Petition for vote follows NLRB order to overturn majority vote by other Red Rock employees who rejected Culinary Union

Las Vegas, NV (March 21, 2022) – Slot machine technicians at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas are seeking a vote on whether to remove International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 501 officials from control at their workplace. Red Rock technician Jereme Barrios submitted the petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

Barrios’ petition for a union decertification vote contains the signatures of a large majority of slot machine technicians at the casino, far more than the percentage NLRB rules require to trigger a vote. Barring any delays, the vote should be held in April at the casino.

Thanks to Foundation-backed changes to union election rules that the NLRB adopted in 2020, Barrios and his colleagues expect to vote promptly. Before the reforms, union bosses were often able to delay decertification elections for months or even years by filing “blocking charges,” sometimes repeatedly.

“Blocking charges” are often-unverified allegations of employer misbehavior that union officials regularly invent to stop workers from booting them from a facility. As a result of the Foundation-backed changes, in most circumstances union officials’ “blocking charges” cannot stop a vote from being promptly scheduled, and are generally dealt with after the ballots have been counted and the tally announced.

Other Red Rock Employees Fight for Freedom from Culinary Union

The slot techs’ effort comes as Red Rock hospitality and foodservice staff, led by employee Raynell Teske, are battling an order from a federal district court judge that forces them under the “representation” of Culinary Union bosses. The order came despite the fact that a majority of hospitality and foodservice employees voted to reject union officials’ effort to install themselves at the casino.

NLRB Region 28 Director Cornele Overstreet asked a federal court to issue an order unilaterally imposing unionization despite Teske and her coworkers’ objections. US District Judge Gloria Navarro issued the order in July 2021. A legal brief filed for Teske by Foundation staff attorneys argues that the basis for overturning the workers’ vote – Culinary Union bosses’ claim that they have “union cards” from workers indicating majority support – is unreliable and disregards the clear will of workers as expressed in the secret ballot election.

Palms Casino Employee, also Seeking to Oust Unpopular Union, Battles Dubious NLRB Ruling

Barrios and his colleagues are seeking freedom from the IUOE union at the same time as Thomas Stallings and his fellow maintenance workers at Palms Casino in Las Vegas are attempting to get a vote whether to remove IUOE and International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) officials from their workplace.

With Foundation legal aid Stallings filed last year an Emergency Request for Expedited Review with the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, DC, in response to NLRB Region 28 Director Overstreet’s blocking of his request for a vote based on union “blocking charges.”

Stallings’ request argues that Overstreet is leaving him and his coworkers trapped under an unpopular union despite the new NLRB rules regarding “blocking charges,” and despite the fact the unions’ accusations against the employer relate to other unions besides those involved in his case, and to other bargaining units having nothing to do with the 19-person maintenance unit involved in his case.

“Las Vegas union officials likely believe they can violate workers’ free choice rights without any consequences, as it seems ‘the union house always wins’ at NLRB Region 28,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Mr. Barrios, Ms. Teske, and Mr. Stallings are standing up for themselves and their coworkers by opposing unpopular union bosses. Foundation attorneys will fight to make sure their voices are heard even though the deck may seem to be stacked against independent-minded workers.”

Public educators have right to rebuff union officials’ demands that they abandon students, also have right to stop all dues deductions

Minneapolis, MN (March 7, 2022) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has issued a special legal notice to teachers and other staff at Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools, whom officials of the Minnesota Federation of Teachers (MFT) union, St. Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) union, and other unions have ordered to strike beginning March 8. Both MFT and SPFE are affiliates of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union.

The legal notice informs rank-and-file teachers and other school employees of the rights teacher union bosses won’t inform them of, including their right to refuse to abandon their students and to keep working to support their families despite the union-ordered strike. The notice discusses why workers across the country frequently turn to the National Right to Work Foundation for free legal aid in such situations.

