Chattanooga VW Workers File Federal Charge Against Company For Pro-Unionization Coercion

Company management in Germany gives workers ultimatum: Join the union or lose workplace opportunities

Chattanooga, TN (October 16, 2013) – Today, four Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers filed a federal charge against the company alleging that statements by German VW officials are illegally coercing fellow workers into representation by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the workers filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Atlanta.

The charge comes after senior VW management in Germany stated, according to recent media reports, that for any expanded production to be considered in Chattanooga, the plant must adopt a works council that would force workers to accept the representation of UAW union officials.

Click here to read the full release.

Chattanooga, TN (October 16, 2013) – Today, four Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers filed a federal charge against the company alleging that statements by German VW officials are illegally coercing fellow workers into representation by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the workers filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Atlanta.

The charge comes after senior VW management in Germany stated, according to recent media reports, that for any expanded production to be considered in Chattanooga, the plant must adopt a works council that would force workers to accept the representation of UAW union officials.

The workers point out in their charge that Volkswagen’s threat that failure to accept the union would risk losing potential for job growth “interfere[s] with Chattanooga facility employees’ rights to choose whether or not to engage in self-organization to form, join, or assist labor organizations.”

“With reports that Volkswagen is considering Chattanooga to build its new SUV, this is no idle threat,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “If VW management was discouraging workers from joining the UAW with threats, there’s little question that an NLRB prosecution would have already begun at the UAW’s behest.”

Three of the four VW workers are part of a group of eight VW employees that also filed charges last month alleging improprieties in the UAW union hierarchy’s “card check” process, including getting workers to sign union authorization cards by coercion and misrepresentation and using union cards signed too long ago to be legally valid.

School Bus Driver Files Charge against Teamster Union for Ignoring Her Rights Under Michigan’s Right to Work Law

Teamster union officials stonewall worker’s attempt to refrain from dues payments

Howell, MI (October 9, 2013) – A school bus driver has filed a state charge against a local Teamster union for violating her rights under Michigan’s recently enacted public-sector Right to Work law.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Pauline Beutler of Howell filed the state charge late last week with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) in Detroit.

Beutler, who works as a bus driver for the Livingston Education Service Agency, informed the Teamster Local 214 union on September 9, 2013, that she was exercising her right under Michigan’s Right to Work law to refrain from union dues payments after the union’s monopoly bargaining agreement with her employer expired on June 30, 2013. Under Michigan’s Right to Work law, contracts entered into after the law went into effect must respect workers’ right to refrain from the payment of any union dues.

Click here to read the full release.

Howell, MI (October 9, 2013) – A school bus driver has filed a state charge against a local Teamster union for violating her rights under Michigan’s recently enacted public-sector Right to Work law.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Pauline Beutler of Howell filed the state charge late last week with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) in Detroit.

Beutler, who works as a bus driver for the Livingston Education Service Agency, informed the Teamster Local 214 union on September 9, 2013, that she was exercising her right under Michigan’s Right to Work law to refrain from union dues payments after the union’s monopoly bargaining agreement with her employer expired on June 30, 2013. Under Michigan’s Right to Work law, contracts entered into after the law went into effect must respect workers’ right to refrain from the payment of any union dues.

Instead of complying with Beutler’s request, Teamster Local 214 union officials told her that she would have to wait for a union-designated “window period” in July 2014 before she could revoke her dues deduction authorization and opt out of union dues. A dues deduction authorization is a document union officials use to take dues or fees from workers’ paychecks.

Beutler alleges that Michigan’s Right to Work law invalidates the union’s “window period” requirement under the former monopoly bargaining agreement. Moreover, Michigan’s Right to Work law requires that all dues deduction authorizations must be revocable at will.

“Across the state, Teamster union bosses are pulling out all the stops to keep workers from exercising their rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Schemes like this show that the ultimate goal of union officials is more forced dues collected from workers, even when rank-and-file employees want nothing to do with a union.”

UPS Worker Files Federal Charge against Teamster Union for Ignoring His Rights Under Michigan’s Right to Work Law

Teamster union officials stonewall worker’s attempt to refrain from dues payments

Grand Rapids, MI (October 4, 2013) – A Wyoming, Michigan UPS (NYSE: UPS) worker has filed a federal charge against a local Teamster union for violating his rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Gary Frost filed the unfair labor practice charge Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Frost, who is not a member of the Teamster Local 406 union, had to pay union dues and fees as a condition of his employment before Michigan recently enacted a Right to Work law making union dues payments completely voluntary.

Click here to read the full release.

Grand Rapids, MI (October 4, 2013) – A Wyoming, Michigan UPS (NYSE: UPS) worker has filed a federal charge against a local Teamster union for violating his rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Gary Frost filed the unfair labor practice charge Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Frost, who is not a member of the Teamster Local 406 union, had to pay union dues and fees as a condition of his employment before Michigan recently enacted a Right to Work law making union dues payments completely voluntary.

Frost informed the Teamster Local 406 union that he was exercising his right under Michigan’s Right to Work law to refrain from union dues payments after the Teamster Local 406 union’s monopoly bargaining agreement with UPS expired on August 1, 2013. Under Michigan’s Right to Work law, contracts entered into after the law went into effect must respect workers’ right to refrain from the payment of any union dues.

