SEIU officials violate workers’ rights by demanding that non-members annually object to full union dues and by charging for organizing expenditures

Seattle, Washington (June 13, 2018) – Hospital employees at Kaiser Permanente filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 NW stating that union officials are violating their right to refrain from paying for union political activity. The charges were filed with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and Freedom Foundation attorneys.

Sarina Forbes and Susan Rahn filed their charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 19 office in Seattle. The charges state that SEIU officials are unlawfully requiring them to annually renew their objections to paying full union dues and illegally demanding forced dues for activities that cannot legally be charged.

Neither Forbes nor Rahn is an SEIU member. Because Washington lacks a Right to Work law, non-members can be required to pay some fees to union officials as a condition of employment. However, workers cannot be required to fund activities unrelated to union bargaining, such as political action, lobbying, or organizing.

Forbes and Rahn exercised their right to object to paying full union dues and funding union activities beyond what can be legally demanded. However, SEIU union officials require them to annually renew their objections. Under the scheme, if workers do not annually renew their objections, the union reverts to seizing full dues.

In their charges, Forbes and Rahn also claim that SEIU is illegally charging non-members for organizing expenditures, including organizing employees in other bargaining units and industries.

To protect their rights, Forbes and Rahn turned to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the Freedom Foundation for free legal representation. The NLRB will now investigate the charges.

Two National Right to Work Foundation-won Supreme Court decisions (Ellis in 1984 and Beck in 1988) provide some limited protection by holding that workers cannot be forced to pay union dues for certain union activity, including organizing. Further, in several cases the NLRB has ruled it unlawful for union officials to require non-members to annually renew their objections to paying full union dues.

“Forbes and Rahn both chose to hold SEIU officials accountable for their illegal demands on their hard-earned money, but stronger legal protections are critical for the future of Washington’s independent-minded workers,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Union bosses incessantly abuse their forced-fees privileges at the expense of the employees they claim to represent. This case underscores the need for Washington to pass a Right to Work law making union affiliation and financial support completely voluntary.”

Washington, D.C. (June 15, 2018) – Today a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected the Obama National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) opinion that union officials’ forced dues threats did not violate the rights of Hawaii hotel workers.

The case was brought by several nonmember employees at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Hawaii who received a letter from union officials demanding payment of dues for which the union had no legal claim, and threating that failure to pay would result in the money being deducted from future paychecks. In fact, the union did have the money illegally deducted.

The workers filed unfair labor practice charges with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. After the Obama NLRB asserted that the union’s demand letter was a “mistake” and therefore not illegal, Foundation staff attorneys appealed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and argued the case before a three judge panel.

Today, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals strongly rejected the NLRB’s decision as “legally unsupportable” and remanded the case back to the NLRB with orders to reconsider the decision.

National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens issued the following statement about today’s decision:

“This is an important victory against the type of coercion that independent-minded employees are all too frequently subjected to by union bosses. While it’s unfortunate that it has taken so long, we are pleased that these Foundation-aided workers are now a step closer to getting justice that the Obama Labor Board attempted to deny them.”

“The total rejection by this unanimous Appeals Court panel of NLRB Member Pearce’s majority opinion that defended blatantly unlawful union demands for payment is evidence of just how radical the Obama NLRB was when it came to allowing union officials to trample the rights of workers who don’t want to associate with a union.”

Washington, D.C. (June 22, 2018) – In a decision issued Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board has found that Teamsters union officials violated workers’ rights by “repeatedly and deliberately” failing to honor the workers’ requests that deduction of union dues from their wages stop. The ruling affects thousands of workers whose rights were similarly violated by Teamsters officials.

The case was brought by several employees at Walt Disney World and United Parcel Service (UPS) in Florida. These workers each resigned from their membership in Teamsters Local 385 and revoked their authorization for union officials to charge dues.

However, Teamsters Local 385 union officials ignored the workers’ requests to stop collecting dues. Instead, union officials delayed months, until the window periods for withdrawing dues deduction authorization had expired, before responding that the workers had to continue to pay dues until the next window period.

