting unwanted union representation back on his workplace after he and his coworkers overwhelmingly expressed their desire to remove the union.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Southern Bakeries worker John Hankins filed the motion in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Texarkana Division.

After the workers at the Southern Bakeries facility in Hope voted in a secret-ballot election to determine whether they wanted to remove the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Local 111 union officials from their workplace, the union hierarchy filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to impound the workers’ ballots.

Hankins and two-thirds of his coworkers then signed a petition to remove the union from their workplace. After the workers presented the petition to their employer, Southern Bakeries withdrew recognition of the union as the workers’ monopoly bargaining representative as the law prescribes.

In February, the NLRB Regional Director in the case asked the federal court to issue a 10(j) injunction requiring the company to once again recognize the union as the workers’ monopoly bargaining representative while the union’s charges are pending. The Regional Director argues in the extraordinary legal maneuver that leaving the workers free from the unwanted union representation would do “irreparable harm.”

“The NLRB Regional Director apparently believes workers being free from a union they clearly want nothing to do with would cause ‘irreparable harm’,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “If federal labor law purports to protect workers, then what ‘irreparable harm’ occurs if the workers remain free from an unwanted union?”

“This case underscores the pro-forced unionism bias of President Obama’s NLRB,” added Mix. “We urge the court to reject the Regional Director’s motion to foist the union back on these workers despite their desire and actions to free themselves from monopoly unionization.”

University Hospital Nurse Files Federal Charge Against Major Healthcare Union for Rights Violations

Case underscores need for Right to Work protections in the Show Me State

Saint Louis, MO (May 14, 2014) – A Saint Louis University Hospital nurse has filed a federal charge against a major California-based healthcare union for violating workers’ rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Saint Louis University Hospital nurse Brian Hendricks filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) union officials enjoy monopoly bargaining powers over the workplace. Because Missouri does not have Right to Work protections making union affiliation completely voluntary, nonmember workers are still forced to pay part of forced union dues to keep their jobs.

In the charge, Hendricks alleges that NNOC union officials are using illegal dues deduction authorization forms that force members to authorize union dues deductions from their paychecks and deny them the right to pay for union dues via check.

Click here to read the full release.

Saint Louis, MO (May 14, 2014) – A Saint Louis University Hospital nurse has filed a federal charge against a major California-based healthcare union for violating workers’ rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Saint Louis University Hospital nurse Brian Hendricks filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) union officials enjoy monopoly bargaining powers over the workplace. Because Missouri does not have Right to Work protections making union affiliation completely voluntary, nonmember workers are still forced to pay part of forced union dues to keep their jobs.

In the charge, Hendricks alleges that NNOC union officials are using illegal dues deduction authorization forms that force members to authorize union dues deductions from their paychecks and deny them the right to pay for union dues via check.

Further, Hendricks alleges that the union is refusing to provide workers with information about their right to refrain from formal union membership and failed to provide a legally-required independently-audited breakdown of union expenditures informing workers of what union dues and fees they can be forced to pay.

Healthcare professionals from across the country have filed charges against NNOC union bosses for repeated rights violations as the union hierarchy has schemed to spread from California and expand its ranks.

“NNOC union officials, who claim to represent these workers, are instead violating workers’ rights to keep their forced-dues gravy train going,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This case underscores the need for Missouri to pass a Right to Work law making union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary.”

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

Paris Casino Union Bosses Lose High Stakes Game Playing with Worker’s Legal Rights

Union officials threatened nonmember worker with benefits cuts and loss of seniority unless she paid dues

Las Vegas, NV (May 9, 2014) – A Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino snack bar attendant has won a federal judgment from a local union for violating her right to refrain from union affiliation.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Nani Sugianto won her case against the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 before a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge late last week.

In 2007, Sugianto resigned her union membership and refrained from dues payments. After nearly five years the union started to collect dues again without giving her notice. Sugianto stopped the union dues deductions.

Then, Sugianto filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB after a union steward illegally threatened her that she would lose all of her benefits and her seniority, and would be required to start over again as a new hire, unless she paid union dues even though she is not a union member.

Click here to read the full release.

Las Vegas, NV (May 9, 2014) – A Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino snack bar attendant has won a federal judgment from a local union for violating her right to refrain from union affiliation.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Nani Sugianto won her case against the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 before a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge late last week.

