Workers File Brief Opposing Union Boss Challenge to Indiana Right to Work Law

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys provide free legal aid to workers defending law that ends union boss forced dues powers

Hammond, IN (March 2, 2012) – In response to union bosses’ federal lawsuit against Indiana’s popular Right to Work law, a group of Indiana workers from across the state are filing an amicus brief in support of their newly-enacted Right to Work freedoms.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, the four workers – David Bercot, a certified wastewater operator for ITR Concession Company which services Indiana toll road rest stops in the Fort Wayne-area; Joel Tibbetts, a Minteq International assistant manager in Valparaiso; Douglas Richards, an employee with Goshen-based Cequent Towing Products; and Larry Getts, a Dana Holding Corporation tube press technician in Albion – all joined in the brief defending the law.

Union officials publicly floated the idea of challenging Indiana’s Right to Work law before it was enacted. International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 headquartered in suburban Chicago, Illinois filed a federal lawsuit late last month challenging the law and requesting an injunction against its implementation.

Both Bercot’s and Tibbetts’s workplaces are unionized by the IUOE Local 150 union hierarchy. Both workers have refrained from union membership but are still forced to accept IUOE Local 150 union officials’ so-called "representation" and were required to pay dues to the union as a condition of employment before Indiana’s Right to Work law was enacted.

Read the entire press release here.

Hammond, IN (March 2, 2012) – In response to union bosses’ federal lawsuit against Indiana’s popular Right to Work law, a group of Indiana workers from across the state are filing an amicus brief in support of their newly-enacted Right to Work freedoms.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, the four workers – David Bercot, a certified wastewater operator for ITR Concession Company which services Indiana toll road rest stops in the Fort Wayne-area; Joel Tibbetts, a Minteq International assistant manager in Valparaiso; Douglas Richards, an employee with Goshen-based Cequent Towing Products; and Larry Getts, a Dana Holding Corporation tube press technician in Albion – all joined in the brief defending the law.

Union officials publicly floated the idea of challenging Indiana’s Right to Work law before it was enacted. International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 headquartered in suburban Chicago, Illinois filed a federal lawsuit late last month challenging the law and requesting an injunction against its implementation.

Both Bercot’s and Tibbetts’s workplaces are unionized by the IUOE Local 150 union hierarchy. Both workers have refrained from union membership but are still forced to accept IUOE Local 150 union officials’ so-called “representation” and were required to pay dues to the union as a condition of employment before Indiana’s Right to Work law was enacted.

Indiana is the nation’s 23rd Right to Work state. Public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans support the Right to Work principle, including 80 percent of union members.

Foundation attorneys have successfully defended state Right to Work laws in the past, including Oklahoma’s. The Foundation’s legal task force dedicated to defending Indiana’s Right to Work law has already examined the union lawyers’ lines of attack against the law and determined that the law is on sound legal ground. A Foundation attorney will attend the injunction hearing on Monday in Hammond.

“Union bosses want to undo what thousands of Hoosier citizens have worked hard to achieve over the past decade,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Because union partisans cannot win the hearts and minds of Indiana’s workers and voters, they seek to have the courts strike down Indiana’s popular Right to Work law for them.”

In addition to defending the Right to Work law from spurious union legal challenges, Foundation staff attorneys are giving free legal aid to employees seeking to exercise their newfound Right to Work. Information about Indiana’s Right to Work law, including how Indiana employees can exercise their Right to Work can be found on the Foundation’s website: www.nrtw.org.

Federal Court Rubberstamps Obama NLRB Rule to Push More Workers into Union Ranks

National Right to Work Foundation fights Labor Board’s decision to promote monopoly unionism in virtually every workplace in America

Washington, DC (March 2, 2012) – Today, a federal judge upheld the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) power to enforce its controversial new rule requiring virtually every employer in the country to post biased information about employee rights online and in the workplace, even if they’ve never committed a violation or been accused of unfair labor practices.

The judge ruled that, if an employer fails to post the notice, it can be found to have committed an unfair labor practice and that fact can be used as evidence of "anti-union animus" in other cases in which an employer is accused of violating federal labor law.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in conjunction with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) filed the lawsuit challenging the notice posting rules with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director of the National Right to Work Foundation, had the following statement in the wake of the judge’s ruling:

"It is unfortunate that the court rubberstamped the Obama NLRB’s rule, giving union bosses another tool to push workers into forced union dues ranks, and threatening employers if they don’t display biased pro-compulsory unionism propaganda on their property.

