Officers Challenge Retaliation, Termination for Blowing the Whistle on Scheme to Illegally Divert $5/hour of Pay to Union

Westerly, Rhode Island (September 21, 2015) – Five part-time police officers in Westerly, RI have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop town and union officials from illegally seizing a portion (at a rate of $5 an hour) of every paycheck in forced union dues.

On July 28, 2015, Thomas Cimalore, Anthony Falcone, Scott Ferrigno, Darrell Koza, and Raymond Morrone, filed a Civil Rights lawsuit against the Town of Westerly, several town officials, and International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 503 (Local 503) in U.S. District Court. The plaintiffs are receiving free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.

The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction so they will not be forced to pay fees to Local 503 as their lawsuit proceeds through the court system.

The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs’ First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights (and other state labor and whistle blower protection statutes) are violated when they are forced, as a condition of employment, to financially support Local 503 despite never authorizing or requesting that the town withhold a portion of their paycheck and distribute those funds to Local 503.

Because Rhode Island lacks a Right to Work law, and is a forced-unionism state, workers who choose not to join a union can still be forced to pay fees to union bosses as a condition of employment if they labor under a union-imposed contract. However, these 5 part-time officers are not only nonmembers; they are not even represented under Local 503’s monopoly bargaining agreement with the Town of Westerly. Despite that, a clause in the union contract specifically states that, although not covered by the agreement, part-time officers are required to pay a fee to Local 503.

The deductions began about the beginning of April 2014. Later in the summer of 2014, the plaintiffs allege that the chief of police threatened retaliation against the officers for having publicly raised the issue of the forced-dues scheme.

In November 2014, the Town revised its “Detail Assignment System” which it uses to allocate all “private duty” assignments. The pay for private duty is 38 dollars an hour. The system was revised in such a manner that it diminished plaintiffs’ hours and pay. The timing and circumstances of the revision caused the officers to allege the revision was retaliation by the town for their questioning the illegal forced fee arrangement.

Moreover, on December 4, 2014, plaintiff Darrell Koza was fired with neither notice nor a hearing. In addition to the five officers’ lawsuit, Koza has filed a separate suit alleging that his termination was illegal retaliation for publicly speaking out against the illegal scheme.

“The judge hearing this case should quickly grant this injunction to at least provide some relief to these hardworking public servants who are currently illegally forced to pay union fees,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation.

“While we ultimately believe this forced-dues scheme will be declared unconstitutional and a violation of these officers’ rights, stopping the confiscation of parts of their paychecks would be an important step toward victory,” continued Mix.

Hospital employee filed unfair labor practice charges with the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys

Thousand Oaks, CA (September 15, 2015) – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a formal complaint against the SEIU United Healthcare Workers West union for violating the rights of Guillermo Cornejo, a nurses’ aid at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center.

In March of 2012, SEIU officials informed Cornejo that he was automatically enrolled as a union member after he started working at Los Robles and would be expected to pay full union dues. SEIU officials never properly informed Cornejo of his rights to refrain from formal union membership and opt out of paying full dues.

In California and other states that lack Right to Work laws, nonunion employees can be required to pay union fees as a condition of employment. However, they cannot be forced to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as political activism. Moreover, federal labor law holds that no employee can be forced to formally join a union. Union officials have a legal duty to inform employees of their rights.

Despite these protections, SEIU officials never informed Cornejo of his workplace rights and failed to give Los Robles employees adequate information about how to opt out of paying dues for union politics. In April 2013, SEIU officials attempted to have Cornejo fired from the hospital for refusing to comply with their forced-dues demands.

With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Cornejo responded by filing unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB in May 2013. The Board’s General Counsel has now issued a formal complaint against the union, seeking to require union officials to inform employees of their right to refrain and obtain reimbursement, plus interest, of any union dues confiscated from nonunion employees for activities unrelated to workplace bargaining since November 2012.

“SEIU officials ignored the law to force new employees into full dues-paying union ranks,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “We’re happy to report that the NLRB has finally taken action to hold SEIU bosses accountable for this injustice, but similar union practices will continue until California adopts a Right to Work law, which would make union membership and dues payments strictly voluntary.”

National Right to Work files brief in Friedrichs arguing that compulsory union dues for civil servants are incompatible with free speech

Washington, DC (September 14, 2015) – National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have just filed an amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) brief in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, urging the United States Supreme Court to outlaw forced union dues in the public sector.

Nearly 40 years ago, the Court ruled in the Foundation’s Abood v. Detroit Board of Education case that public-sector workers can be compelled as a condition of employment to pay union fees for workplace bargaining. Since then, National Right to Work Foundation-assisted workers have repeatedly challenged government union officials’ forced-dues privileges.

On June 30, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Friedrichs, a case brought by several longtime California public school teachers and the Christian Educators Association. The plaintiffs are challenging a state law that requires them to pay union dues and fees to keep their jobs, despite the fact that they are not members of the California Teachers Association and disagree with many of the union’s policies.