The workers sought free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in filing charges. The NLRB has ruled that Teamsters Local 385 officials violated the employees’ rights by failing to honor their requests to resign membership and stop paying union dues, and ordered the union to refund the union dues that were illegally charged during the period the Teamsters had ignored the workers’ requests.

Moreover, the Board majority recognized that the workers who were affected by the union officials’ practice of delaying action on requests to stop dues deductions “number in the thousands and are spread across central Florida.” Consequently, Teamsters Local 385 was ordered to notify all represented Disney and UPS employees of the Board’s decision by mail as well as by a posted notice.

National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens issued the following statement about today’s decision:

“This ruling is an important victory for workers over scofflaw Teamsters officials who, as the Board found, repeatedly and deliberately violated the rights of the very workers they purport to ‘represent.’ Despite what union bosses may wish, federal labor law permits workers to resign from union membership and Florida’s Right to Work law means that workers in the state have the right to cut off financial support for a union completely. That the Board majority agreed with the Administrative Law Judge that the union be required to notify the thousands of affected employees through a mailing, rather than just a notice posting, is further evidence of the widespread infringement of workers’ rights by these Teamsters officials.

To read about other cases in which Teamsters Local 385 union officials ignored requests to withdraw union membership and cease paying union dues until the workers turned to Foundation staff attorneys for free legal aid, see the following Foundation news releases:

• Walt Disney World Employees Win Ruling Against Teamsters Union for Illegally Blocking Workers from Resigning
• Teamster Union Faces Another Federal Charge for Violating a Disney Company Driver’s Rights
• Disney Company Driver Files Federal Charge Against Teamsters Union Officials for Ignoring His Rights

Washington, DC (June 28, 2018) – This morning the U.S. Supreme Court granted, vacated, and remanded Riffey v. Rauner, asking the Court of Appeals to reconsider the case in light of the new precedent set in the National Right to Work Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME decision. A group of Illinois home care providers filed Riffey with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The case seeks the return of over $32 million in fees seized by SEIU union officials in a scheme declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Riffey v. Rauner is a continuation of the 2014 Foundation-won Supreme Court Harris v. Quinn case. In Harris, the Court ruled that a forced dues scheme imposed by the state of Illinois, in which over 80,000 individual homecare providers in Illinois were unionized and thus required to pay union fees, violated the First Amendment.

In 2014, the case was re-designated Riffey v. Rauner and remanded to the District Court to settle remaining issues, including whether or not tens of thousands of providers who had never joined the union would receive refunds of the money taken from them unlawfully by the SEIU. In June 2016, the District Court ruled that, despite the Supreme Court ruling in Harris, the SEIU did not have to repay the funds. Foundation staff attorneys appealed that ruling to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals affirmed, claiming that, even though these workers never consented to their money being taken for forced dues, they did not suffer First Amendment injury.

Foundation staff attorneys earlier this year asked the Supreme Court to grant certiorari and hear the case to clarify that it is a violation of the First Amendment when fees are taken from nonmembers without their consent. After the Court released its ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, declaring it a First Amendment violation for public sector workers to be required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment, the Court granted certiorari in Riffey, vacated the lower court’s ruling, and remanded the case back to the Court of Appeals.

“With the Supreme Court remanding Riffey, we are one step closer toward vindicating the rights of the tens of thousands of victims, many whom are family members caring for disabled children in their own homes,” commented National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “The Supreme Court already ruled in the Foundation’s 2014 Harris v. Quinn case that the scheme violated the First Amendment. It is long past time that the over $32 million illegally seized by SEIU union bosses be returned.”

“Now, with the new protections for workers afforded by our landmark Janus v. AFSCME victory, it is critical to establish that unions cannot require individuals to ‘opt out’ of union dues that they cannot be required to pay in the first place,” continued Mix. “Union officials are already using such ‘opt-out’ schemes nationwide to limit workers’ constitutional protections. Ultimately, a clear ruling by the Supreme Court on this issue is needed to ensure that individuals who never joined a union cannot be required to take affirmative steps simply to protect their First Amendment rights.”

