Sacramento, CA (November 30, 2011) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, a Sutter Roseville Medical Center respiratory care practitioner has won a settlement against a statewide union for coercing her and her colleagues into paying forced union dues.

Late last year, Mary Massen filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in San Francisco after Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers – West (SEIU-UHW) officials refused to allow her to exercise her rights.

Because California does not have Right to Work protections for its workers, Massen, who has exercised her right to refrain from formal union membership, is still forced to pay union fees as a condition of employment. However, because of a Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck, she cannot be compelled to pay the portion of union dues used for the union’s political, lobbying, and member-only activities. Union officials are also legally obligated to inform workers of these rights and to provide workers with an independently verified audit of chargeable and non-chargeable expenses.

Union officials failed to provide nonmember employees with the disclosure Beck requires and forced the workers to object annually, a tactic designed to coerce workers into paying full union dues. Additionally, SEIU-UHW union officials required employees to provide their social security numbers to refrain from paying union dues used for union boss political activities, further discouraging workers from exercising their rights.

Union bosses’ misuse of social security numbers to retaliate against workers who refuse to toe the union line is not without precedent. In an ongoing case, Foundation attorneys are assisting 16 employees in North Carolina whose social security numbers and other personal information were publicly posted by union officials in apparent retaliation for exercising their right to not join the union.

The settlement prohibits SEIU-UHW from requiring annual renewal, stops union officials from demanding social security numbers from workers exercising their Beck rights, and requires union officials to post an informational notice in the workplace. Foundation attorneys are appealing a part of the settlement because the NLRB is not requiring union officials post the informational notice on the union’s website.

“This precedent-setting victory defeated a union hierarchy’s scheme to force workers to give away sensitive personal information for no other reason than to discourage them from exercising their statutory rights,” said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director of the National Right to Work Foundation. “California needs a Right to Work law to protect workers from these forced unionism abuses in the future.”

Washington, DC (November 29, 2011) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, several Illinois personal care providers are asking the Supreme Court to invalidate a scheme enacted by Governor Pat Quinn and his predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, aimed at forcing them into union ranks.

Pam Harris and seven other Illinois care providers filed a petition for a writ of certiorari today, challenging the Governors’ forced-unionism scheme on the grounds that it violates the Constitution’s guarantees of free expression and association, effectively forcing providers to subsidize union officials’ lobbying efforts.

The petition stems from 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 eligible for unwanted union organizing.

As a result of Quinn’s order, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union 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 Rod Blagojevich, which designated over 20,000 personal care providers as state workers for the purpose of forcing them into union ranks. Quinn’s executive order 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, 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.

“My primary concern is that someone else will be telling me how to best care for my son,” said Harris, who provides personal care for her adult son and is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. “Union dues would be a deduction from what we have available to provide for my son’s needs. And then I would be giving my money to a union to exercise their political muscle on issues I may vehemently disagree with.”

“This scheme is nothing more than pure political payback,” said Patrick Semmens, legal information director for the National Right to Work Foundation. “Governor Quinn’s campaign was enthusiastically supported by the SEIU, and now he’s returning the favor by helping force home-based care providers into union ranks. We hope the Supreme Court takes the case and eventually invalidates this blatant union power grab.”

WVU Hospital Employee Files Federal Charge after Union Ignores Her Rights

West Virginia’s workers desperately need Right to Work protections

Morgantown, WV (November 23, 2011) – With aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, a West Virginia University Hospital employee has filed a second federal charge against a local union for refusing to honor her resignation from formal union membership, forcing her to pay full union dues against her will, and failing to provide the legally-required disclosure of how her forced dues are being spent.

Kimberly Wright initially resigned formal union membership from the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 814 in December 2010. Wright exercised her rights under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck, which allows workers to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

For months following, LIUNA Local 814 union officials continued to extract full union dues from her paycheck, forcing her to file a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal assistance from Foundation attorneys. The Board then settled the case with union lawyers.

Despite the settlement, LIUNA Local 814 union officials continue to collect full union dues from her paycheck.

Read the entire release here.

Morgantown, WV (November 23, 2011) – With aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, a West Virginia University Hospital employee has filed a second federal charge against a local union for refusing to honor her resignation from formal union membership, forcing her to pay full union dues against her will, and failing to provide the legally-required disclosure of how her forced dues are being spent.

