Washington, DC (May 7, 2013) – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) controversial new rule requiring virtually every private-sector employer in the country to post one-sided information about employee rights online and in the workplace, even if the employer had never been accused of unfair labor practices.

Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, made the following statement in the wake of the ruling:

"National Right to Work Foundation attorneys argued that the NLRB had exceeded its authority granted by Congress.

"We are pleased that the D.C. Circuit has reined in one of the NLRB’s more outrageous efforts to expand itself into a taxpayer-funded union organizing operation by holding that the federal agency cannot compel private entities to post pro-union messages in their workplaces.

"The NLRB’s unprecedented actions infringed upon free speech and clearly exceeded the agency’s statutory authority. This is a good day both for workers and all who value workplace independence and free speech."

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.

Click here to read the full release.

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.”

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.

Click here to read the full release.

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

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.

Click here to read the full release.

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.

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.

Click here to read the full release.

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.”

Hostess Delivery Driver Wins $47,000 in Federal Case Challenging Teamster Union Boss Discrimination

Teamster union bosses sought to punish worker for refraining from union membership

Tulsa, OK (April 4, 2013) – An Interstate Bakeries Wonder Bread/Hostess delivery driver has won over $47,000 in back pay and reimbursement from a local Teamster union and the company in a union discrimination case that the union twice appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oklahoma worker Kirk Rammage received free assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation during his seven year legal battle challenging a local Teamster union’s discriminatory policy.

Click here to read the full release.