Worker’s labor board charges say union and company violating the law to impose unionization, ask for secret ballot vote to remove union

Seattle, WA (July 5, 2018) – Today, housekeepers at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Seattle, Washington filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) asking for a decertification vote to remove the UNITE HERE Local 8 union from their workplace. The union was installed through an abuse-prone “card check” drive, which bypasses an NLRB-supervised secret ballot election. The petition was filed with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

In a card check drive, union organizers can pressure, intimidate or mislead workers into signing cards, which then are counted as “votes” in favor of unionization. In the case of the UNITE HERE card check at Embassy Suites Seattle, company officials created further pressure by assisting union organizers in collecting cards before utilizing them to install the union as the workers’ monopoly bargaining “representative.” Because the state of Washington lacks a Right to Work law, even workers who choose not to be voluntary union members can be forced to pay dues or fees to union officials, or else be fired.

Foundation staff attorneys also filed federal unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB against the union and hotel management for housekeeper Gladys Bryant, who helped lead the drive to remove UNITE HERE.

Her charge against the union states that union officials illegally misled her about how to revoke the card union organizers had her sign. After learning more about the union’s activities and deciding she did not want UNITE HERE in her workplace, she asked a union agent how to withdraw her support. Contrary to the law, she was told she would need to drive to the union hall to revoke. When she did drive hours to demand her card in person, union officials had locked her out.

Bryant’s charge against the company alleges that hotel management violated federal labor law by assisting UNITE HERE with the card check campaign. That assistance included granting union organizers access to the workplace, turning over employees’ personal information to union organizers, and agreeing to silence any opposition to unionization from managers.

The charges ask the NLRB to either invalidate the card check unionization due to illegal conduct, or hold a decertification election to let the workers vote out the union they oppose. If the NLRB Regional Director applies the controversial Obama Labor Board decision Lamons Gasket to block the workers from holding a secret ballot vote to remove the union, Foundation staff attorneys will appeal and ask the newly composed five-member Board to overturn the decision, which prevents votes for one year after a card check recognition.

“This situation demonstrates the coercive, and often collusive, environment that accompanies a card check campaign, and demonstrates why the new Trump Labor Board should promptly abandon the disastrous Lamons Gasket decision, which locks workers into forced dues ranks even when a majority opposes a union,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation.

“This case uniquely spotlights one of the many double standards in federal labor law, which rigs the system in favor of forced unionism,” added Mix. “Although past Labor Boards have frequently declined to prosecute companies for assistance given to union organizers, they would prosecute the company for giving exactly the same type of assistance to workers seeking to remove a union. It is long past time this inequity in enforcement be eliminated.”

SEIU officials forced to settle federal lawsuit and return nearly $3,000 in illegal forced fees as a result of Foundation-won Janus precedent

Eugene, OR (July 30, 2018) – A federal First Amendment lawsuit brought by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys and the Gibson Law Firm for Oregon public employee Debora Nearman against Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 has ended with a settlement agreement that will return nearly $3,000 in forced dues to Nearman. The refund represents the first return of forced fees as a result of the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME decision, which held that the First Amendment prohibits mandatory union fees.

Nearman, an employee at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, filed the lawsuit in April challenging the constitutionality of mandatory union fees as a condition of government employment. After the Janus decision was issued, the writing was on the wall for SEIU officials, who quickly moved to settle the case and return more than two years of forced fees to Nearman.

In her complaint, Nearman objected to being required to financially support and associate with SEIU Local 503 because the organization actively opposes her personal views, including her religious beliefs and her husband’s public service.

In the 2016 general election, Nearman’s husband, Mike Nearman, successfully ran for State Representative in the Oregon Legislature. During the campaign, the SEIU local union that she was forced to fund spent over $53,000 to run an aggressive campaign against him, including distributing disparaging fliers. Additionally, the complaint noted that the SEIU hierarchy takes positions on political issues that conflict with Nearman’s sincerely held religious beliefs.

