Minnesota Childcare Providers File Federal Lawsuit Challenging Forced Unionization Scheme
Minnesota Childcare Providers File Federal Lawsuit Challenging Forced Unionization Scheme
Childcare providers fight dictate to push childcare business owners into union forced dues ranks
Minneapolis, MN (June 5, 2013) – A group of Minnesota home-based childcare providers have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new law that seeks to forcibly unionize the state’s home-based childcare providers.
Jennifer Parrish from Rochester and 11 other providers from around the state filed the suit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Parrish and other providers seek to halt implementation of a recently-passed law intended to designate Service Employees International Union (SEIU) or American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) officials as the monopoly political representative of thousands of providers in the state, who are either business owners or family members who take care of children within their families.
Worker Files Federal Charge After Vehicle Firebombed During Union-Instigated Strike
Worker Files Federal Charge After Vehicle Firebombed During Union-Instigated Strike
Worker charges union militants threatened non-striking workers and their families; police documents show two vehicles damaged
Chicago, IL (June 6, 2013) – A Chicago-area South Water Market, Inc. worker has filed a federal charge against a Chicago Teamster union local alleging that union militants threatened him, his family and his property, and that his personal property was damaged shortly after he received those threats.
The worker filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Chicago with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The Teamsters Local 703 union has been on strike at South Water Market. However, some of the workers are not union members and refuse to abandon their jobs. Under federal law, workers who are not union members cannot be disciplined for continuing to work during a strike.
According to the charge, union agents harassed and threatened nonmember workers who continue working to support their families. In the charge, the worker alleges that his personal property was damaged soon after the threats.
Minnesota Childcare Providers File Federal Lawsuit Challenging Forced Unionization Scheme
Minneapolis, MN (June 5, 2013) – A group of Minnesota home-based childcare providers have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new law that seeks to forcibly unionize the state’s home-based childcare providers.
Jennifer Parrish from Rochester and 11 other providers from around the state filed the suit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Parrish and other providers seek to halt implementation of a recently-passed law intended to designate Service Employees International Union (SEIU) or American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) officials as the monopoly political representative of thousands of providers in the state, who are either business owners or family members who take care of children within their families.
Home-based childcare and personal care providers have challenged similar forced-unionization-by-government-fiat schemes in several states across the country, including Michigan and Illinois. The Illinois case is pending at the U.S. Supreme Court. Michigan ended its scheme after Foundation attorneys filed suit for providers there.
Foundation attorneys argue that such schemes violate the providers’ First Amendment right to choose with whom they associate to petition the government. The government does not have the power to force citizens to accept its handpicked political representation to lobby itself. Under the Minnesota scheme, after the union is installed it will then be empowered to confiscate dues from childcare providers for this forced “exclusive representation.
“Citizens have the power to select their political representation in government, not the other way around,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This scheme, which forces small business owners, and even grandma taking care of her grandchildren, into union political association is a slap in the face of fundamental American principles we hold dear.”
“This union boss power grab scheme is nothing more than pure political payback and was popularized by disgraced Governors Gray Davis of California and Rod Blagojevich of Illinois.”
Many of the 12 providers previously challenged in federal court Governor Mark Dayton’s executive order that also sought to force the state’s homecare providers into union ranks. That suit was rendered moot after a state court struck down Dayton’s executive order as outside his authority under state law.
Worker Files Federal Charge After Truck Firebombed During Union-Instigated Strike
Chicago, IL (June 6, 2013) – A Chicago-area South Water Market, Inc. worker has filed a federal charge against a Chicago Teamster union local alleging that union militants threatened him, his family and his property, and that his personal property was damaged shortly after he received those threats.
The worker filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Chicago with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The Teamsters Local 703 union has been on strike at South Water Market. However, some of the workers are not union members and refuse to abandon their jobs. Under federal law, workers who are not union members cannot be disciplined for continuing to work during a strike.
According to the charge, union agents harassed and threatened nonmember workers who continue working to support their families. In the charge, the worker alleges that his personal property was damaged soon after the threats.
Two Chicago Police Department “Victim of Information Notices” reflect reports of property damage, one incident “by fire.”
A video posted on Youtube.com purports to show security camera footage of a South Water Market work truck on fire while someone on the sidewalk watches. The video also shows a fire truck responding to the scene and the purported damage to the truck after the fire was extinguished. Moreover, the video shows striking Teamster union militants asking each other “are we gonna kill ’em or what?” and stating that they are going to “test the guys out today” while posing like boxers.
“Teamster union toughs are apparently trying to intimidate workers who had the courage not to toe the union line and instead provide for their families,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Workers should never be subjected to violence or threats of violence under any circumstance.”
The worker filed the charge against the Teamster Local 703 union, seeking compensatory damages. He filed the charge for himself and other similarly-situated workers.
Harris v. Quinn Supreme Court Update
Regular Freedom@Work readers may remember the case of Pam Harris, an Illinois woman who is challenging an SEIU scheme aimed at forcing her and other homecare providers into union ranks. For the past several years, Harris has received free legal assistance from Foundation staff attorneys.