“This situation raises serious concerns for Minneapolis and St. Paul public educators who believe there is much to lose from a union boss-ordered strike and do not want their students to fall behind,” the notice reads. “Employees have the legal right to rebuff union officials’ strike demands, but it is important for them to be fully informed before they do so.”

The full notice is available at https://www.nrtw.org/mft-strike-legal-notice/.

The notice outlines the process that Minneapolis and St. Paul educators should follow if they want to exercise their right to resign their union memberships and return to work during the strike while avoiding punishment by union bosses. The notice also links to sample union membership resignation letters.

The notice reminds educators of their First Amendment right, under the 2018 Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision, to cut off all union dues payments. In Janus, the High Court recognized that public sector employees like public educators cannot be forced to pay any union dues or fees to get or keep a job, and that union officials can only deduct union dues or fees from public employees’ paychecks with their affirmative consent.

The Foundation scored a victory just last week for a Los Angeles-area public teacher who was the target of Janus rights violations by California Teachers Association (CTA) officials. Natalie Bahl, a teacher at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, sent a letter to union and school officials exercising her Janus right to stop union deductions, only to find afterward that school administrators were still taking dues from her paycheck at the behest of CTA bosses. After Foundation staff attorneys sent a letter threatening litigation if the illegally-taken monies were not returned to Bahl, CTA officials backed down and refunded the ill-gotten money.

“Minneapolis and St. Paul educators should know they unequivocally have the right to reject union boss strike orders and continue working to make sure their pupils do not fall behind,” commented National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “The last two years showed some particularly aggressive politicking by top teacher union bosses across the country, especially AFT President Randi Weingarten, which resulted in long-running, heavy-handed restrictions on public education. With that in mind, public school employees are right to question whether this strike is really what is best for the Twin Cities’ kids, teachers, and community at large.”

“Rank-and-file educators should immediately contact the Foundation for free legal aid if they believe union officials may be violating their legal rights,” added Mix.

RWDSU officials who used litigation to nullify overwhelming worker vote against union at Alabama Amazon facility sought to do the same at Ecolab

Atlanta, GA (March 15, 2022) – Employees at chemical company Ecolab’s Atlanta-area location are one step closer to successfully removing Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union, Southeast Council (RWDSU) union officials from their workplace.

Ecolab employee Irvin Arnold in October 2021 submitted a “decertification petition” signed by his colleagues, which prompted the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to conduct an election at his workplace on whether the union should be scrapped. Arnold received free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

Ecolab employees voted in December 2021 to send RWDSU officials packing from the plant. However, RWDSU officials filed objections after the election in an attempt to reverse the workers’ exercise of their right to dispense with the unwanted union.

After a hearing and the filing of briefs, a regional NLRB official ruled on March 11 that “the Union’s objections should be overruled in their entirety,” and that Arnold and his coworkers’ vote to oust the union should be certified.

Foundation-backed Reforms Prevented RWDSU Chiefs from Blocking Employee Vote

The Ecolab employees’ push to remove RWDSU officials benefitted from Foundation-backed changes to union election rules that the NLRB adopted in 2020. Before the reforms, union bosses were often able to delay decertification elections for months or even years by filing “blocking charges,” sometimes repeatedly.

“Blocking charges” are often unverified and unrelated allegations of employer misbehavior that union officials regularly manipulate to stop workers from booting them from a facility.

As a result of the changes, in most circumstances union officials’ “blocking charges” cannot stop a vote from being promptly scheduled, and are generally dealt with after the ballots have been counted and the tally announced.

The RWDSU is notably the same union that Bessemer, AL, Amazon employees rejected by a more than 2-to-1 margin during a highly publicized April 2021 union election. However, the NLRB voided the result and ordered a rerun election after an intense litigation effort by RWDSU lawyers to install the union at the plant over worker opposition. Barely 12% of eligible voters indicated support for union bosses’ monopoly “representation.”

Alabama Amazon workers are now casting ballots in the new election, with counting slated to begin March 28.