Kimberly Wright initially resigned formal union membership from the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 814 in December 2010. Wright exercised her rights under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck, which allows workers to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

For months following, LIUNA Local 814 union officials continued to extract full union dues from her paycheck, forcing her to file a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal assistance from Foundation attorneys. The Board then settled the case with union lawyers.

Despite the settlement, LIUNA Local 814 union officials continue to collect full union dues from her paycheck.

Because West Virginia does not have a Right to Work law on the books, workers can still be compelled to pay a part of union dues despite refraining from formal union membership. LIUNA Local 814 union bosses have refused to provide Wright with the necessary legally-required disclosure of how her forced dues are being spent. As a result, Wright filed a second charge with the NLRB on Monday.

Wright’s charges will now be investigated by the NLRB regional office in Pittsburgh.

“LIUNA Local 814 union officials are illegally keeping workers in the dark about how their forced union dues are being spent,” said Mark Mix, president of National Right to Work. “This case shows once again that workers desperately need Right to Work protections making union membership and dues payments completely voluntary.”

Worker Files Brief Defending Rights in Teamster Union Discrimination Federal Appeal

Despite multiple rulings, Teamster union bosses try to validate discrimination against worker

Denver, CO (November 23, 2011) – An Interstate Bakeries employee from Ponca City, Oklahoma has filed a brief in federal court asking the court to uphold repeated decisions in his favor against Teamster union workplace discrimination.

With continued free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, Interstate Bakeries employee Kirk Rammage filed the brief Wednesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Rammage was the single nonunion sales representative with Dolly Madison for over 15 years before his division was merged in 2005 with Wonder Bread/Hostess. Although the company initially wanted to retain Rammage and protect his seniority during the merger, Teamsters Local 523 union bosses demanded that union members receive preferential treatment, putting Rammage at the bottom of the seniority roster despite his workplace tenure. The company later caved into the union bosses’ demand.

At Interstate Bakeries, seniority increases employees’ chances of securing desirable sales routes. By insisting that Rammage lose his seniority, Teamster officials effectively signaled that union workers took priority over their nonunion colleagues. As a result, Rammage was forced to commute to a new work location more than 70 miles away.

Read the entire release here.

Denver, CO (November 23, 2011) – An Interstate Bakeries employee from Ponca City, Oklahoma has filed a brief in federal court asking the court to uphold repeated decisions in his favor against Teamster union workplace discrimination.

With continued free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, Interstate Bakeries employee Kirk Rammage filed the brief Wednesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Rammage was the single nonunion sales representative with Dolly Madison for over 15 years before his division was merged in 2005 with Wonder Bread/Hostess. Although the company initially wanted to retain Rammage and protect his seniority during the merger, Teamsters Local 523 union bosses demanded that union members receive preferential treatment, putting Rammage at the bottom of the seniority roster despite his workplace tenure. The company later caved into the union bosses’ demand.

At Interstate Bakeries, seniority increases employees’ chances of securing desirable sales routes. By insisting that Rammage lose his seniority, Teamster officials effectively signaled that union workers took priority over their nonunion colleagues. As a result, Rammage was forced to commute to a new work location more than 70 miles away.

After Rammage filed federal charges against the union, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) – a federal agency charged with administering private sector labor law – ruled against a Teamster workplace policy that discriminated against nonunion workers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the NLRB’s decision. Those rulings were later nullified by the U.S. Supreme Court on the grounds that the Board lacked a three member quorum at the time of the decision.

The Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit then remanded the case to the NLRB. Once the Board had a quorum, the NLRB revisited the facts of the case and again concluded that Teamster officials broke the law by discriminating against employees based on their union representation status.

Teamster union lawyers are now appealing the NLRB’s most recent decision back to the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

“Teamster bosses are using any means necessary to discriminate against a nonunion worker because he had the temerity not to associate with their union,” said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director for the National Right to Work Foundation. “Teamster union bosses apparently need to be told time and time again that they need to respect all workers’ rights, including those workers who want nothing to do with the union bosses’ so-called representation.”

Long Island, NY (November 9, 2011) – A group of automobile parts manufacturing workers have forced out an unwanted union despite the union and the company trying to keep the workers under union control.

With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, Sterling Instruments, Inc. worker Charlie Shannon filed unfair labor practice charges for himself and his coworkers against the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine, and Furniture Workers-Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA) Local 463 union. He also filed a decertification petition to force out the union.