The Foundation-won Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME decision in June overturned the erroneous 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education that public-sector workers could be compelled as a condition of employment to pay union fees for bargaining-related purposes. In Janus, the Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to require government workers to pay any union dues and fees as a condition of employment. Additionally, the Court clarified that no union dues or fees can be taken from workers without their affirmative consent and knowing waiver of their First Amendment right not to financially support a labor union.

SEIU officials will return to Nearman over two years of forced fees amounting to nearly $3,000. They also will not collect any dues or fees from Nearman’s future wages unless she affirmatively chooses to become a member of SEIU and authorizes such deductions. In compliance with Janus, SEIU Local 503 and the state of Oregon have also removed their forced fees provision from their collective bargaining agreement.

“This is a great example for the countless public-sector workers across the country who seek to have their First Amendment rights respected in light of the Foundation’s Janus Supreme Court victory,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Nearman’s refund represents the first of what should ultimately be hundreds of millions of dollars or even more returned to public employees for union fees seized from them in violation of the First Amendment.”

The Foundation has created a special website, MyJanusRights.org, to assist public employees in exercising their rights under Janus, which was successfully argued by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorney William Messenger.

Washington, DC (August 13, 2018) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has today submitted formal comments to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) in support of the agency’s proposed rule to clarify that the diversion of Medicaid payments from providers to third parties, including unions, violates federal law.

The Foundation’s comments demonstrate how schemes enacted by roughly a dozen states have resulted in well over $100 million per year being diverted from health-care providers to union officials, in violation of federal law. The comments call on CMS to finalize a rule that definitively states that siphoning off union dues or fees from taxpayer-funded payments intended for healthcare providers violates the prohibition on assigning benefits to third parties under Section 1396a(a)(32) of the federal Medicaid statute.

As a gift to the Obama Administration’s political backers, in 2014 that administration promulgated a new regulation to give legal cover to ongoing schemes by the SEIU and other unions that have to date siphoned off over $1 billion in Medicaid funds. However, as the Foundation’s comments to CMS point out, agency rules cannot conflict with the underlying statute, which is why CMS should both repeal the Obama rule and replace it with explicit language to give states notice that continuing to divert payments puts their Medicaid funding at risk.

National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix issued the following statement about the filing of those comments in response to the CMS rulemaking notice:

“It is long past time that this outrageous attempt to create another exemption in federal law for union officials be ended. We encourage the CMS to expeditiously issue a final rule to stop the illegal siphoning off of funds from Medicaid providers. Despite the wishes of the politicians they back, union officials are not exempt from federal law. All the current proposed rule change would do is close the illegal loophole the Obama Administration attempted to create.

“Our 2014 National Right to Work Foundation-won 2014 Harris decision made it illegal for states to require these providers pay fees to union officials, but the current scheme to deduct union fees from Medicaid payments is part of union bosses’ attempts to undermine that ruling. Nothing in the proposed CMS rule would stop providers from sending truly voluntary dues to union officials with a check or credit card each month. It would merely stop union bosses from using public payment systems to intercept tax dollars intended for providers caring for those in need.”

Background: The 2014 Foundation-won Harris v. Quinn Supreme Court decision held that it is unconstitutional for states to force home care providers paid through Medicaid programs to pay union fees. That case still continues as 80,000 providers seek the return of over $30 million in funds seized from them in violation of their First Amendment rights.

Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, the illegal dues skim has not stopped. That is why in 2017 the National Right to Work Foundation sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services to bring their attention to this issue. Additionally, Foundation President Mix personally raised the issue with Trump Administration officials at the White House earlier this year.

Class of 5,000 workers seeks refund of millions of dollars in fees seized by SEIU officials in violation of Supreme Court’s Janus precedent

San Jose, CA (August 16, 2018) – National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys have filed a federal class action lawsuit for a California state employee to reclaim union fees SEIU officials unconstitutionally seized from him and thousands of similarly situated employees. The class action complaint potentially includes approximately 5,000 affected individuals and seeks to enforce the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME decision, which held that the First Amendment prohibits mandatory union fees for public sector employees.

