Orange, California (February 13, 2012) – A healthcare worker has filed federal charges against a major healthcare union and hospital officials for illegally rigging a union organizing “vote” and then forcing workers to accept an unwanted union in the workplace.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Marlene Felter of Costa Mesa filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers West union officials and Chapman Medical Center management entered into a backroom deal known as a so-called “neutrality agreement” designed to grease the skids for workers to be forced into union ranks.

In the agreement, company officials granted union operatives access to company facilities to conduct a coercive “card check” organizing campaign, and waived the right to have a federally-supervised secret ballot election to determine whether employees wished to be unionized. Union organizers frequently use “card check” organizing tactics to bribe, browbeat, or cajole workers into forced-union-dues payments against their will.

In response to the union’s coercive tactics, a majority of hospital workers signed cards, letters, and petitions stating that they did not want the SEIU union bosses’ so-called “representation.” Instead of respecting the employees’ wishes, Chapman officials accepted SEIU union officials as the workers’ monopoly bargaining agents after a rigged “card count” was held. Chapman and SEIU officials are now negotiating a contract, which almost certainly will include a provision to force the workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment because California does not have a Right to Work law that makes union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary.

The federal unfair labor practice charges ask for an injunction to stop hospital and SEIU officials from illegally negotiating a contract on the basis of the fraudulent “card check” union recognition because the union does not have majority support of the workforce.

“Chapman and SEIU officials have colluded to shove SEIU union bosses’ ‘representation’ – and with it forced dues payments – down workers’ throats,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “Schemes like this show that the ultimate goal of union officials is more forced dues collected from workers, even when rank-and-file employees want nothing to do with the union.”

AFSCME Union Bosses Hit With Federal Charges for Illegally Ordering Hospital Employee Fired

Union officials demand worker be fired for exercising Constitutionally-protected right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership

Saint Paul, Minnesota (February 13, 2012) – A Regions Hospital switchboard operator filed a federal charge against a local union for threatening to fire her for exercising her right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Rebecca Holt recently filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 722 union bosses demanded Holt sign an “Authorization of Payroll Deduction” form authorizing union officials to deduct full union dues from her paycheck. Holt requested information about her rights, including her right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

Because Minnesota does not have Right to Work protections for its workers, employees can be forced to pay a part of union dues as a condition of employment.

Read the entire press release here.

Saint Paul, Minnesota (February 13, 2012) – A Regions Hospital switchboard operator filed a federal charge against a local union for threatening to fire her for exercising her right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Rebecca Holt recently filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 722 union bosses demanded Holt sign an “Authorization of Payroll Deduction” form authorizing union officials to deduct full union dues from her paycheck. Holt requested information about her rights, including her right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

Because Minnesota does not have Right to Work protections for its workers, employees can be forced to pay a part of union dues as a condition of employment. However, union officials cannot demand formal union membership to keep a job. The Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Communication Workers v. Beck also holds that workers who refrain from union membership cannot be forced to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as politics and political lobbying.

Instead of informing Holt of her rights, union officials initiated disciplinary procedures with the hospital to have her terminated from her job. Additionally, one union official attempted to bully Holt to sign the dues deduction authorization while she was working at her desk, prompting her immediate coworkers to look into their rights to refrain from union membership.

“Rebecca Holt is taking a courageous stand against the union officials’ campaign of intimidation and thuggery,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “AFSCME union bosses are blatantly violating the law by attempting to have an employee fired for inquiring about her constitutional rights and for refusing to pay for the union’s political agenda.”

“Ultimately, Minnesota desperately needs a Right to Work law to protect workers from forced unionism abuses like this in the future,” added Mix.

Worker Advocate Launches Legal Task Force to Protect Indiana Right to Work Freedom

Law prevents union officials from extracting union dues from workers as a condition of employment

Washington, DC (February 2, 2012) – The National Right to Work Foundation announced today that it is launching a legal task force aimed at protecting Indiana’s newly-enacted Right to Work law.