Read the entire press release here.

Washington, DC (March 2, 2012) – Today, a federal judge upheld the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) power to enforce its controversial new rule requiring virtually every employer in the country to post biased information about employee rights online and in the workplace, even if they’ve never committed a violation or been accused of unfair labor practices.

The judge ruled that, if an employer fails to post the notice, it can be found to have committed an unfair labor practice and that fact can be used as evidence of "anti-union animus" in other cases in which an employer is accused of violating federal labor law.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in conjunction with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) filed the lawsuit challenging the notice posting rules with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director of the National Right to Work Foundation, had the following statement in the wake of the judge’s ruling:

"It is unfortunate that the court rubberstamped the Obama NLRB’s rule, giving union bosses another tool to push workers into forced union dues ranks, and threatening employers if they don’t display biased pro-compulsory unionism propaganda on their property.

The judge’s ruling effectively requires every job provider in America, from Mom and Pop shops and small businesses to larger companies, even some religiously-affiliated organizations, to post biased notices about workers’ rights, leaving the distorted NLRB requirement in place.

"In the past, employers were required to post notices of workers’ rights only if they violated labor laws. However, the judge’s decision turns that precedent on its head and almost guarantees that any job provider who fails to post a notice will face legal consequences.

"National Right to Work Foundation plans to appeal the court’s decision."

National Right to Work Foundation attorneys argue that the NLRB has exceeded its authority granted by Congress and violated free speech guarantees of the First Amendment.

Springfield, VA (March 1, 2012) – Today, the National Right to Work Foundation announced the addition of John Raudabaugh, a former National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Member and labor and employee relations attorney.

Raudabaugh was nominated to the NLRB by President George H. W. Bush, serving from 1990 to 1993. He has testified before the Senate Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding labor law reform and card-check unionization drives.

Raudabaugh also has extensive private sector legal experience, most recently at the Washington, D.C. office of the Nixon Peabody LLP law firm. He has served as an adjunct professor of labor law at Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and Emory University Law Schools.

Raudabaugh will split time between the Foundation’s Springfield offices and Ave Maria Law School, where he will hold the Reed Larson Professorship of Labor Law. The Professorship was jointly established by the Foundation and Ave Maria to offer courses on workplace litigation and employee freedom.

“John Raudabaugh brings a wealth of experience and a passion for protecting employee rights to our legal aid program,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “He’ll also be training a new generation of attorneys at Ave Maria to stand up for freedom in the workplace.”

In addition to his academic duties, Raudabaugh will help Foundation staff attorneys craft legal strategies to protect and expand employee rights. He will also author “NLRB Watch,” a new regular feature on the Foundation’s website aimed at monitoring the Board’s impact on employee freedom in the workplace.

“With John’s help, our experienced legal team will continue to expand the Foundation’s efforts to help employees whose rights have been abused by compulsory unionism,” continued Mix.

Bloomsburg, PA (February 29, 2012) – With the help of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, a local Del Monte Foods employee has reached a settlement with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 38 after a union official repeatedly harassed him on the job.

Ronald Brobst, a veteran Del Monte employee, is not a member of UFCW Local 38 and had previously opted out of paying for certain UFCW activities, such as union political activism. Because Pennsylvania lacks a Right to Work law, nonunion employees like Brobst can be forced to pay up to 100% of union dues as a condition of employment. However, the Foundation-won Supreme Court decision Communication Workers v. Beck guarantees that nonunion employees have the right to opt out of dues used for activities, like politics, unrelated to workplace bargaining.

Brobst was repeatedly harassed at work for exercising his constitutional rights to refrain from union membership and the payment of full union dues. In March 2011, a union shop steward reported that Brobst had not cleaned up debris at his work station to his supervisor. In August, the same shop steward falsely indicated that Brobst had not followed proper lockout procedures on a conveyor belt he had been working on.

With the help of Right to Work attorneys, Brobst responded by filing federal unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

The settlement agreed upon by Brobst and UFCW Local 38 requires union officials to post workplace notices explaining employees’ rights to refrain from union membership and the payment of full union dues. The notice also promises that nonunion employees will not suffer harassment or retaliation.

“Mr. Brobst’s settlement, which will be posted where all his co-workers can see it, makes it clear that a UFCW official violated the law with her campaign of harassment,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Once again, union officials have shown they are willing to cajole and intimidate independent employees to get them to toe the union line.”