The Friedrichs plaintiffs rely on two recent, Foundation-won Supreme Court decisions, Knox v. SEIU and Harris v. Quinn, to bolster their case. In both instances, the High Court hinted it was ready to revisit the Abood precedent and expressed skepticism about the constitutionality of public sector union officials’ forced-dues privileges.

The Foundation’s brief contends that civil servants should not be forced to pay union dues simply because union officials have chosen to bargain for all employees – nonunion and union alike – in a given workplace. They also point out that “exclusive representation” actually confers significant benefits on union officials, who are empowered to negotiate with the state and receive tremendous influence in the workplace, and therefore have no justification for collecting mandatory contributions from nonunion civil servants.

“Drawing on decades of experience in the field of labor law, Foundation attorneys have filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to outlaw forced dues in the public sector in order to protect the rights of public servants who choose not to associate with a labor union,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “For too long, the rights of nonunion public employees have been trampled by states that require them to pay dues to a labor union just to get or keep a government job.”

Big Labor-stacked NLRB has blocked worker’s petition to kick out union and issued complaint against employer that heeded its workers’ voice

Springfield, VA (September 9, 2015) – The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) General Counsel has issued a formal complaint against a nationwide company, Johnson Controls, Inc., related to its battery plant in Florence, South Carolina. The complaint alleges that Johnson Controls committed an unfair labor practice when it withdrew recognition of the workplace union, United Auto Workers (UAW) and its Local 3066.

However, the company withdrew recognition of the UAW and Local 3066 after a majority of workers submitted a withdrawal petition expressing their dissatisfaction with the unwanted union. The NLRB General Counsel then deemed the withdrawal petition invalid and demanded that the UAW be brought back into the plant.

In response to these developments, employee Brenda Lynch, who with several others helped organize the withdrawal initiative, submitted to the NLRB a decertification petition to hold a secret ballot election to formally remove the union. Rather than hold a secret ballot vote to determine employees’ true desires, the NLRB, at the UAW’s urging, has blocked the secret ballot decertification election citing the pending complaint against the company. Lynch is receiving free legal assistance from NRTW Foundation staff attorneys.

Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation released the following statement on the NLRB’s latest assault on worker freedom:

“Brenda Lynch and her colleagues in South Carolina simply sought to exercise their workplace rights, and instead have fallen victim to NLRB policies that trample the rights of employees in an effort to protect union bosses from accountability from the workers they claim to represent.

“Brenda and her coworkers remain trapped under union boss monopoly control, despite multiple attempts to remove the union. Even more absurd, the NLRB and the UAW are blocking the employees’ request for a secret ballot election on the grounds that the company violated federal labor law by respecting the wishes of the majority of its workers who want nothing to do with the union.

“The NLRB is supposed to protect the rights and choices of workers, but once again the rogue agency is colluding with union bosses to trap employees in an unwanted union.”

The National Right to Work Foundation will continue to fight on behalf of Brenda Lynch and any worker who has suffered abuse at the hands of NLRB-compelled forced unionism and Big Labor.

Supreme Court decision on public sector-forced dues, battles over state Right to Work laws, and new bureaucratic push to expand Big Labor’s privileges all loom

Springfield, VA (September 4, 2015) – Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation and the National Right to Work Committee, issued the following statement on the occasion of Labor Day 2015:

“This Labor Day, many Americans will enjoy a well-deserved three day weekend. After the festivities, vacations, and beach trips have ended, however, several important fights for employee freedom loom on the horizon.

“The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case that could end all public-sector forced dues in one fell swoop. The Friedrichs challenge would not have been possible without two recent, National Right to Work Foundation-won Supreme Court cases – Harris v. Quinn and Knox v. SEIU – and we hope the High Court will take this opportunity to end the practice of forcing civil servants to pay union dues just to work for their own government.

“Meanwhile, state-level legislative activity over the Right to Work issue will continue to expand. Recently enacted Right to Work laws in Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin have spurred efforts to emulate those reforms in states across the country. The fight to expand employee freedom, encourage economic growth, and roll back union bosses’ special privileges will continue from Maine to Ohio to Missouri, and the National Right to Work Committee will be mobilizing for all of these efforts.

“All of this takes place against the backdrop of an Administration that has abandoned all pretense of neutrality in an effort to expand Big Labor’s privileges through bureaucratic channels. Under President Obama, the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and other federal agencies have relentlessly favored union officials’ power, frequently at the expense of independent-minded employees’ rights.

“This Labor Day, as we celebrate hard-working Americans from all walks of life, we should also be preparing and engaging in these important battles against compulsory unionism in both the legislative and legal arenas.”

Mix’s statement can be watched on YouTube here or listened to here. Mix and other Right to Work experts are also available for comment on a variety of labor-related issues. For more information, contact Will Collins at (703) 770-3317 or via email at [email protected].

Union boss policies illegally prevented nonunion drivers from finding work on ABC Lifetime’s Army Wives television show

Washington, DC (August 24, 2015) – The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has affirmed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision awarding over $55,000 in back pay to a television employee who was discriminated against by Teamster union officials.

This decision caps nearly a six-year legal battle between a worker and union bosses in Charleston, South Carolina. The case began when Thomas Troy Coghill, an ABC driver who received free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB in 2009.

