Washington, D.C. (February 19, 2008) — The U.S. Supreme Court has today granted a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys for a group of twenty Maine state employees objecting to the misuse of their compulsory union dues.

The case, Daniel Locke et al. v. Edward Karass et al., will directly address whether non-union employees can be forced to pay for litigation activities far removed from their workplaces. But the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling may provide much-needed clarity to the criteria it had established previously that determine what union activities employees can be lawfully forced to fund.

Unions spend billions of dollars each year on activities such as politics, organizing, litigation, lobbying, and a wide range of other ideological and non-bargaining activities. Yet, union officials often claim that non-union members must foot the bill for these activities or be fired from their jobs.

“No one should be compelled to pay union dues just to get or keep a job,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “But where union officials have obtained this special privilege from the legislature, they still have no legal authority to make non-union public servants in Maine pay for union activity across America.”

Locke is the 14th case brought by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Las Vegas, NV (February 5, 2008) — Under threat of a federal court appeal, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) this week reversed itself and authorized a local worker to claim over $100,000 in damages after International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 720 union officials illegally discriminated against him.

Union brass had unlawfully expelled the employee from an exclusive union hiring hall, denied him the ability to obtain work, and offered him no means of reinstatement.

The ruling comes in a case brought by Las Vegas-area worker Steven Lucas, with free legal help from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys. Lucas is an audio-visual equipment technician employed in the Las Vegas trade show and convention industry.

In June 2007, the NLRB in Washington, DC, upheld a preliminary ruling by NLRB Region 28 in Las Vegas allowing Lucas to reclaim only about $16,000 in lost wages from one job due to the unlawful union discrimination. In reality, union officials’ illegal blackballing of Lucas from getting work from more than a dozen employers during 1995 and 1996 had cost him many times that amount.

The Lucas case has been a major source of embarrassment for the NLRB since the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals several years ago reprimanded the agency and forced it to pay attorneys’ fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) because its position in an earlier phase of the case was “not substantially justified.”

“The prospect of even more embarrassment for the NLRB in enabling this outrageous union discrimination forced the agency’s hand,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Even in a Right to Work state where payment of union dues is voluntary, union officials use their monopoly bargaining power to punish workers that don’t toe the union line.”

Lucas was a union member from 1981-1992 and used the hiring hall until 1994, when union officials illegally and arbitrarily expelled him from the hiring hall. By not allowing Lucas to be reinstated in the hiring hall, IATSE union officials denied him work opportunities for a period of roughly 18 months.

Even though Nevada has a highly popular and effective Right to Work law that frees nonunion employees from paying membership dues to an unwanted union, IATSE union officials use their monopoly bargaining privileges to set up “exclusive hiring halls.” In such halls, union officials decide which employees to refer for work at conventions and trade shows, and workers are forced to pay money to the union to be eligible for work.

The January/February 2008 Foundation Action newsletter is now available!

In this issue:

• Right to Work Foundation Helps Secure High Court Review
• Right to Work Foundation Launches New Cutting-Edge Website
• Congress Complains About Foundation Legal Victories
• Discriminatory Union Objection Procedure Smacked Down Again
• Foundation Helps Nurses Fight Illegal Retaliation
• Laidlaw Transit Drivers Kick Unwanted Union Off the Bus

Download the January/February 2008 Foundation Action PDF here.

St. Louis, MO (January 23, 2008) – Overcoming months of union stonewalling, federal officials today announced KV Pharmaceutical Company (NYSE:KV-A) employees have voted 89-46 to remove an unpopular Teamsters union local from their workplace.

Teamsters Local 688 has been booted as the employees’ “exclusive bargaining representative” and may no longer act as a middleman between the employees and management. The employees received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation in overcoming months of delays at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and legal challenges by Teamsters union lawyers who tried to stonewall the results of the vote.

Calbert Edwards and his KV Pharma coworkers obtained the secret ballot “decertification” vote after gaining signatures from an overwhelming majority of employees at the pharmaceutical giant. However, after the election was held in November, the NLRB Regional Director indefinitely impounded the ballots, leaving the employees without their election results.