Out of an abundance of caution, Frost attempted to comply with Teamster Local 406’s procedure to end forced dues payments by revoking his dues deduction authorization – a document union officials use to take dues or fees from workers’ paychecks.

Instead of complying with Frost’s request, Teamster Local 406 union officials told him that he would have to wait for a union-designated “window period” before he could revoke his dues deduction and opt out of union dues.

Teamster Local 406 union officials have refused to provide Frost with a copy of his dues deduction authorization and have not told him of the dates of the so-called “window period” for revocation.

“Teamster union bosses are trying to keep workers from exercising their rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Schemes like this show that the ultimate goal of union officials is more forced dues collected from workers, even when rank-and-file employees want nothing to do with a union.

Supreme Court to Review Illinois Homecare Provider Unionization Scheme

National Right to Work Foundation attorneys return to High Court to defend home-based personal care providers forced into union ranks

Washington, DC (October 1, 2013) – The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it is granting a writ of certiorari in a case that will decide whether Illinois homecare providers can be forced into union ranks against their will.

With the help of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, Pam Harris and seven other Illinois care providers are challenging a forced-unionism scheme enacted by Illinois Governors Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn on the grounds that it violates their rights to free expression and association by forcing them to subsidize union lobbying.

Click here to read the full release.

Washington, DC (October 1, 2013) – The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it is granting a writ of certiorari in a case that will decide whether Illinois homecare providers can be forced into union ranks against their will.

With the help of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, Pam Harris and seven other Illinois care providers are challenging a forced-unionism scheme enacted by Illinois Governors Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn on the grounds that it violates their rights to free expression and association by forcing them to subsidize union lobbying.

The case is a class-action lawsuit filed by the providers after Quinn signed an executive order designating 4,500 individuals who offer in-home care to disabled persons as “public employees,” thus rendering them vulnerable to unwanted union organizing. However, the scheme only designates providers as public employees for the purposes of unionization, leaving the homecare recipients as the employers for all other aspects of the providers’ work.

As a result of Quinn’s order, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) bosses have been competing to acquire monopoly bargaining control over this newly-created class of public employees.

Quinn’s executive order mirrored one issued by disgraced former Governor Blagojevich, which designated over 20,000 personal care providers as state workers solely for the purpose of forcing them into union ranks. Quinn then expanded Blagojevich’s directive to cover an additional 4,500 providers who were not included in the original order.

In a 2010 mail-in vote, those homecare providers emphatically rejected unionization by a two-to-one margin. But because of Quinn’s executive order, they’ll continue to face unionization drives until they capitulate. The personal care providers covered by Blagojevich’s executive order have already been forced to pay union fees to the SEIU.

“Forcing homecare providers into union ranks is just plain wrong,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “We hope the High Court will protect the rights of Pam Harris and thousands of other care providers by striking down this constitutionally-dubious scheme.”

Eight Chattanooga Volkswagen Workers File Federal Charges Challenging UAW Card Check Scheme

Demand for installing UAW union at VW based on cards collected through “unlawful means including misrepresentations, coercion, threats, and promises”

Chattanooga, TN (September 25, 2013) – Today, eight Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers filed federal charges against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union for misleading and coercing them and other workers to forfeit their rights in what is now a “card check” unionization drive by the UAW.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the eight workers filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Atlanta.

After UAW union officials claimed to possess signature cards from a majority of workers, UAW union president Bob King demanded VW deny workers a secret ballot vote on unionization and instead unionize all workers on the basis of the unreliable and abuse-prone card check process.

Click here to read the full release.

Chattanooga, TN (September 25, 2013) – Today, eight Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers filed federal charges against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union for misleading and coercing them and other workers to forfeit their rights in what is now a “card check” unionization drive by the UAW.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the eight workers filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Atlanta.

After UAW union officials claimed to possess signature cards from a majority of workers, UAW union president Bob King demanded VW deny workers a secret ballot vote on unionization and instead unionize all workers on the basis of the unreliable and abuse-prone card check process.

The charges state that VW workers were told by UAW union organizers that a signature on the card was to call for a secret ballot unionization election. They also allege other improprieties in the card check process, including using cards that were signed too long ago to be legally valid.

After recent media reports suggested that workers were misled or bribed into signing union cards, workers who wanted to lawfully revoke their signatures were told by union officials that they had to physically appear at the union office if they wanted their cards returned to them.

“Despite making it so easy to sign union ‘cards’ at the workplace, UAW union officials are now demanding workers to go to the union office to exercise their right to reclaim their cards,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This case underscores how card check unionization schemes make it ‘easy to check in, but impossible to check out.'”

The charges ask the NLRB to order UAW union officials to cease and desist from demanding recognition based upon the tainted cards.

The workers contacted the Foundation for free legal assistance after learning about the Foundation’s special legal notice to Volkswagen Chattanooga employees being subjected to the UAW card check drive. The notice can be found online here: www.nrtw.org/vw-chattanooga

Other VW employees who were subjected to or have knowledge of cards being collected through abuse, fraud, bribes, or other illicit means are encouraged to contact the Foundation. Workers can call 1-800-336-3600 or visit www.nrtw.org to request legal assistance.