Foundation attorneys recently aided another group of workers in removing unwanted RWDSU union officials. In October 2021, Ervin Par of Queens, NY-based Main Street Car Wash submitted the second valid decertification petition in his and his coworkers’ three-year attempt to remove RWDSU bosses from their workplace. Rather than face an employee vote that would have likely ended in defeat, RWDSU officials disclaimed interest in continuing their control over the car wash early last November.

Foundation President: RWDSU Officials Have ‘Penchant’ for Opposing Workers’ Will

“We at the Foundation are proud to help Mr. Arnold and his coworkers freely exercise their right to oust unwanted RWDSU officials from their workplace,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Unfortunately, as his situation and the situation at Amazon in Alabama show, RWDSU officials have a penchant for opposing the will and rights of the very workers they claim to ‘represent.’ If the wishes of rank-and-file workers mean anything to RWDSU officials, the union will file no further appeals and accept the clear message that they are not wanted by Ecolab employees.”

“No American worker should be trapped under the control of union officials that they do not want,” Mix continued. “Any worker across the country who opposes RWDSU officials’ presence in their workplace should not hesitate to contact the Foundation for free legal aid in exercising their rights.”

NLRB-invented “successor bar” blocks employees’ statutory right to vote out union despite 70 percent of workers wanting Teamsters removed

Indianapolis, IN (March 8, 2022) – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Kerry Atkins and his coworkers at the US Brick facility in Mooresville, IN, are fighting a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) order stifling their right to vote out an unpopular union at the plant. Atkins submitted on March 7 a Request for Review, asking the full NLRB in Washington, DC, to overturn the decision and eliminate a non-statutory NLRB doctrine called the “successor bar” that blocks employees’ right to vote out an unwanted union when management changes hands in a workplace.

Atkins filed a petition in December 2021 requesting that the NLRB hold a vote whether to decertify Teamsters Local 135 union officials. NLRB Regional Director Patricia Nachand ruled on February 9 that US Brick’s recent acquisition of the plant triggered the so-called “successor bar” and rendered the employee petition invalid.

The “successor bar” is a non-statutory policy invented by NLRB appointees that immunizes union officials from being voted out by employees for up to a year after management changes as a result of a sale, merger, or acquisition. Employees have a statutory right to hold decertification elections to remove union monopoly “representation” they oppose, but the “successor bar” is found nowhere in the text of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which the NLRB is charged with enforcing. In that statute, the only “bar” to holding a decertification election is if a prior NLRB election was held within the previous year.

According to Atkins’ Request for Review, a Department of Justice antitrust complaint forced the former employer, General Shale, to sell the Mooresville facility before it could complete a transaction with another company. US Brick purchased the Mooresville plant from General Shale in November 2021, and rehired all 33 employees, including Atkins, in the bargaining unit controlled by the Teamsters union.

In addition to Atkins’ submission of the petition for a decertification vote, the NLRB Regional Director’s order mentions that plant management has in its possession a more general petition expressing disaffection with the Teamsters, which bears the signatures of about 70 percent of the employees. Even though the signatures “were verified by the Human Resources Manager against completed I-9 forms,” the Regional Director’s order says “[t]he hearing officer denied questioning and evidence” regarding the disaffection petition.

Atkins’ Request for Review contends that the “successor bar” serves no purpose other than to block the will of rank-and-file employees in favor of entrenching union bosses who ought to be accountable to the employees.

“The successor bar undermines the NLRA’s core purpose of employee free choice by disregarding employees’ actual desires and past experiences with their union representative. It also fails to recognize the Board’s highest calling: to conduct elections when there is a question of representation and to ensure employees are represented by a union of their choosing,” the Request for Review argues.

Foundation staff attorneys have recently aided numerous workers in exercising their right to dispense with union officials they oppose, including by advocating for election policy changes that the NLRB adopted in 2020. The changes prevent union officials from manipulating allegations (also called “blocking charges”) against an employer to stop workers from having a decertification election.