Teamsters Local 688 lawyers had delayed the counting of ballots by filing “blocking charges” at the NLRB. They alleged that the company tried to entice the employees to vote against the Teamsters union by promising better benefits if the Teamsters union was voted out.

But, with help from attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation, Edwards and his coworkers petitioned the NLRB to proceed. Consequently, in early January the NLRB Regional Director granted the request – dismissing the Teamsters union’s charges – and ordered the ballots counted. As a result of the employees’ decertification victory, KV Pharma workers will now be free to negotiate their own terms and conditions of employment, and be rewarded on their individual merit.

“Teamsters lawyers threw up every stumbling block possible over the past several months to block KV Pharma employees from exercising their free choice,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The hostility of the union hierarchy to workers’ interests shows why Missouri needs a Right to Work law that would make union affiliation and dues payment strictly voluntary.”

A decertification election, an NLRB-supervised secret ballot election to oust a union, is an uphill battle for workers to obtain or win. In particular, union lawyers are adept at gumming up the works by filing baseless charges that often block an election for years. Employees can also only obtain such elections during narrowly prescribed periods every few years, and incumbent union hierarchies often retaliate against dissenting employees.

Butte, MT (January 16, 2008) – To avoid federal prosecution by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a local union had no choice but to withdraw illegal termination threats against a Kalispell-based employee of Hanson Trucking and Resin Haulers Inc. and return all forced dues plus interest to the timber trucker.

The agreement, won by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, requires Teamsters Local 2 union officials to reimburse Michael Weller full union back dues plus 10 percent interest on all dues paid. Teamsters officials also promised to provide full financial disclosure of the use of Weller’s forced dues, as required by law.

With help from Foundation attorneys, Weller filed charges in October 2007 at the NLRB against the Teamsters Local 2 union to protect himself from union threats that he would be fired from his job for refusing to join the union. The charges cite that Teamsters Local 2 union officials attempted to collect ongoing and back forced union dues, while failing to provide Weller with a verified audited breakdown of union chargeable and non-chargeable expenses.

After learning of his right to refrain from formal union membership independent of Teamsters Local 2, Weller sent letters to union officials asserting his right not to be forced to pay more than the documented cost of monopoly bargaining. Because the union responded with threats against his job, Weller had no choice but to pay under protest hundreds of dollars in forced union dues – using a money order.

“This legal battle would never have been necessary if the State of Montana did not have an outrageous policy of forced unionism,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Until Montana passes a Right to Work law that ensures that payment of union dues is strictly voluntary, union officials will inevitably continue to victimize and extort money from dissenting employees.”

In the Foundation-won Communications Workers of America v. Beck decision, which applies to forced unionism states, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employees working under the National Labor Relations Act are entitled to resign from formal union membership, but can still be forced to pay for activities related to union monopoly bargaining. However, they cannot be compelled to pay for other costs such as union political activities.

Additionally, a union collecting forced dues must have an independent third party audit its expenditures and verify that the percentage of dues that non-members are forced to pay does not include political spending and other non-collective bargaining expenses.

Oostburg, WI (January 7, 2008) – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, four Pre-Heat, Inc. employees have filed federal charges against the Sheet Metal Workers International Association union for exorbitant and illegal retaliatory fines levied against them.

The employees, led by Patrick Keefe, filed the unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Sheet Metal Workers Local 18. Union officials hit them with fines of $30,000 each after they resigned their formal union membership and returned to work during a union-ordered strike. Nonunion members are not subject to internal union discipline.

Following their resignations, Keefe and his coworkers also began gathering signatures for a decertification election, an NLRB-supervised secret ballot election to oust a union, which is generally an uphill battle for workers to obtain. However, the employees’ efforts resulted in a majority of employees signing the petition to oust the unpopular union, and Pre-Heat, Inc. then withdrew recognition from the union because it no longer had the employees’ support.

After the strike ended, in November 2007, union officials ordered Keefe and his four coworkers to attend a Sheet Metal Workers union internal kangaroo court held for the purpose of punishing them for exercising their legal rights. Union agent Patrick Landgraf charged the employees with violating the union’s constitution. In his written statement during the union trial, Landgraf claimed Keefe and the others “selfishly crossed” the picket line for “this rat contractor” and accused the employees of preventing the union from obtaining a new contract. Landgraf did not mention that his union had been resoundingly rejected by the workers.