Union officials publicly floated the idea of challenging the law in Indiana’s courts before the law was even passed by the Indiana state senate.

Indiana is the nation’s 23rd Right to Work state after the state senate passed the bill and Governor Mitch Daniels signed the bill into law on Wednesday.

Foundation attorneys have successfully defended state Right to Work laws in the past, including Oklahoma’s. The task force has already examined reported union lines of attack and determined that Indiana’s Right to Work law is on sound legal ground.

“Union bosses want to undo what thousands of Hoosier citizens have worked hard for over the past decade,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Because union partisans cannot win the hearts and minds of Indiana’s workers and voters, they seek to have the courts strike down Indiana’s popular Right to Work law for them.”

Read the entire press release here.

Washington, DC (February 2, 2012) – The National Right to Work Foundation announced today that it is launching a legal task force aimed at protecting Indiana’s newly-enacted Right to Work law.

Union officials publicly floated the idea of challenging the law in Indiana’s courts before the law was even passed by the Indiana state senate.

Indiana is the nation’s 23rd Right to Work state after the state senate passed the bill and Governor Mitch Daniels signed the bill into law on Wednesday.

Foundation attorneys have successfully defended state Right to Work laws in the past, including Oklahoma’s. The task force has already examined reported union lines of attack and determined that Indiana’s Right to Work law is on sound legal ground.

“Union bosses want to undo what thousands of Hoosier citizens have worked hard for over the past decade,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Because union partisans cannot win the hearts and minds of Indiana’s workers and voters, they seek to have the courts strike down Indiana’s popular Right to Work law for them.”

In addition to defending the Right to Work law from spurious union legal challenges, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys are, as always, available to give free legal aid to employees seeking to exercise their Right to Work. Because the Indiana law applies only to forced dues clauses entered into after March 14, 2012, many employees may not be able to cut off all dues immediately. However, those employees can still exercise their right to refrain from formal union membership and cut off union dues being spent on politics.

Public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans support the Right to Work principle, including 80 percent of union members.

Information about Indiana’s Right to Work law, including how Indiana employees can exercise their Right to Work can be found on the Foundation’s website: www.nrtw.org.

Right to Work Foundation Attorneys Move to Disqualify Controversial Recess Appointees from Six Cases

Argue Labor Board does not have legitimate quorum to hear pending cases

Washington, DC (January 30, 2012) – Today, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys filed motions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to disqualify President Barack Obama’s recent purported recess appointees to the agency from participating in the Foundation’s six cases pending before the Board.

Foundation attorneys argue that the appointments are unconstitutional and, therefore, the Board lacks the quorum necessary to hear Foundation cases. This legal challenge is part of an ongoing controversy over the constitutionality of Obama’s recent move to install three members to the NLRB as "recess appointees" despite the fact that the U.S. Senate was not in recess.

Foundation attorneys also were among the first to challenge the constitutionality of Obama’s "recess appointments" in federal court. An earlier motion challenging the appointments, filed by the Foundation and other plaintiffs challenging the NLRB’s notice posting rules, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Read the entire release here.

Read one of the Foundation attorneys’ motions to disqualify the "recess appointees" here.

Washington, DC (January 30, 2012) – Today, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys filed motions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to disqualify President Barack Obama’s recent purported recess appointees to the agency from participating in the Foundation’s six cases pending before the Board.

Foundation attorneys argue that the appointments are unconstitutional and, therefore, the Board lacks the quorum necessary to hear Foundation cases. This legal challenge is part of an ongoing controversy over the constitutionality of Obama’s recent move to install three members to the NLRB as "recess appointees" despite the fact that the U.S. Senate was not in recess.