“These ugly tactics could be eliminated if Pennsylvania had a Right to Work law on its books that protected employees’ rights to choose to join and pay dues or fees to a union,” concluded Mix.

The latest issue of Foundation Action is now available online. The Foundation’s bi-monthly newsletter includes details on our latest Supreme Court appearance and our efforts to challenge the constitutionality of Obama’s "recess" NLRB appointments. For a free subscription to Foundation Action, click here.

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Employee Files Federal Lawsuit against CWA Union Officials and Verizon for Ignoring Her Rights

Worker refused to abandon job during highly-publicized strike but Verizon management continues to illegally divert union dues from her paycheck

Newport News, VA (February 28, 2012) – In the wake of last year’s Communications Workers of America (CWA) union boss-instigated strike that grabbed national headlines, a Newport News, Virginia Verizon (NYSE: VZ) worker has filed a federal lawsuit against the company and a local union for violating her rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, Williamsburg resident Monika Cassell filed the lawsuit in federal district court against Verizon, the CWA and its affiliate, Local 2205, for refusing to honor her right to refrain from paying union dues.

Upset by CWA union officials’ strike order and unwilling to walk off their jobs, Cassell and several other Verizon employees resigned from the union last year and revoked their dues deduction authorizations – documents used by union officials to automatically collect dues from employees’ paychecks – while the union did not have a contract at their workplaces.

Under Virginia’s popular Right to Work law, no worker can be required to join or pay money to a union. Under federal labor law, employees can revoke their dues deduction authorizations once a contract ends.

However, Verizon, at the behest of CWA union officials, continues to confiscate full union dues from Cassell and several of her coworkers despite their attempts to opt out.

Read the entire press release here.

Newport News, VA (February 28, 2012) – In the wake of last year’s Communications Workers of America (CWA) union boss-instigated strike that grabbed national headlines, a Newport News, Virginia Verizon (NYSE: VZ) worker has filed a federal lawsuit against the company and a local union for violating her rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, Williamsburg resident Monika Cassell filed the lawsuit in federal district court against Verizon, the CWA and its affiliate, Local 2205, for refusing to honor her right to refrain from paying union dues.

Upset by CWA union officials’ strike order and unwilling to walk off their jobs, Cassell and several other Verizon employees resigned from the union last year and revoked their dues deduction authorizations – documents used by union officials to automatically collect dues from employees’ paychecks – while the union did not have a contract at their workplaces.

Under Virginia’s popular Right to Work law, no worker can be required to join or pay money to a union. Under federal labor law, employees can revoke their dues deduction authorizations once a contract ends.

However, Verizon, at the behest of CWA union officials, continues to confiscate full union dues from Cassell and several of her coworkers despite their attempts to opt out. Moreover, Verizon and union officials agreed to a contract that retroactively applies to the time no contract was in effect – a blatant attempt to corral the workers who exercised their right to refrain from dues paying union membership back into union ranks.

Cassell’s lawsuit also challenges the CWA union’s dues deduction authorizations because those authorizations do not allow employees to revoke them when no contract is in effect, as federal law requires. Instead, Verizon and union officials are forcing employees to pay full union dues for at least another year – the one-year anniversary of a new contract between Verizon and the CWA.

“Verizon is bowing to pressure from CWA officials and choosing to single out and punish those workers who chose to stay on their jobs during last year’s destructive and acrimonious strike,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “It is indefensible that workers who exercised their right to resign their union membership and continued to work to support their families are now having their rights blatantly violated by their employer and union officials.”

SEIU and Hospital Officials Hit With Federal Charges for Rigging Union Card Check ‘Vote’

Union organizers enter into corrupt agreement with hospital to force healthcare workers into union ranks using coercive card check tactics

Orange, California (February 13, 2012) – A healthcare worker has filed federal charges against a major healthcare union and hospital officials for illegally rigging a union organizing “vote” and then forcing workers to accept an unwanted union in the workplace.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Marlene Felter of Costa Mesa filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers West union officials and Chapman Medical Center management entered into a backroom deal known as a so-called “neutrality agreement” designed to grease the skids for workers to be forced into union ranks.

In the agreement, company officials granted union operatives access to company facilities to conduct a coercive “card check” organizing campaign, and waived the right to have a federally-supervised secret ballot election to determine whether employees wished to be unionized. Union organizers frequently use “card check” organizing tactics to bribe, browbeat, or cajole workers into forced-union-dues payments against their will.

Read the entire press release here.