In his charges, Shannon asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to halt an unpopular local union from forcing its representation on him and his colleagues after all but one of them signed a petition to remove the unwanted union from their workplace.

Despite no longer enjoying majority support from the employees, IUE-CWA Local 463 union officials unlawfully continued to negotiate a new monopoly bargaining agreement with Sterling Instruments.

IUE-CWA union and company officials even went so far as to sign a one-page document that simply stated the workers were getting two percent pay raises for the next three years, then claimed the new agreement invalidated the employees’ decertification petition even though 22 of the 23 employees covered in the union monopoly agreement had resigned their union membership.

After investigating Shannon’s initial charges, the NLRB regional office in Brooklyn indicated that IUE-CWA Local 463 union officials illegally collected forced union dues payments from the workers because the contract’s forced-dues clause with the company was not valid. The union then announced it no longer claimed to represent the employees. The workers are now seeking a refund of the dues illegally seized from their paychecks, plus interest.

“This case is an example of how federal labor law works against workers who want nothing to do with a union,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “These employees, and all American workers, should be free to negotiate their own terms and conditions of employment, and be rewarded on their individual merit, if they so choose.”

“These courageous workers have successfully stood up against the old-school style of mafia-like forced unionism, but thousands more workers in the Empire State are forced to pay dues and accept the so-called representation of an unwanted union,” added Mix. “Instances like these prove that New York desperately needs Right to Work protections for its workers.”

Worker Advocate Offers Legal Aid to Charlotte Employees Discriminated Against during Democrat Convention

Media reports suggest nonunion workers may be ordered off their jobs to satisfy demands of Organized Labor

Charlotte, NC (November 9, 2011) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which helps victims of forced unionism, is offering free legal aid to workers who refrain from union membership and may be ordered off their jobs or prevented to work during the 2012 Democratic National Convention scheduled for August 2012 in Charlotte.

In response to media reports, the Right to Work Foundation is offering free legal assistance for nonunion Time Warner Cable Arena, surrounding venue, local hotel, and other area workers who may lose work in favor of unionized workers in the lead up to and during the convention.

Discriminating against workers who exercise their right to refrain from union membership is a clear violation of North Carolina’s Right to Work law and the federal National Labor Relations Act.

Read the entire release here.

Charlotte, NC (November 9, 2011) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which helps victims of forced unionism, is offering free legal aid to workers who refrain from union membership and may be ordered off their jobs or prevented to work during the 2012 Democratic National Convention scheduled for August 2012 in Charlotte.

In response to media reports, the Right to Work Foundation is offering free legal assistance for nonunion Time Warner Cable Arena, surrounding venue, local hotel, and other area workers who may lose work in favor of unionized workers in the lead up to and during the convention.

Discriminating against workers who exercise their right to refrain from union membership is a clear violation of North Carolina’s Right to Work law and the federal National Labor Relations Act.

The Foundation encourages workers to learn about their rights and request free legal advice and aid at its website: www.nrtw.org.

“It appears Big Labor officials and the Democratic Party are preparing to commit violations of North Carolina’s popular Right to Work law and federal law,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Despite Democratic officials’ rhetoric about jobs, it appears they plan to force workers off the job to appease their Big Labor benefactors”

“Not only is this outrageous, it is illegal,” added Mix. “Workers who feel their rights may be violated are encouraged to contact the National Right to Work Foundation for legal assistance.”

Coca-Cola Worker Wins Thousands in Settlement After Union Bosses Illegally Had Him Fired

Incident shows Pennsylvania’s workers desperately need Right to Work protections

Houston, PA (November 4, 2011) – A Coca-Cola employee has won a settlement for over $4,000 with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.

Keith Smiesko of Saxonburg won $3,356.46 from Teamster Local 585 union officials and $819.54 from Coca-Cola after he was illegally fired from his job for exercising his rights under the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck, which allows workers to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

Earlier this year, Teamster Local 585 union officials ordered Smiesko – who had refrained from full union membership and dues payments – to immediately pay full union dues for the previous three years along with additional union initiation fees without ever notifying him that he was being charged for their so-called "representation." Union officials illegally threatened Smiesko with job termination if he did not pay.

Smiesko refused to pay, and Teamster Local 585 union officials demanded that Coca-Cola fire him. Coca-Cola complied with the union bosses’ demand.

Read the entire release here.