Foundation attorneys also were among the first to challenge the constitutionality of Obama’s "recess appointments" in federal court. An earlier motion challenging the appointments, filed by the Foundation and other plaintiffs challenging the NLRB’s notice posting rules, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

If Obama’s NLRB appointments are unconstitutional, then the Board has only two members and lacks a quorum to enact rules or enforce federal labor law under a U.S. Supreme Court precedent issued in 2010. Foundation attorneys are raising the issue now, at the earliest possible opportunity, while anticipating that the issue will eventually reach the federal courts of appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The cases involved are: Richards & Yost v. Steelworkers; Sands v. Food & Commercial Workers; Gray v. Coupled Products, LLC. & UAW Local 2049; Lugo v. Electrical Workers Local 34; Geary v. Nurses & Allied Professionals Local 5008; and Stewart v. UFCW Local 99 & Fry’s Foods of AZ.

"Barack Obama’s so-called recess appointments to the Labor Board clearly violate the U.S. Constitution," said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. "Because the Board does not have a legitimate quorum, it must cease hearing Foundation cases until a legitimate quorum is established."

The Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee announced last week that a panel will investigate the constitutionality of the purported recess appointments next month.

Read one of the Foundation attorneys’ motions to disqualify the "recess appointees" here. 

Right to Work Foundation Announces New Addition to Legal Team

Regent-trained attorney dedicated to the cause of individual liberty for America’s workers

Washington, DC (January 30, 2012) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has hired Sarah Hartsfield of Austin, Texas, as an addition to its legal staff.

Hartsfield is a recently sworn in member of the Virginia State Bar and 2011 graduate of the Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"Sarah brings to the Foundation a real commitment to defending and advancing individual liberty against the injustices of compulsory unionism," said Ray LaJeunesse, vice president and legal director of the National Right to Work Foundation.

Read the entire release here.

Washington, DC (January 30, 2012) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has hired Sarah Hartsfield of Austin, Texas, as an addition to its legal staff.

Hartsfield is a recently sworn in member of the Virginia State Bar and 2011 graduate of the Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"Sarah brings to the Foundation a real commitment to defending and advancing individual liberty against the injustices of compulsory unionism," said Ray LaJeunesse, vice president and legal director of the National Right to Work Foundation.

"She will assist the Foundation’s cutting-edge legal team in defending America’s workers from Big Labor’s growing influence in the public sector, enforcing individual employees’ rights against compulsory unionism, and establishing new precedents to increase workplace freedom for America’s workers."

As the newest of the Foundation’s 12 staff attorneys, Hartsfield will help build on the Foundation’s litigation record for union-abused workers that includes 15 cases at the United States Supreme Court, seven of which were won in whole or in part, and one of which was argued earlier this month. Currently, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys represent thousands of workers in nearly 200 active cases nationwide.

Before joining the Foundation, Hartsfield served as an intern for the Singer Legal Group in Virginia Beach, Virginia and the Chesapeake Public Defender’s Office in Chesapeake, Virginia. She was also an intern, and later an executive assistant, at the Ashcroft Group, L.L.C. in Washington, D.C.

While at Regent, Hartsfield participated in a variety of activities and clubs and was an Associate Member of Regent’s Moot Court Board, competed in numerous moot court competitions, and was a member of the Student Ambassador program. She holds a bachelors degree in Government from the University of Texas, where she graduated in 2008.

Read more about the Foundation’s legal team here.

National Right to Work President Mark Mix appeared on ‘Your World with Neil Cavuto’ to discuss President Obama’s unconstitutional recess appointments to the NLRB. The full video can be watched below:

Mix also issued a statement blasting Obama’s recess appointments when they were made. Here’s the key quote:

In the last two years the Obama Labor Board has repeatedly enacted one power grab after another on behalf of union bosses, to the detriment of the rights of individual employees – especially those who wish to refrain from union activities. The President’s legally dubious NLRB recess appointments pave the way for another year of forced-unionism giveaways. 

The Foundation relies completely on voluntary contributions from its supporters to provide free legal aid. If you can, please chip in with a tax-deductible contribution of $10 or more today to support the Foundation’s programs.