Teamster Local 509 union officials had entered into a monopoly bargaining agreement with ABC in South Carolina that forced workers to go through the union’s exclusive hiring hall to get a job with the studio during production of ABC’s show, Army Wives. Coghill – a member of a different Teamster local from North Carolina– was hired as a driver during the show’s first two seasons after demand for drivers outpaced the number of drivers that Local 509 could provide.

As more Local 509 members became available to work on Army Wives during the third and fourth seasons, a dispute arose among various Teamster officials over who should be eligible to work on the program. Coghill was eventually removed from Local 509’s “Movie Referral List” because he did not belong to Local 509 while its members continued to receive preferential access to jobs on the set of Army Wives.

Coghill responded to Local 509’s hiring procedure by filing unfair labor practice charges against the union on the grounds that federal labor law prohibits union officials from discriminating against nonunion employees. National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys subsequently persuaded an Administrative Law Judge to award Coghill over $55,000 in back pay.

Union lawyers unsuccessfully appealed the ruling to the NLRB, which affirmed the judge’s decision in its entirety. Local 509 then appealed the NLRB’s decision to the Appeals Court.

“After years of a drawn out legal battle and countless appeals, union bosses’ egregious and illegal tactics have yet again been found unlawful by a federal court,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This case shows that even in a Right to Work state like South Carolina, without vigorous enforcement of nonunion workers’ rights, union officials will attempt to discriminate against employees who refuse to tow the union line.”

In a court challenge to the NLRB’s recycled biased rules, Foundation argues Board rules violate NLRB authority to push more workers into Big Labor’s forced-dues-paying ranks

Springfield, VA (August 18, 2015) – The National Right to Work Foundation has filed an amicus curiae brief in federal court challenging the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) recently-enacted regulations that will further give union organizers the upper hand over independent-minded employees during unionization campaigns.

The rules are designed to dramatically shorten the time individual workers have to share information with their coworkers about the effects of unionization. The regulations also require employers to hand over workers’ private information to union organizers, including their phone numbers and email addresses.

The latest rules changes were rushed out before former union lawyer Nancy Schiffer’s term expired on December 16, 2014. The NLRB had previously rushed the regulations out before former Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lawyer Craig Becker’s term expired in December 2011, but they were later invalidated by a federal district court in 2012 on procedural grounds.

Foundation staff attorneys now argue in an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, that the new rules violate federal law, because the Board is shirking its statutory duty to determine the scope of the bargaining unit. Under the rules, unionization elections will proceed despite disputes over the unit’s scope if less than 20 percent of the bargaining unit’s composition is contested.

They also argue in this brief that the rule requiring job providers to hand over the employees’ personal information to union bosses violates workers’ privacy. Foundation staff attorneys had previously filed a similar amicus brief when the case was heard in U.S. District Court.

“The NLRB has yet again done Big Labor’s bidding by handing down these election rules that will make union organizing campaigns even further rigged towards the union bosses, who are only interested in growing their ranks,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation.

“Obama’s Big Labor-stacked NLRB has designed a scheme to ambush unsuspecting workers into union ranks which also threatens the privacy rights of employees who may oppose unionization in their workplace,” continued Mix.

Applicant refused when company demanded forced union fees on for IBEW union bosses in blatant violation of Tennessee’s Right to Work protections

Spring City, TN (August 17, 2015) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Bill Bauer has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against a company that supplies maintenance and repair workers to a Tennessee nuclear power plant run by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The company attempted to force Bauer to pay union fees as a condition of employment. Forced union fees are illegal in Tennessee under Tennessee’s Right to Work law.

The nuclear power plant is located in Spring City, Tennessee and temporary, highly skilled maintenance and repair workers are supplied by Williams Plant Services. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1323 (Local 1323) has a monopoly bargaining contract with Williams Plant Services.

Bauer, a journeyman, was offered a job at the plant, and drove from his home in Pennsylvania to begin work. On July 20, 2015, Bauer’s first day of work, he met with representatives from Williams’ human resources department at the company’s headquarters in Tucker, Georgia, before he made his way to the power plant in Tennessee. Bauer was informed that he could join the workplace union, Local 1323.

Bauer declined to join Local 1323. He was then told he had to sign a dues check off form to authorize his employer to withhold 3.5 percent of his paycheck and remit those funds to Local 1323. Knowing that he would be working in a Right to Work state, Bauer refused to sign the checkoff form, understanding that he had the right to refrain from paying any fees to Local 1323. The company representatives told him that signing the checkoff form was a condition of employment at the power plant.

Under Tennessee’s Right to Work law, no worker can be forced to pay fees to a union as a condition of employment.

“Even in longstanding Right to Work states like Tennessee union bosses all too often engage in schemes and ploys to undermine or outright violate employees’ Right to Work protections,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “No worker should be forced to pay tribute to a union just to get or keep a job, and it is especially outrageous for company and union officials to conspire to violate laws that explicitly make union dues and fees voluntary.”

[An original version of this release incorrectly identified the power plant as located in Spring Hill, TN.]  

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