Workers in Michigan, Arkansas Vote to Free Themselves from Unpopular Unions
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.
Busted: Teacher Union Bosses Caught Illegally Seizing Dues from California Charter School Educator
Faced with potential legal action from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, CTA union officials quickly backed down
LOS ANGELES, CA (March 1, 2022) – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a former teacher at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy in Los Angeles, California has received a refund of illegally seized union dues. The refund came after Foundation staff attorneys sent a letter to officials with the Camino Nuevo Teachers Association (CNTA), an affiliate of California Teachers Association (CTA), threatening legal action for violating the teacher’s First Amendment rights.
In the Foundation-argued Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court case, the Court recognized that forcing public sector workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment violates the First Amendment. The Justices also ruled that public employees must opt in with affirmative consent to any union payments before money can be taken from their paycheck.
Natalie Bahl, who was a teacher at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy up until recently, attempted to exercise her rights under the Janus decision. Ms. Bahl notified the union of her decision in a mass email to several union officials, which reportedly also prompted other teachers to make similar requests. Her email was sent before the union-designated “window period” closed for teachers to revoke their authorization for deducting union dues.
Despite the timely request, Ms. Bahl realized a few months later that union dues were still being deducted from her paycheck. When she asked union officials about it, they suddenly claimed she missed her window period for dues revocation.
At that point, Ms. Bahl reached out to National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys who sent a letter demanding a refund of union dues collected in violation of the Janus precedent. Rather than face a potential federal civil rights lawsuit, CNTA union officials refunded all dues taken from Bahl from the time of her request until she left the school’s employment to further pursue her own education.
Since winning the 2018 Janus Supreme Court decision, Foundation staff attorneys have filed dozens of cases across the country for public employees seeking to enforce their First Amendment rights under the Janus decision.
“Even when public employees comply with arbitrary and unilaterally imposed union policies designed to stifle their First Amendment rights, union officials brazenly ignore Janus in order to fill their coffers with union dues seized from unwilling employees,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Teachers and other public-sector workers have Janus rights under the First Amendment and should immediately contact the Foundation for free legal assistance if they believe their rights have been violated.”
Teamsters Union Bosses Back Down, Return Dues Illegally Seized for Politics to Long Beach Savage Services Workers
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.
Worker Advocate Files Brief Defending North Carolina Law to Strengthen Farm Workers’ Right to Work Protections
National Right to Work Foundation Legal Brief Counters Farm Union Bosses’ Case Seeking Power to Impose Union, Top Down, via Lawsuits
Richmond, VA (February 24, 2022) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has filed an amicus curiae brief with the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Farm Workers Organizing Committee v. Joshua Stein. This is a federal case brought by union officials seeking the power to impose monopoly union power and union dues deductions on agricultural workers and employers.
The brief defends a 2017 North Carolina law that bolsters farm workers’ Right to Work protections under the state’s longstanding and popular law. The 2017 law was passed to protect workers from having union monopoly representation foisted on them as a result of union-instigated lawsuits. The 2017 North Carolina law protects workers from union monopoly representation, the law also prevents union bosses from gaining the power to have union dues automatically deducted from agricultural workers’ paychecks.
Although they are private sector employees, agricultural workers are not covered by the National Relations Labor Act, which covers most private sector employees across the country. The Foundation brief argues this gives North Carolina the legal authority to prohibit union dues payroll deductions as a means of strengthening the existing protections of the state’s Right to Work law, which applies to agricultural workers in addition to those under NLRB jurisdiction.
The brief cites the fact that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals specifically rejected the argument that union officials have a right to payroll deduction in South Carolina Education Association v. Campbell. It also points out that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected union arguments that they had a right to payroll deductions for union political activities in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association.
The Foundation brief notes the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) has “no more constitutional entitlement to have agricultural employers collect money for it than FLOC has a constitutional entitlement to having the state act as its collection agent.”
The Foundation brief further notes it is “well-established that prohibitions on collective bargaining do not infringe on union constitutional rights because unions have no constitutional entitlement to act as a monopoly bargaining representative.” It follows that North Carolina is well within its authority to protect workers and employers from being subjected to such monopoly “representation” through the misuse of litigation designed to sweep farmworkers under union control.
“Apparently union bosses have become so accustomed to their government-granted monopoly bargaining powers that they believe, incredibly, that the United States Constitution entitles them to impose monopoly unionization on workers unilaterally,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Although farm workers, like others, can of course associate with a union if they choose, FLOC union bosses should not be able to abuse the legal process to impose unionization on employees against their will.”
