Union bosses and company blocked Blue Cross Blue Shield employees’ attempt to assert their rights under Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work law

Grand Rapids (June 2, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, two Grand Rapids Blue Cross Blue Shield employees have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against their employer and UAW Local 2145. According to Rayvonne Brown and Jennifer Smith, union officials continued to collect money from their paychecks after they had formally notified the union of their decision to opt out of further dues payments.

In December 2015, the contract between Blue Cross Blue Shield and UAW Local 2145 expired. The contract included a provision that required all employees to pay union fees as a condition of employment. Once the contract expired, however, Brown and Smith notified the union and their employer that they were revoking their dues authorization and opting out of paying union dues.

Under Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work law, no employee can be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment. Forced-dues contracts between unions and employers that were agreed to before the law was passed continue in force, but once those contracts expire, nonunion employees in the bargaining unit can no longer be required to pay union dues to keep their jobs.

Despite these legal protections, Blue Cross Blue Shield deducted union dues from Brown and Smith’s January and March paychecks, which were then give to UAW officials. Brown and Smith’s charges, which ask for the return of all illegally-seized union dues with interest, will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.

“Michigan’s Right to Work law was a tremendous victory for employee rights, but the law has to be enforced if employees are to benefit from these new legal protections,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “It is an outrage that so many workers have to take legal action just to get union officials to honor their rights under the law.”

“Any Michigan employees seeking to assert their newly-enshrined rights should contact the National Right to Work Foundation immediately for free legal aid,” Mix added.

The charges are the latest of over 30 legal cases filed by Foundation staff attorneys to enforce Michigan’s Right to Work law, which ensures that union membership and the payment of union dues are strictly voluntary. Michigan became the 24th state to pass a Right to Work law in 2012. Wisconsin and West Virginia have subsequently passed Right to Work laws.

Union boss suit pushes theory that could jeopardize all 26 state Right to Work laws and create “right” to collect forced union dues from unwilling workers

Boise, ID (May 26, 2016) – The National Right to Work Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides free legal assistance to union-abused employees nationwide, will file an amicus curiae brief in International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 370 v Wasden, a federal lawsuit that challenges Idaho’s Right to Work law. The brief in support of the state’s motion to dismiss will be filed in United States District Court for the District of Idaho.

The brief notes that Right to Work laws have withstood intense legal scrutiny for over 60 years, having never been struck down by a federal court or a state appellate court. Responding to IUOE union lawyers’ dubious claim that Right to Work laws unconstitutionally force union officials to “represent” nonunion employees without compensation, the brief notes that the National Labor Relations Act grants unions immense workplace power by allowing them to impose a one-size-fits-all union contract on all employees – union and nonunion alike – in a union-controlled bargaining unit.

“IUOE bosses are asking a United States District Court to reject over 60 years of legal precedent,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Idaho’s longstanding and popular Right to Work law should not be overturned on the basis of an outrageous legal theory advanced by union lawyers, who are attempting to create a constitutional ‘right’ for union bosses to extort money from workers forced to accept unions’ so-called representation.”

Foundation staff attorneys have also defended newly-enacted Right to Work laws in Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin from various union legal challenges, most recently in a brief submitted to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

Dane County Circuit Court judge’s wrongheaded ruling creates legal uncertainty, but National Right to Work attorneys remain confident that law will be ultimately upheld

Springfield, VA (May 18, 2016) – Responding to a recent Dane County Circuit Court judge’s decision against Wisconsin’s Right to Work law, National Right to Work Foundation and Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) attorneys have filed an amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) brief in support of the State’s motion to stay pending before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. The motion calls on the court not to allow the lower court’s erroneous ruling against the Right to Work law to take effect while the decision is being appealed.

Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, released the following statement on the filing:

“Wisconsin employees should not be forced to pay union dues to get or keep a job. That vital principle was enshrined in Wisconsin’s Right to Work law, a measure that is legally supported by decades of court decisions affirming a state’s right to protect its citizens from compulsory unionism. One outrageous ruling from Dane County doesn’t change those facts.

“National Right to Work Foundation and WILL attorneys have just filed a brief urging the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to grant the state’s motion to stay, which would put the Dane County Circuit Court ruling on hold while the matter is on appeal. In the meantime, the National Right to Work Foundation is renewing its offer of free legal assistance to any Wisconsin employees who wish to refrain from paying dues to unions they don’t belong to or support.”

Wisconsin employees seeking free legal aid can contact the National Right to Work Foundation via phone at 1-800-336-3600 or online at www.nrtw.org.

Employees filed charges after IAM officials ignored resignation requests when workers tried to exercise their rights under Wisconsin’s Right to Work law

Sparta, WI (May 11, 2016) – Recently, International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 1771 (IAM) union officials and Northern Engraving Corporation officials jointly distributed a letter to all Northern Engraving employees notifying workers that their attempts to resign union membership and stop union dues deductions from their paychecks would no longer be blocked or ignored. The letter, which came in response to NLRB charges filed by Northern Engraving employees, also stated that all wrongfully seized union dues would be refunded.