Teamsters union officials in particular have been the target of Foundation-assisted workers who are seeking to shed unions. In just the past year, Rush University maintenance workers in Chicago, Frito-Lay salesmen in Del Rio, TX, Allied Central Coast truckers in Santa Maria, CA, XPO Logistics workers in Cinnaminson, NJ, and Blish-Mize hardware distribution employees in Atchison, KS, all voted to decertify unpopular Teamsters local unions.

“The NLRB-invented ‘successor bar’ is just one example of how the Board neglects its mandate to protect the rights of individual workers, including those opposed to forced union affiliation, just to protect union boss power,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “The ‘successor bar’ not only overrides the statutory right of workers to vote out unions they oppose, but does so at the very moment when workers are most likely to reevaluate their union status: the turnover of the old management that perhaps was the reason for unionization in the first place.”

“In this case the fundamental injustice of the ‘successor bar’ is compounded by the fact that one arm of the federal government – the Department of Justice – demanded the sale of this facility, which another federal agency – the NLRB – says should be grounds for blocking workers from ejecting a union they overwhelmingly oppose,” Mix continued. “Foundation attorneys will fight for Mr. Atkins and his coworkers until they can exercise their right to eject this unpopular union.”

Reforms backed by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys make it easier for workers nationwide to boot unions they no longer want

Washington, DC (March 3, 2022) – With free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, employees in Michigan and Arkansas have freed themselves from unwanted union control in their workplaces.

In votes tallied on March 2, LaRon Matlock and his fellow industrial cleaning workers at PowerVac near Detroit, MI, and Cory Smith and his coworkers at chemical company Evonik-Porocel in Little Rock, AR, successfully voted to remove (or “decertify”) International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 324 and Teamsters Local 878 union bosses, respectively.

Foundation staff attorneys provided the workers free representation in exercising their right to hold votes whether to remove the unions. The elections were conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law and adjudicating disputes among unions, private sector employers, and individual employees. Matlock and his PowerVac colleagues booted IUOE officials by a whopping 18-3 margin, while Smith and his coworkers at Evonik-Porocel voted 26-5 to remove Teamsters officials.

For more than a year, workers have been enjoying an easier pathway to exercising their right to remove unwanted union officials. The NLRB in Washington, DC, in July 2020 enacted new rules governing decertification elections which, drawing from comments Foundation attorneys submitted to the agency earlier the same year, now forbid union officials and their lawyers from indefinitely stalling worker-requested votes based on so-called “blocking charges.” Such charges are usually allegations against an employer that are unproven and unrelated to workers’ desire to oust union officials, but were filed simply to delay decertification elections.

Matlock and his Detroit-area coworkers’ ouster of IUOE Local 324 officials is particularly notable as officials of the same union local are viciously fighting a Foundation-backed decertification effort from Rieth-Riley Construction Company employee Rayalan Kent and his coworkers. Kent submitted a petition for a decertification election in August 2020 signed by his colleagues, but IUOE officials tried to avert the vote by levying “blocking charges” against the company.

Even though the Foundation-backed “blocking charge” reforms should have rendered IUOE officials’ stall tactics invalid, an NLRB Regional Director nevertheless blocked the vote at IUOE bosses’ behest. While a Foundation-supported appeal to the NLRB in Washington, DC, is pending in Kent’s case, IUOE officials are still imposing a years-long strike order on Rieth-Riley workers. Multiple workers have charged union officials with illegal dues practices and other malfeasance.

Teamsters officials, who were just dismissed by Smith and his colleagues at Evonik-Porocel, have been frequent targets of Foundation-assisted workers in recent months. In just the past year, Rush University maintenance workers in Chicago, Frito-Lay salesmen in Del Rio, TX, Allied Central Coast truckers in Santa Maria, CA, XPO Logistics workers in Cinnaminson, NJ, and Blish-Mize hardware distribution employees in Atchison, KS, all voted, with Foundation legal assistance, to decertify unpopular Teamsters local unions.