“It is entirely appropriate for North Carolina to protect agricultural workers against having a union imposed on them against their will,” added Mix. “Union association must be fully voluntary, not the result of backroom dealing in lawsuits by union officials designed to force a union on workers from the top down.”
Penske Truck Leasing Workers Petition To Remove Unpopular Teamsters Officials from Workplace
All but one worker sign petition seeking vote to remove union officials
BLOOMINGTON, IN (February 16, 2022) – Mechanics and customer service employees at Penske Truck Leasing in Bloomington, Indiana have filed a petition seeking the removal of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 135 from their workplace. The workers’ decertification petition was filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 25 office in Indianapolis, Indiana with free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
Penske Truck Leasing employee Steven Stuttle filed the decertification petition for his coworkers who want to oust the unpopular union. Thirty percent of workers’ signatures are needed to trigger a NLRB-conducted secret ballot vote to remove the union. This request was signed by all but one of the workers in the bargaining unit.
Indiana is a Right to Work state, meaning workers cannot legally be required to join or pay money to a union as a condition of keeping their jobs. However, federal law permits workers to be forced under one-size-fits-all union monopoly “representation,” even nonmembers opposed to the union. If the workers’ decertification effort is successful, Teamsters union officials will be stripped of their monopoly “representation” powers.
National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have recently assisted workers in numerous successful decertification efforts across the nation, including for workers in Oklahoma, Illinois, and Delaware. Foundation-backed reforms to the rules for decertification elections that the NLRB adopted in 2020 have curtailed union officials’ abuse of so-called “blocking charges” to delay or block workers from exercising their right to decertify a union. Such charges are often based on unproven allegations made against an employer, completely unrelated to workers’ desire to free themselves of the union.
“If Teamsters union officials don’t take a hint and leave, the NLRB must promptly schedule a vote and allow Penske Truck Leasing employees to exercise their right to remove unwanted union officials,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “These workers are sending an overwhelming message that the Teamsters bosses are not Penske material.”
Chicago-area Firefighters Defend Right to Vote Out Unpopular Union from Spurious Union Boss Allegations
SEIU officials spin phony narrative about Village of Carpentersville officials to get state labor board to block employee election to remove union
Chicago, IL (February 11, 2022) – Village of Carpentersville firefighter Nick Salzmann is appealing an order by the executive director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board (ILRB) that blocks his and his coworkers’ right to remove unwanted union officials from their workplace. Salzmann, who filed a petition signed by his coworkers asking the ILRB to administer a vote among his colleagues whether to boot out Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 bosses, is receiving free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys.
The ILRB is the Illinois state agency responsible for adjudicating workplace disputes among union officials, Illinois government agencies, and Illinois public employees. SEIU union officials filed so-called “blocking charges” in an attempt to stop the employee-requested vote, arguing that various allegations they are making against Carpentersville government officials should block Salzmann and his colleagues’ effort to oust the union.
While the ILRB executive director delayed the election at the union bosses’ behest, Salzmann’s appeal exposes numerous errors with the basis for that decision and uncovers an ongoing campaign by union officials to stop the decertification attempt.
Salzmann’s appeal brief reveals that, even though SEIU union lawyers convinced the ILRB that Carpentersville officials were not following proper bargaining procedures, in reality “the Union walked from the bargaining table twice.” Furthermore, the brief maintains that “the union walked away from the bargaining table twice when the Employer could not guarantee that the decertification process would not proceed,” a sign that SEIU bosses wanted Carpentersville officials to assist the union in quashing the employee-led decertification effort. According to the brief, approximately 80% of the firefighters favor decertifying the union.
The brief also states that “the Union amended the charges, changing from an ‘impacts and effect’ charge to a ‘failure to bargain’ charge,” a strong suggestion that union lawyers can’t demonstrate any connection between Salzmann and his coworkers’ desire to eliminate the union and anything Carpentersville officials did.
Finally, Salzmann’s brief contends that the SEIU bosses’ actions disturbed the “laboratory conditions” that should be present for any decertification election. It states that the “Union’s efforts to compel [the firefighters] to abandon their claim, including telling them they had proceeded improperly in their effort,” along with the union bosses’ willful departures from the bargaining table “caused the factual scenario” that led to the union’s charge.
“Despite the clearly misguided ILRB Executive Director’s order blocking the election, evidence is rapidly emerging about the tall tale SEIU bosses spun to avoid facing a vote of the rank-and-file workers they claim to ‘represent,’” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “That union officials created the very circumstances that they are decrying in their so-called ‘blocking charges’ against Carpentersville officials is ridiculous. But the real injustice is that the ILRB is allowing union officials to abuse the process to stifle the will of the overwhelming majority of these firefighters, who support decertifying the union.”