William Hough, a worker at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), filed the complaint against the VTA, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521, and the Attorney General and Governor of California. The complaint, filed at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claims that by forcing Hough and other state employees to pay union fees without their affirmative consent, the defendants violated their First Amendment rights as protected by the new Janus precedent.

Hough has worked at the VTA since 2005. He exercised his right to refrain from joining SEIU Local 521 because he did not wish to support it in any way. However, he and other non-union member employees were forced to pay union fees as a condition of employment under state law.

In the Foundation-won Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME decision, the Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to require government workers to pay any union dues and fees as a condition of employment. Additionally, the Court clarified that no union dues or fees can be taken from workers without their affirmative consent and knowing waiver of their First Amendment right not to financially support a labor union.

However, California’s law authorizes SEIU Local 521 and its affiliates to extract union fees from non-union members as a condition of employment. In the lawsuit, Hough claims that the applicable statute, and any other statute that authorizes Local 521 to collect forced union fees from public employees without their affirmative consent, violates the First Amendment. He asks the court to declare those laws unconstitutional.

The complaint requests that the court certify a class that includes all individuals who at any time within the applicable limitations period were forced to pay union fees to SEIU Local 521 and its affiliates without their affirmative consent and knowing waiver of their First Amendment rights.

“Independent-minded workers are choosing to stand up for their rights,” said National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens. “In the Foundation-won Janus decision, the Supreme Court finally upheld public sector workers’ First Amendment right to choose whether or not to support a union without the threat of being fired. Further, the High Court made is clear that fees cannot be collected without a clear waiver of First Amendment rights, something the SEIU never gave Mr. Hough and his colleagues, which is why the complaint seeks refunds of millions of dollars of fees seized in recent years.”

The Foundation has created a special website, MyJanusRights.org, to assist public employees in exercising their rights under Janus, which was successfully argued by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorney William Messenger.

To restore accountability, workers must have free choice to refuse to fund union and reject union monopoly representation

Washington, DC (June 29, 2020) – On the eve of an announced meeting between US Attorney Matthew Schneider and new United Auto Workers (UAW) President Rory Gamble, National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix released a letter he sent urging Schneider to consider worker-empowering reforms for the corruption-plagued union.

The letter was sent Friday following reports that Schneider will meet with UAW President Rory Gamble on June 30 to discuss the union’s future after the widespread federal probe of the union leadership’s corruption.

The investigation has uncovered the misspending of millions of dollars in worker funds by prominent UAW officials up to and including former president Gary Jones. The investigation has snagged convictions of at least 14 people, including at least 11 people affiliated with the UAW so far. A full federal takeover of the union has been discussed by federal law enforcement officials, and news reports say that Gamble himself may be under scrutiny as well.

In the letter, Mix points out that coercive privileges granted to the UAW by federal law created an environment where UAW officials could all too easily take advantage of workers, writing:

“UAW union officials have perpetrated this abuse using the extraordinary powers granted to them by federal law — primarily their dual coercive powers of monopoly exclusive representation and authorization to cut deals mandating that rank-and-file workers pay union dues or fees, or else be fired…”

The letter urges that any reforms must “squarely address” the control that union officials have over rank-and-file workers, suggesting that federal agents should “impose an immediate recertification vote for every union local touched by the corruption,” “empower workers as individuals to fight corruption through refusing to fund the UAW,” and “impose an independent auditor tasked with providing full transparency to rank-and-file workers of all union financial transactions.” These remedies, Mix says, should be “part of a federal takeover of the union, or at least…required of the union to avoid a federal takeover.”

Mix concludes by observing that “this is far from the first time unaccountable union officials have been caught funding their limousine lifestyles with…funds that were supposed to serve workers’ interests.” In light of past fixes not deterring union bosses from abusing their power, Mix exhorts Schneider to “try some new ideas” that focus on empowering the workers “whose trust and money has been systematically stolen.”