However, some workers still have not received refunds. On Monday, another worker, with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation-provided staff attorneys, filed new charges against the company and union officials.

Earlier this year Foundation-provided staff attorneys assisted multiple Northern Engraving Corporation employees in filing federal unfair labor practice charges against their employer and the IAM union local. According to the charges, union and company officials violated federal law by ignoring the workers’ attempts to resign from the union and stop paying union dues. Under Wisconsin’s recently-enacted Right to Work law, no employee can be forced to join or pay dues to a union to keep a job.

Although the workers had previously belonged to the IAM, they sent letters to their employer and the union announcing their decision to resign and stop paying dues. Not only did union officials fail to respond to the resignation letters, but Northern Engraving continued seizing the money from employees’ wages and turning it over to the union.

The employees’ charges are being investigated by Region 18 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

“Even as union officials claimed they were willing to finally follow the law so these workers could finally exercise their rights to refrain from union membership and payment of union dues or fees, it appears more legal action will be required to force union officials to respect the rights of the very workers they claim to represent,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation.

“Foundation staff attorneys will continue to vigorously defend and enforce Wisconsin’s Right to Work law to ensure that no worker is forced to pay union dues or fees just to get or keep a job,” added Mix.

Constitutional challenge would free childcare providers from being forced to accept unwanted SEIU ‘representation’

Washington, DC (May 4, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, eight Massachusetts childcare providers have petitioned the Supreme Court to strike down a compulsory unionism scheme on First Amendment grounds. The caregivers are challenging a Massachusetts law that empowers union officials to speak for all childcare providers, including those who have not joined and do not support the union, when bargaining with state government.

The providers seek to halt implementation of a Massachusetts law that designates the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as the exclusive bargaining agent for thousands of in-state childcare providers. Under the law, SEIU officials are empowered to negotiate with the State of Massachusetts over the providers’ professional practices and a public subsidy they receive for caregiving. The affected providers are either small business owners or family members who care for the children of relatives.

Foundation attorneys argue that the current arrangement violates the providers’ First Amendment right to choose with whom they associate to petition their government by naming a union as their state-designated lobbyist.

The caregivers’ petition builds on the National Right to Work Foundation’s 2014 Supreme Court victory in Harris v. Quinn, which outlawed the collection of mandatory union dues from home-based caregivers. Prior to that decision, the Massachusetts law the petitioners are challenging empowered union officials to collect forced dues from all home-based childcare providers. According to Foundation staff attorneys, the Harris precedent suggests that caregivers should also be free from the burden of accepting an unwanted union’s bargaining and mandatory representation.

Foundation staff attorneys are helping home and childcare providers challenge similar schemes in Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Oregon, and Washington State.

“Small business owners and those who help care for relatives’ children should not be forced to associate with labor union officials they have no interest in supporting,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “We hope the Supreme Court takes this opportunity to outlaw government-imposed monopoly union representation for home-based care providers as incompatible with the First Amendment.”

Settlement requires union to refund illegally-confiscated dues

Ofallon, IL (May 4, 2016) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a local bus driver has obtained a settlement from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 788 that ensures she will no longer be forced to pay full union dues to keep her job. Under the terms of the settlement, Jennifer Handyside will also receive a refund of union fees wrongfully deducted from her paychecks in 2015 and 2016.

Handyside resigned from the union and opted to reduce her dues payments in March 2015. Despite her resignation and objection, Local 788 continued to charge Handyside fees that included amounts not lawfully chargeable to objecting nonmembers and even resumed collecting full dues in December 2015.

Because Illinois lacks a Right to Work law, nonunion employees like Handyside can be required to pay part of union dues as a condition of employment. However, nonunion workers cannot be required to pay for anything unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as union politics.

Foundation attorneys filed Handyside’s charges against Local 788 in January 2016. Handyside has now obtained a settlement that requires Local 788 to refund the wrongfully-confiscated union fees. Under the terms of the agreement, union officials are also required to post a public notice at the local bus drivers’ office informing all employees of their right to refrain from union membership and the payment of full union dues.

“Although we are happy to report that Jennifer Handyside is receiving a refund from Local 788 union officials, it shouldn’t take legal action to force union bosses to respect the rights of the very workers they claim to represent,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Nonunion employees shouldn’t be required to pay any dues at all to a union they don’t belong to or support, which is why Illinois employees need Right to Work protections. Union dues should be strictly voluntary, and not paid simply because union officials would have a worker fired if they refused.”

Annapolis, MD (April 27, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Verizon worker in Maryland has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Verizon and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 2107 union. The charges state that Verizon officials illegally deducted Local 2107 fees from the worker’s paycheck which union officials accepted.

Mark Bohrer works for Verizon in Annapolis, Maryland. He is not a Local 2107 member. However, because Maryland lacks a Right to Work law, Bohrer can be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment.