Elsewhere in Illinois, Foundation staff attorneys are aiding Galesburg paramedics and EMTs in their effort to decertify an unwanted Teamsters union in their workplace. If successful, the effort would be the latest of several efficacious Foundation-backed employee removals of Teamsters officials in the past year.
White Plains Hospital Workers Seek Vote to Remove Unpopular SEIU 1199 Union from Workplace
Federal law gives rank-and-file workers the right to vote to free themselves from unwanted union “representation”
WHITE PLAINS, NY (February 10, 2022) – Healthcare workers at the White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York have filed a petition seeking the removal of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1199 union from their workplace. The workers’ decertification petition was filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 2 office in New York, NY with free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
White Plains Hospital Certified Surgical Technologist Yanilda Robinson filed the decertification petition for her coworkers who want to oust the unpopular union. The request seeking to end SEIU union officials’ monopoly bargaining powers at White Plains Hospital was signed by enough workers in the bargaining unit to trigger a NLRB-conducted secret ballot vote to remove the union.
New York is not a Right to Work state, meaning workers can legally be required to join or pay dues/ fees to a union as a condition of keeping their jobs. If the workers’ vote is successful, SEIU union officials will be stripped of their monopoly “representation” powers.
National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have recently assisted workers in numerous successful decertification efforts across the nation, including for workers in Kansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Delaware. Reforms to the rules for decertification elections that the NLRB adopted in 2020 have curtailed union officials’ abuse of so-called “blocking charges” to delay or block workers from exercising their right to decertify a union. Such charges are often based on unproven allegations made against an employer, often completely unrelated to workers’ desire to free themselves of the union.
“These healthcare workers have bravely worked over the past two years under exceptionally challenging circumstances. We should honor that devotion by respecting their right to remove an unwanted union from their workplace,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “We hope the NLRB will promptly schedule a vote and not allow SEIU officials to engage in legal trickery to delay the decertification election these hospital workers have requested.”
Missouri Hospital Staff’s Decision to Remove SEIU Stands, NLRB Director Tosses Union Objections
SEIU officials attempted to overturn the result of an August 2021 decertification election at Research Medical Center
Kansas City, MO (February 9, 2022) – Hospital workers at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, are now free from control by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Kelly Pirman, an imaging technologist at the hospital, petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a union decertification election.
In a news release following the vote Pirman said: “The SEIU has not represented us fairly, nor provided us the value they claim.” Many of Pirman’s coworkers agreed that they no longer wanted SEIU officials’ so-called representation, and Pirman collected enough of their signatures to trigger an NLRB-supervised decertification election. In June 2021, the NLRB announced that the hospital workers voted 203-171 in favor of removing the union.
Despite losing the election, SEIU officials didn’t give up their monopoly bargaining privileges over the hospital staff. Instead, they filed objections to the result with the NLRB. Though the objections concerned only the hospital’s conduct, SEIU lawyers argued the workers’ choice to remove the union should be overturned.
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys submitted a position paper for Pirman, contending the union officials’ objections were not sufficient reason to overturn the election. NLRB Region 13 Director Andrea Wilkes agreed, and on February 8th, 2022, overruled all of the union’s objections. Wilkes certified the decertification election’s results, freeing Pirman and her coworkers at Research Medical Center from SEIU control.
“Although we are pleased that the Regional Director rejected SEIU bosses’ cynical attempt to maintain power over Research Medical Center workers, it shouldn’t take months of legal proceedings to stop union bosses from overturning the results of the vote the union lost,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Unfortunately, because Missouri workers lack the protection of a Right to Work law, union officials are incentivized to fight to keep unwilling workers under their thumbs, knowing that as long as they remain in power they can force every worker to pay up or be fired.”
“No worker should be forced under a union monopoly they oppose. Missouri can begin to address that injustice by at least protecting workers against being forced to subsidize unwanted representation by passing a Right to Work law to make union financial support strictly voluntary,” added Mix.