Because they were not members of the union, Keefe and the other employees chose not to show up at the “trial.” In their absence, the union’s Executive Board found the employees “guilty” of all charges, fining them a total of $120,000. Sheet Metal Workers union officials ordered Keefe and the three other workers to pay the illegally imposed fines within 30 days.

“It is unconscionable for union bosses to attempt to drive workers into the poorhouse in vicious retaliation for returning to work,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This union intimidation is all too common in states like Wisconsin where there is no Right to Work law on the books.”

A Right to Work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union. The NLRB’s Regional Office will now investigate the charges and decide whether to issue a formal complaint and prosecute the union.

**Batavia, IL (December 20, 2007)** – Laidlaw Transit, Inc. busing employees have voted to remove Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1028 as the “exclusive bargaining representative” of approximately 160 transit workers. In an election held earlier this week, Laidlaw Transit employees voted 83-64 to oust the unwanted union from their workplace.

The election result comes just months after a majority of employees had already petitioned their employer to withdraw recognition of the ATU union. However, after a British company, FirstGroup PLC, completed the purchase of Laidlaw Transit in October, the bus company and ATU Local 1028 officials illegally began bargaining over the wages and working conditions of employees that the union did not even “represent.”

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, Laidlaw Transit employee Russell Haasch filed federal charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Haasch highlighted that ATU union officials had been negotiating a contract with FirstGroup, despite the fact that he and his coworkers had successfully ousted the union earlier this year.

In spring 2007, Haasch collected signatures from an overwhelming majority of his coworkers and in June presented the petition to their employer, Laidlaw Transit, which legally and properly ended its recognition of the ATU union as the monopoly bargaining agent. Haasch and his coworkers soon realized that the successor employer, FirstGroup, was negotiating a contract with ATU officials, despite the fact that the employees had shown that the union did not have their support.

According to the National Labor Relations Act, by bargaining over the contracts of employees that the union does not legally represent, the union and FirstGroup engaged in illegal “pre-recognition” bargaining. As part of their negotiations, the union sought a forced-dues clause in the contract that would make payment of union dues a job requirement. Facing an embarrassing federal prosecution, officials of ATU Local 1028 and FirstGroup had no choice but to agree to the secret ballot decertification election.

“Despite ATU union officials’ attempt to force this unpopular union on employees’ like-it-or-not, Haasch and his coworkers have once again shown them the door,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “With the lack of respect these union officials have for the employees, it is no surprise that workers have repeatedly rejected this union hierarchy.”

As a result of the decertification victory, Laidlaw Transit employees will now be free to negotiate their own terms and conditions of employment, and be rewarded on their individual merit. Decertification elections are an uphill battle for workers to obtain or win. In particular, union lawyers are adept at gumming up the works by filing baseless charges that often block an election for years. Employees can only obtain such elections during narrow periods every few years, and incumbent union hierarchies often retaliate against dissenting employees.

Pensacola, FL (December 11, 2007) – After nearly a four-year delay, a Florida worker has prompted an administrative law judge of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to strike down a nationwide policy of a major international union that requires employees to object annually to prevent union officials from spending their compulsory union dues for political activities. The policy is a pervasive tactic used by union officials to prevent dissenting employees from reclaiming forced union dues used to promote political causes they oppose.

National Right to Work Foundation attorneys helped Robert Prime, an employee of L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace, LLC at the Naval Air Station, file unfair labor practice charges in December 2003 against the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union Local Lodge 2777. The charges alleged that union officials violated Prime’s rights by forcing him to renew his objection to funding union political advocacy every single year.

NLRB administrative law judge Michael A. Marcionese issued a ruling from the bench yesterday at the conclusion of a hearing in Pensacola. Marcionese found that the IAM policy was arbitrary, discriminatory, and bordered on being irrational. Although Foundation attorneys have asked for refunds for any objecting employee nationally within the last four years, the scope of the remedy will remain unclear for the next few weeks until the judge issues a supporting written ruling.