In August 2015, the preexisting monopoly bargaining agreement between the CWA and Verizon expired. That contract contained a forced-dues clause which allowed Local 2107 officials to demand fees from Bohrer as a condition of his employment. However, Local 2107 lost the authorization to do so once the contract expired.

Since the contract expired, Verizon officials have continued to illegally deduct Local 2107 fees from Bohrer’s paychecks and remit them to the union. Moreover, Bohrer believes that he never signed a checkoff authorization to allow Verizon officials to deduct union fees from his paycheck. Bohrer has informed Verizon and Local 2107 officials that the fees were illegally seized, but Verizon continues to deduct fees from his paychecks.

When these charges were filed, Verizon and the CWA still had not imposed a new monopoly bargaining contract. The NLRB will now investigate Bohrer’s charges.

“Union officials are apparently more concerned with siphoning off as much money as possible from workers’ paychecks, than respecting the law and the rights of workers they claim to represent,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Bohrer’s case demonstrates the injustice of forced unionism and the immediate need for a Maryland Right to Work law, which would protect all employees’ rights to get or keep a job without being forced to pay union dues or fees.”

Local 1700 and Fiat Chrysler officials ignored Michigan Right to Work protections, illegally deducted union dues and refused to refund dues to worker

Sterling Heights, MI (April 19, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a local Fiat Chrysler employee filed federal unfair labor practice charges against his employer and the United Autoworkers (UAW) Local 1700 union. According to David Wiedbusch, Fiat Chrysler officials deducted Local 1700 dues from his paychecks after he had submitted his union membership resignation and his dues checkoff authorization revocation. Local 1700 officials have refused to refund the illegally seized dues.

Wiedbusch works at Fiat Chrysler’s Sterling Heights assembly plant as a factory worker. He first submitted a written request to resign and stop paying union dues in late October, and union dues ceased being deducted from his paychecks. However, in late December and early January, Wiedbusch noticed that union dues were once again being taken from his paychecks.

He contacted company officials who initially told Weidbusch that dues deductions would stop and the wrongfully seized dues would be refunded. Soon thereafter, those officials informed Weidbusch that he must contact Local 1700 officials to receive the refund. As of the time the charges were filed, Local 1700 officials have refused to refund the confiscated dues.

Under Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work laws, employees have the right to leave a union and stop paying union dues at any time. The laws exempted forced-dues contracts agreed to by employers and union officials before the legislation went into effect, including the UAW’s agreement with the “Big Three” automakers. Now that the UAW’s previously grandfathered contract with the automakers has expired, all Big Three employees are free to leave the union and stop paying dues under Michigan’s private sector Right to Work law.

Weidbusch’s charges will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency responsible for enforcing private sector labor law.

“It is indefensible that more than three years after Michigan’s Right to Work laws were enacted, union bosses are still refusing to accept that they no longer have privileges that allow them to confiscate a portion of a worker’s paycheck against their will,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

“We encourage any Michigan employee who needs help asserting his or her rights under Michigan’s Right to Work laws to contact the National Right to Work Foundation for free legal assistance, because no worker should ever be forced to pay union dues or fees just to get, or keep, a job” added Mix.

38 workers have now filed charges against union bosses for fines totaling over $267,000

Seattle, WA (April 11, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, 10 more Northshore Sheet Metal employees have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against a local union for illegally fining them thousands of dollars after they refused to participate in a union-ordered strike. A total of 38 Northshore employees are now challenging the union’s strike fines with the help of Foundation staff attorneys.

All 10 employees originally joined the Sheet Metal Workers Local 66 union because they were wrongfully informed that union membership was a condition of employment at Northshore Sheet Metals. After union officials ordered a strike in August 2015, the employees learned that formal union membership is voluntary and decided to exercise their rights to resign from the union and refrain from participating in the work stoppage.

Although the employees formally resigned from the union, Local 66 officials refused to honor their resignations and subjected them to internal union disciplinary procedures for refusing to strike. The 10 workers were charged over five thousand dollars each for rebuffing the union’s strike order. Three of the employees were charged $55,000, $36,000, and $11,000, respectively. Moreover, Northshore Sheet Metal continues to deduct – and Local 66 continues to collect – money for a union “strike fund” from all 38 employees’ paychecks.

Under federal labor law, no employee can be required to formally join a union as a condition of employment. Employees also have the right to resign from a union at any time and cannot be subjected to internal union discipline for conduct after they have left the union. Local 66 union officials are now trying to collect over $267,000 in retaliatory fines from the 38 Foundation-assisted employees who continued working rather than give in to union officials’ demands that they abandon their jobs.

The employees’ charges will now be investigated by Region 19 of the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency responsible for administering private sector labor law.

“Union bosses shouldn’t be able to fine workers hundreds of thousands of dollars just for working to support their families,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The Foundation is proud to provide free legal assistance to these workers to defend them against these ugly and almost certainly illegal strike fines.”