Federal Charge: IAM Union Bosses Illegally Demanded Mechanic Join Union, Caused Firing When He Refused Unlawful Demand
Robert Basil Buick GMC also hit with charge for carrying out illegal union threat by firing worker just days later
Buffalo, NY (February 7, 2022) – Remmington Duk, who recently worked as a mechanic at the Robert Basil Buick GMC dealership in Orchard Park, has filed federal charges against the International Association of Mechanics (IAM) Lodge 447 union and the dealership. Duk’s charges say that IAM agents illegally threatened to have him fired in October 2021 because he exercised his right not to be a union member, and that Robert Basil officials followed through on this threat at IAM officials’ behest and terminated Duk less than a week later. Duk is receiving free legal representation from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Duk’s charges were submitted on January 31 to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law and adjudicating disputes among employers, unions, and individual employees. The charges state that on October 7, 2021 an IAM official demanded Duk sign paperwork authorizing union membership and dues deductions from his paycheck, threatening that Duk would be fired if he declined. Duk did not sign, and Robert Basil Buick GMC terminated him on October 12, 2021.
The charges contend that both practices are unlawful under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which safeguards private sector employees’ right to abstain from any or all union activities. However, because New York lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector employees, even if private sector employees such as Duk abstain from union membership they can still be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of keeping their jobs. In the 27 states with Right to Work protections, union membership and dues payments are strictly voluntary.
Under the Foundation-won 1988 CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision, private sector employees who refuse union membership in non-Right to Work states can never be forced to subsidize the political activities of a union they don’t support. In nearby Rochester, Foundation staff attorneys just won a settlement for a General Motors worker who charged United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials with illegally seizing dues for politics from his wages even after repeated demands that they respect his Beck rights. UAW officials have now been forced to refund all monies they took from him in violation of Beck.
“Union bosses threatening people’s jobs and livelihoods is no way to gain the support of the workers they claim to ‘represent,’” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “IAM union bosses’ willingness to violate longstanding law shows why all workers need the protection of a Right to Work law. In addition to formal union membership, financial support for a union should also be voluntary and the choice of each individual worker.”
“As AFL-CIO founder Samuel Gompers declared in one of his final speeches, voluntarism, not force, should be the bedrock for building union support,” Mix added.
MNA Union Officials Admit to Illegal Dues Demands in the Face of St. Vincent Hospital Nurse’s Federal Charges
Hundreds of nurses reportedly receive letters from union claiming clearly illegal requests for dues payments were “oversight”
Worcester, MA (February 4, 2022) – After a National Right to Work Foundation-assisted nurse at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester filed federal charges against the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) union for demanding illegal retroactive dues, union officials scrambled to send letters to hundreds of St. Vincent Hospital nurses confessing “error.” The MNA thus effectively admitted to being caught red-handed demanding dues payments for periods when the nurses owed no compulsory dues, claiming that the “billing/renewal notices were recently mailed in error.”
The news comes just ahead of an employee-requested election on whether MNA union officials should stay in power at the facility. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is sending ballots via mail to St. Vincent Hospital nurses today, and expects to count the ballots on February 28. St. Vincent nurse Richard Avola submitted a petition to the NLRB in January demonstrating that hundreds of his coworkers requested such a vote to oust the MNA. The petition follows the conclusion of a 300+ day MNA-ordered strike that divided the hospital and the community and sparked multiple reports of bullying and harassment of nurses by union agents.
Regina Renaud, the St. Vincent nurse who charged the MNA with making illegal dues demands, reported in January that she had received a bill from union officials demanding that she pay dues retroactive to November 1, 2021. That includes a period during the strike when no compulsory dues contract was in effect. Her charge noted that “as a matter of law [she] and other similarly situated employees owed no dues or fees to the MNA,” because there was a strike and contract hiatus. Renaud is not a member of the MNA.
Despite MNA bosses telling media outlets that Renaud’s unfair labor practice charge has “no validity,” hundreds of St. Vincent Hospital nurses are now reporting getting letters from MNA officials rescinding all demands for dues payments for the strike period. MNA’s letters are dated January 12, one day after Renaud filed her charge with the NLRB. The MNA’s “error” letters note that while the union is scurrying to “clean up” its billing records, nurses may receive additional unlawful demands for dues payments because those bills “may slip past our filters and be mailed.”
“MNA union bosses were caught red-handed making illegal demands for retroactive dues. While they told media outlets the unfair labor practice charges were meritless, their own actions show a desperate attempt to cover up their violation of nurses’ rights under federal labor law,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Given MNA union officials’ demonstrated willingness to play fast and loose with the legal rights of those they claim to ‘represent,’ St. Vincent nurses should stay vigilant about further union misrepresentations and excessive dues demands, especially as they now consider whether to remove the union from their workplace.”
“As St. Vincent nurses make their voices heard in the decertification election, they should know they can contact the Foundation for free legal aid if union agents attempt to silence or overbill nurses opposed to unionization, or interfere with their right to vote,” Mix added.