In November 2003, Prime filed an objection with IAM union officials to funding their political activities, as the Foundation-won Communications Workers of America v. Beck decision permits. The Beck decision recognized that workers have the right to refrain from formal union membership and cannot be forced to pay for activities unrelated to collective bargaining. However, when Prime asked union officials to honor his request as a “continuing objection,” IAM officials refused, claiming that Prime and his coworkers must object annually because they are not subject to the Railway Labor Act (RLA).

IAM union officials already accept “continuing objections” from railroad and airline employees covered by the RLA due to favorable rulings in prior Foundation cases. However, union officials arbitrarily refuse to abide by those rulings for employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act.

“America’s workers may have one fewer hoop to jump through to reclaim their forced dues used for politics,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “However, this lengthy legal battle underscores why no one should be forced to pay dues to an unwanted union in the first place.”

Florida’s highly-popular Right to Work law, on the books since 1944, is one of 22 state laws that secure the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union. However, because Vertex Aerospace employees work on federal property under “exclusive federal jurisdiction,” the state’s Right to Work law does not protect those workers from being forced to pay union dues to keep their jobs.

**Springfield, VA (November 20, 2007)** – Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, made the following statement in response to today’s granting of certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Foundation-supported Chamber v. Brown appeal.

An en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit had reversed two of its earlier appellate rulings by a vote of 8-3, upholding a state law that will effectively force coercive union organizing upon employees of private companies who receive state funds. Foundation attorneys filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court” brief) urging U.S. Supreme Court review.

“In a controversial decision with national implications, the activist Ninth Circuit in Chamber v. Brown upheld a California law which increases pressure on employees to join potentially unwanted unions.

“This special-interest state statute is pre-empted by federal labor law, which is supposed to protect employees from pressure to unionize by union officials and other entities. We’re thankful the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case.

“The practical effect is that employees of private employers wishing to accept funds from the state are denied truthful information regarding the downsides of unionization. Their employers could ultimately be blackballed from government contracts unless they clear the path for union organizers to recruit new forced-dues-paying union members. Moreover, union organizers will insist that the state law entitles them to sweeping access to company facilities, employees’ private personal information, and the power to sidestep the less-abusive secret ballot election process for determining whether employees actually want a union.

“California officials are using the heavy hand of government to trample upon workers’ rights. Because union hierarchies seem to be having difficulties persuading employees to join unions voluntarily, they have resorted to coercive tactics in order to maintain the flow of forced union dues.

“The National Right to Work Foundation denounces this rogue appellate ruling and applauds the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review it.”

**Batavia, IL (November 2, 2007)** – The bus company First Group, Inc. and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1028 have been hit with federal labor board charges for illegally bargaining over employees who the union does not even represent. First Group employee Russell Haasch filed the charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) earlier this week with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys.

As Haasch details in his charges, ATU union officials have been negotiating a contract with First Group, despite the fact that Haasch and his coworkers had successfully ousted the union earlier this year. According to First Group’s website, on October 1 the UK-based transit company completed the purchase of Haasch’s employer, Laidlaw Transit.

In Spring 2007, Haasch collected signatures from an overwhelming majority of his co-workers and in June presented the petition to their employer Laidlaw Transit, which legally and properly ended its recognition of the ATU union as the monopoly bargaining agent for the approximately 160 employees. Only recently did Haasch and his co-workers realize that their new employer, First Group, was negotiating a contract with ATU officials, despite the fact that the employees had successfully shown that the union did not have their support.

According to the National Labor Relations Act, by bargaining over the contracts of employees that the union does not legally represent, the union and First Group are engaging in illegal “pre-recognition” bargaining. As part of their negotiations, the union is once again seeking a forced-dues clause in the contract that makes payment of union dues a job requirement. Indeed, union officials have been given access to First Group facilities and are now demanding that employees pay union dues or be fired.

“Union officials and First Group management are illegally attempting to force this unpopular union down employees’ throats,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “With the lack of respect these union officials have for the employees, it is not surprising that workers rejected the union last June.”

The unfair labor practice charges ask the NLRB to seek an injunction to immediately stop First Group from continuing to negotiate a contract with the rogue ATU union and to cease all demands for union dues. The NLRB Regional Director will now investigate the charges and decide whether to prosecute the charges and seek injunctive relief.