The spurt of worker-led decertifications comes as federal government officials, especially Biden-appointed NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, are pushing to give union officials radically increased power to install themselves in workplaces and remain in power even over worker opposition.

Abruzzo revealed in a memo released shortly after assuming office that she would take steps toward eliminating secret-ballot worker votes as the primary method of certifying a union in favor of “card checks.” The “card check” process lets union officials use intimidation and misinformation to get workers to sign “union cards” that supposedly indicate support for a union. The same memo suggested Abruzzo favors overturning, among other Board precedents, a 2019 decision making it easier for workers to escape union ranks when a clear majority opposes unionization.

“The Foundation is proud to help workers across the country, including Mr. Matlock and Mr. Smith, just get a vote on whether union officials deserve to remain in power at their jobs,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Unfortunately, it is increasingly apparent that the Biden NLRB, and in particular GC Abruzzo, have every intention of reducing the rights of independent-minded workers by making it easier for union bosses to add workers to union ranks while limiting workers’ ability to escape them.”

“The NLRB should not neglect its mandate to protect the free choice rights of workers, and Foundation attorneys will always assist workers in resisting union attempts to undermine those rights,” Mix added.

Settlement forces union officials to refund thousands to Savage Services employees, declare they won’t threaten those who refuse union membership

Los Angeles, CA (February 24, 2022) – Long Beach-area Savage Services employee Nelson Medina has won a settlement ordering Teamsters Local 848 union officials to pay back thousands of dollars in illegal dues they seized from about 60 of his coworkers who objected to union membership and to funding the union’s political activity. The settlement, won with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, was approved by National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 21 on February 14.

Because California lacks Right to Work protections, even private sector workers who oppose a union’s presence in their workplace can be required to pay union dues or fees to keep their jobs. However, under the Foundation-won CWA v. Beck U.S. Supreme Court decision, union officials can never require nonmembers to subsidize union political activity. Right to Work protections in 27 states so far ensure union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.

Medina originally filed charges against Teamsters officials for illegal dues practices back in September 2021. The charges stated that he had sent Teamsters officials a letter on August 15 exercising his right to reject formal union membership. About a month after that letter, the charge noted, union officials informed Savage Services management by mail that if Medina and 12 fellow employees did not complete membership applications and pay full dues for the month of September, the employer should terminate the employees before September’s final week.

Medina’s August 2021 letter also demanded that union officials provide him his legal rights as a nonmember under the Foundation-won Beck Supreme Court decision. In addition to allowing workers to opt-out of funding union politics and other expenditures unrelated to the union’s bargaining functions, Beck also entitles nonmember workers to union financial disclosures.

The settlement, in addition to requiring Teamsters bosses to return nearly $6,000 in illegally taken dues to Savage Services employees, also mandates that union officials post a notice in the workplace. The notice declares that the union “will not fail to provide non-member employees with a breakdown of dues and fees required for Beck objectors upon request,” and that union bosses “will not threaten employees who have raised Beck objections with termination for failing to complete a union application as a condition of employment.”

“That Teamsters Local 848 officials illegally siphoned money for politics from almost 60 Savage Services employees and threatened termination of those who dared to stand up for their rights demonstrates clearly that they prioritize power far above the employees they claim to ‘represent,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Based on the sheer number of employees in Medina’s workplace who are receiving refunds as the result of this settlement, Teamsters officials apparently played fast and loose with the rights of all workers who objected to their agenda.”

“We will continue to stand by Medina in his struggle to ensure that Teamsters bosses’ coercive tricks do not subvert his and his fellow employees’ will and rights,” Mix added.

Last September, Foundation staff attorneys also aided Ventura, CA, Airgas employees in removing Teamsters Local 848 from their facility. After litigation that had lasted almost a year, as well as two submissions of petitions demonstrating a majority of workers at the plant wanted the Teamsters gone, union officials finally departed the plant. They did so just before the NLRB was slated to conduct a vote whether to remove the union at the plant, likely leaving to preempt an embarrassing rejection by the workers.