In November 2011, Harris filed a a petition for a writ of certiorari at the Supreme Court, challenging the SEIU’s forced-unionism scheme on the grounds that it violates homecare providers’ freedom of association and freedom of speech. Last June, the Supreme Court asked for a brief on the issues presented from the Solicitor General, a move that could indicate heightened interest in the case. The Solicitor General’s brief was filed in early May. Harris’s Foundation-provided staff attorney submitted a reply shortly thereafter.
Although we hoped the Supreme Court would announce whether it would take the case this morning, it was not on today’s orders list, meaning the case will be conferenced again this Thursday. That makes this coming Monday (June 17th) the likely day the Court will announce whether or not it will take the case.
For more information on the case, including links to Harris’s petition and several amicus curiae briefs filed in support of her arguments, check out Scotusblog.
Union Thuggery Watch: Bizarre new photos expose Steelworker union intimidation during West VA strike
In an ongoing case involving four West Virginia Constellium Rolled Products workers who continued to work during last fall’s Steelworker union-instigated strike against the company, recently-obtained photos portray the union militants’ intimidation of those workers.
Union militants put up an outhouse featuring a creepy hanging doll’s head and posted signs publicizing the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the workers who continued to work during the strike.
The four workers resigned their union membership in the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 5668 union before they continued to work during the strike. Under federal law, workers who refrain from union membership are exempt from the union’s constitution and bylaws and thus cannot be disciplined for continuing to work during a union boss-ordered strike.
After the strike concluded, the workers received threatening letters from USW Local 5668 union officials stating that the union hierarchy intends to levy retaliatory strike fines against the workers at "the maximum penalty allowed." Union officials also stated that the workers will be placed "at the bottom of the seniority list," which is a clear violation of federal labor law.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the four workers filed federal charges against the USW Local 5668 union with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last month.
If you or someone you know has been harassed, intimidated, or threatened by a union, please contact the National Right to Work Foundation at 1-800-336-3600, via email, or by clicking here.
Local Unions Attempt to Circumvent Indiana’s Right to Work Law
Local Unions Attempt to Circumvent Indiana’s Right to Work Law
Union officials game system to collect union dues and fees despite Indiana’s popular Right to Work law
Indianapolis, IN (June 14, 2013) – In separate cases, two Indianapolis-area workers have filed charges against two local unions for violating their rights to refrain from union dues payments.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the two workers filed federal unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
In one case, Indianapolis AT&T (NYSE: T) worker Joshua Sterrett resigned membership in the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 4900 union on January 21, 2013. Even though CWA Local 4900 union officials acknowledged Sterrett’s union membership resignation on January 30, Sterrett alleges that union officials failed to tell him how he could timely revoke his dues deductions. As a result, he is forced to pay union fees for an additional year.
Worker Advocate Offers $10,000 Reward for Information Leading to Convictions in Firebombings of Worker’s Cars
Worker Advocate Offers $10,000 Reward’s Cars
Worker alleges union militants threatened non-striking workers and their families; police reports show two vehicles damaged during the same night
Chicago, IL (June 18, 2013) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has announced today a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrests and convictions of those responsible for damaging a South Water Market, Inc. worker’s personal and work vehicles during a Teamster union strike.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the Chicago-area South Water Market worker filed a federal charge last week against the Teamsters Local 703 union alleging that union militants threatened him, his family and his property, and that his personal property was damaged shortly after he received those threats.
Supreme Court to Hear National Right to Work Foundation Case Challenging Backroom Union Organizing Deal
Supreme Court to Hear National Right to Work Foundation Case Challenging Backroom Union Organizing Deal
Right to Work legal challenge could determine if companies are allowed to hand over sensitive employee information to aggressive union organizers
Washington, DC (June 24, 2013) – Today, the United States Supreme Court announced that it is granting a writ of certiorari in Mulhall v. UNITE HERE, a case that could determine if companies are allowed to hand over workers’ personal information to union organizers in exchange for union concessions, among other things.
In 2004, UNITE HERE Local 355 and Mardi Gras Gaming entered into an agreement in which union officials promised to spend over one hundred thousand dollars on a gambling ballot initiative and guaranteed not to picket, boycott, or strike against Mardi Gras facilities.
In return, Mardi Gras agreed to give union operatives employees’ personal contact information (including home addresses) and grant access to company facilities during a coercive ‘card check’ organizing campaign, refrain from informing workers about the downsides of unionization, and refrain from requesting a federally-supervised secret ballot election to determine whether employees unionized.
Hospital Worker to Testify at Congressional Hearing Regarding SEIU Card Check Coercion
Hospital Worker to Testify at Congressional Hearing Regarding SEIU Card Check Coercion
Worker advocate says National Labor Relations Board has failed to protect workers who wish to refrain from union affiliation
Washington, DC (June 26, 2013) – An Orange County, California hospital worker and her National Right to Work Foundation staff attorney will testify today before a U.S. House subcommittee about the need for workers to be able to choose free from coercion whether they want a union hierarchy in their workplace.
Marlene Felter, a Chapman Medical Center worker who led an effort to stave off unwanted Service Employees International Union (SEIU) boss “representation” from her workplace, and attorney Glenn Taubman, who has over 30 years of experience on the Foundation’s legal staff, will testify before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions at 10:00 AM.