The letter and news of a potential federal takeover of the UAW come after the union’s upper echelon has endorsed Joe Biden for president. Biden has publicly stated that, if he is elected, he will work to overturn all Right to Work laws in the country. That would force all worker victims of the UAW corruption to once again pay money to the union or else be fired. In 27 states, including Michigan where the UAW is headquartered, Right to Work laws ensure that no worker can be fired for refusing to tender dues or fees to a union hierarchy as a condition of employment.

“The revelations of greed and shamelessness that continue to arise in the UAW probe are no surprise to anyone who is familiar with the coercive privileges granted union bosses by federal law,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Though we urge Mr. Schneider to push the reforms detailed in our letter which will put the power to hold union officials accountable in workers’ hands, there is ultimately no place in federal law for provisions that force workers to pay union bosses or accept their so-called ‘representation’ to keep or get a job.”

Just latest in chain of charges against multiple Seattle SEIU unions, all concern roadblocks to letting workers exercise workplace rights

Seattle, WA (June 17, 2020) – Pacific Building Services employee Daniel Dalison has filed federal charges against Service Employees International Union (SEIU6) Property Services NW for violating his rights by maintaining deceiving membership forms that misinform workers about their rights. He is also charging both the union and Pacific Building Services with deducting dues illegally from his paycheck, even though he has never authorized any deductions and objected to union membership and paying union fees beyond the amount that can be required as a condition of employment.

Because Washington State has not enacted Right to Work protections for its private sector employees, they can still be forced to pay fees to a union as a condition of getting or keeping a job. However, for employees who object to formal union membership, this amount is limited by the Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision to just the portion of union dues that is directly related to bargaining purposes, and cannot include union political and lobbying activities. Beck also requires that unions follow certain procedures before taking forced fees from nonmember paychecks, including providing an independent audit of the union’s expenses.

Dalison filed his charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. The charges state he was hired by Pacific Building Services in May 2020 and was given an information packet from SEIU6 the same month.

The charge states that SEIU6’s welcome packet incorrectly informed Dalison that he couldn’t exercise his Beck right to object to full union dues outside the 31-day window after his hire date. On top of that, Dalison’s charge explains that the membership form included in the packet is an illegal “dual purpose” form, which, if signed, triggers automatic dues seizures from an employee’s paycheck despite “actually say[ing] nothing about dues authorization.” Federal law provides that employers cannot deduct union dues or fees directly from employees’ paychecks unless they have affirmative consent from them, regardless of their membership status.

After receiving the information packet, Dalison sent the union letters “stating that he did not want union membership” and wished only to pay the required fees to keep his job. He also asked the union to furnish an independent audit of its expenses and a copy of the monopoly bargaining contract between it and Pacific Building Services. The charge says that the union responded with a letter claiming “he must have misunderstood his options” and that its records showed he was a member and must pay full dues.

Despite never assenting to union membership and submitting objection letters, Dalison’s charge reports that full dues were deducted from his paycheck on June 8, 2020. His charge contends that this violates his right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) “to refrain from any or all” union activities. His charge also seeks an injunction under Section 10(j) of the NLRA to force the SEIU and employer to immediately stop the activities described in the charges while the NLRB investigates.

Earlier this year Dalison charged officials of SEIU 1199NW for violating employee rights at Swedish Medical Center, where he has also worked. Those charges related that, in addition to not allowing workers to exercise their Beck rights, SEIU 1199NW bosses ordered workers to provide photo identification any time they asked to see their own paperwork regarding membership and dues check off authorizations. Those charges are still pending at NLRB Region 19.

“Within just a few months, Seattle SEIU bosses have proved repeatedly that they will violate the rights of the workers they claim to represent just to illegally siphon dues from employee paychecks,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “NLRB Region 19, which is now knee-deep in pending employee charges revealing the brazen tactics of coercion engaged in by these union bosses, must immediately seek an injunction to protect workers from these egregious schemes.”