In 2007, Sugianto resigned her union membership and refrained from dues payments. After nearly five years the union started to collect dues again without giving her notice. Sugianto stopped the union dues deductions.

Then, Sugianto filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB after a union steward illegally threatened her that she would lose all of her benefits and her seniority, and would be required to start over again as a new hire, unless she paid union dues even though she is not a union member. The steward made the threats while the union was trying to swell its membership rolls and prevent workers from exercising their right to work during a union-boss instigated strike.

After hearing conflicting testimony, the NLRB administrative law judge ruled that Sugianto was the more credible witness.

“Workers’ rights are not a casino game,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “We applaud this worker’s efforts to protect her rights under Nevada’s popular Right to Work law.”

Under Nevada’s Right to Work law, workers cannot be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of their employment.

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

Waikiki Hotel Employees Hit Union Officials with Federal Charges for Illegally Seizing Dues

UNITE HERE Local 5 union officials have an ugly history of violating the rights of the workers they claim to represent

Honolulu, HI (April 30, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a group of Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa employees have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the UNITE HERE Local 5 union.

Honolulu Hyatt employees Mark Tamosiunas, Wayne Young, Steven Taono, and Agnes Demarke filed the charges late last week with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Starting around June 30, 2010, the monopoly bargaining agreement between UNITE HERE Local 5 union officials and Hyatt management expired. While the contract was no longer in effect, the workers resigned their union membership and exercised their right to refrain from union dues payments.

However, UNITE HERE Local 5 union officials are now charging the workers for union dues and fees from June 2012 to August 2013, even though no union monopoly bargaining agreement requiring workers to pay union dues or fees was in effect.

Click here to read the full release.

Honolulu, HI (April 30, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a group of Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa employees have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the UNITE HERE Local 5 union.

Honolulu Hyatt employees Mark Tamosiunas, Wayne Young, Steven Taono, and Agnes Demarke filed the charges late last week with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Starting around June 30, 2010, the monopoly bargaining agreement between UNITE HERE Local 5 union officials and Hyatt management expired. While the contract was no longer in effect, the workers resigned their union membership and exercised their right to refrain from union dues payments.

However, UNITE HERE Local 5 union officials are now charging the workers for union dues and fees from June 2012 to August 2013, even though no union monopoly bargaining agreement requiring workers to pay union dues or fees was in effect.

Further, the workers never received a copy of the new union monopoly bargaining agreement, a notice of their rights to refrain from union membership and full dues payments, or a breakdown of union financial expenditures from Local 5.

The charges will now be investigated by the NLRB, a federal agency charged with administering private-sector labor law.

Foundation staff attorneys have assisted other workers in defending their rights against the scofflaw union. In 2008, Turtle Bay Resort employee Brenda Lee Orr and Hilton Hawaiian Beach Resort and Spa employee Grant Suzuki won a federal settlement that forced UNITE HERE Local 5 to refund union dues and fees illegally used for union politics. In 2012, Suzuki and another hotel employee, Daryl Sakugawa, filed charges after both were forced to contribute to a variety of activities outside the scope of workplace negotiations, including UNITE HERE political lobbying and a union strike fund.

“Once again, UNITE HERE bosses have demonstrated how little regard they have for workers’ rights,” said Patrick Semmens, legal information director for the National Right to Work Foundation. “The only permanent solution to chronic union law-breaking is an Hawaii Right to Work law, which would ensure that no employee can be forced to join or pay dues to a union.”

UPS Worker Wins Federal Settlement against Teamster Union for Ignoring Her Rights Under Michigan’s Right to Work Law

Teamster union officials stonewalled worker’s attempts to refrain from dues payments

Traverse City, MI (April 28, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Traverse City UPS (NYSE: UPS) worker has won a federal settlement against a local Teamster union for violating her rights.

Lisa Plamondon, a 30-year UPS employee, won the settlement from the Teamster Local 406 union after she filed charges against the union and her employer with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Because Michigan did not have a Right to Work law making union dues payments completely voluntary, Plamondon was a member of the union from 1983 until 1997. In 1997, Plamondon resigned her union membership, but still had to pay union dues and fees to keep her job.

After Michigan’s private-sector Right to Work law went into effect, Plamondon sent several letters to the Local 406 union stating that she was exercising her right under Michigan’s Right to Work law to refrain from union dues payments.

Click here to read the full release.