Union and parking contractor collaborated to foist unwanted union “representation” on employees

Bethesda, MD (March 8, 2016) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, 14 National Institute of Health (NIH) parking attendants have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against a federal contractor and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 27 union for violating their workplace rights. According to the charges, union and company officials coerced employees at the Bethesda NIH facility into acceding to unionization and then demanded they all pay full union dues to keep their jobs.

In October 2015, Penn Parking replaced Colonial Parking as the parking contractor at the Bethesda NIH campus. Penn officials then told the employees, many of whom had worked for NIH for years, that they could only keep their jobs if they signed union membership and dues deduction cards. Although these were signed under duress, union officials used the cards to begin collecting full dues from these employees.

Not only did UFCW officials bypass the proper legal procedures that determine whether a group of employees unionize, they also violated federal labor law by telling the employees that they must become dues-paying union members to keep their jobs. Union officials and employers are legally prohibited from requiring anyone to formally join a union as a condition of employment.

The NIH later determined that Penn Parking was wrongly given the contract, and the company is now in the process of being replaced by another contractor. However, union officials insist that they continue to “represent” the parking attendants, despite the fact that these employees were coerced into joining the union in the first place.

The charges will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency that administers private sector labor law.

“These employees were forced to join and pay dues to a union they had no interest in supporting,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “That’s outrageous, which is why Foundation staff attorneys intervened to defend their workplace rights.”

“Aside from highlighting the union’s coercive organizing tactics, this episode also demonstrates the need for a Maryland Right to Work law, which would protect employees from being forced to pay any union dues at all to keep a job,” added Semmens.

Union officials violated employees’ rights by threatening to have them fired if they didn’t pay full union dues and a hefty union initiation fee

Portland, OR (March 7, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, three KOIN TV employees have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the NABET-CWA Local 51 union. The employees charge that union officials failed to inform them of their right not to formally join the union, billed them for full union dues, and demanded they pay a $2,700 “union initiation fee” or be fired from their jobs.

Hannah Button, Peter Marshall, and Lacey Hamerin all began working at KOIN TV in late 2014 and early 2015. Because Oregon lacks a Right to Work law, nonunion employees can be required to pay union fees as a condition of employment. However, these employees cannot be forced to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as union politics. They are also entitled to information about union finances to help them determine what they are obligated to pay.

In all three cases, union officials blatantly ignored these longstanding protections. When Hannah Button joined KOIN TV in January 2015, union officials failed to inform her of her right to refrain from paying full union dues. In July 2015, Button sent the union a letter announcing her decision to resign and reduce her dues payments. Union officials failed to respond to Button until February 2016, when they told her that she would still be charged for full union dues for the period before she submitted her resignation letter, despite the fact that she was never informed of her right to resign and reduce her dues payments in the first place.

Union officials also claimed that Button still had to pay a full “union initiation fee” of $2,700, and that the total amount she owed was over $3,000. Further, if she did not pay the entire amount within 17 days, the union would have her fired.

Marshall and Hamerin faced similar demands from union officials when they attempted to resign and reduce their dues payments. All three employees were never informed of their workplace rights and received no information from union officials about how the forced dues they supposedly owe were calculated. Like Button, Marshall and Hamerin were also told that they would lose their jobs if they failed to promptly pay thousands of dollars in union dues and initiation fees.

Button, Marshall, and Hamerin’s charges will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.

“Union officials will go to great lengths to extract as much cash as possible from nonunion employees,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Although Local 51 officials’ outrageous demands clearly violate federal law, Oregon law enables this type of abuse by empowering union officials to require nonunion workers to pay some union fees as a condition of employment.”

“Oregon should rectify this unjust arrangement and curb future abuses by passing a Right to Work law, which would make all union dues strictly voluntary,” added Semmens.

NLRB investigation finds Rite Aid employee was illegally threatened with termination when union officials demanded she join the union and pay full dues

Constantine, MI (March 4, 2016) – Responding to a charge filed for Laura Fries by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a formal complaint against United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 951 because union officials threatened to have several Rite Aid employees fired for refusing to join the union and pay full dues.

Fries worked as a certified pharmacy technician at a Rite Aid pharmacy in Sturgis, Michigan. With the help of Foundation staff attorneys, she filed charges with the NLRB after a Local 951 representative told her that she had to join the union and pay full dues to keep her job.

Federal labor law holds that no worker can be forced to formally join a union, but employees can be forced to pay up to 100% of union dues to keep a job. Under Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work law, most Michigan employees cannot be required to pay any union dues or fees as a condition of employment. However, union monopoly bargaining contracts that authorize mandatory union fees and predate passage of the Right to Work law, a category that includes the contract between Fries’ former employer and Local 951, were grandfathered in under a provision in the bill. This means that Fries could be forced to pay a so-called “agency fee” to Local 951, but federal law protects her right to refrain from full union membership and from paying dues for activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as union politics.

Despite those longstanding protections, on November 2, 2015, Fries was told by a union official that she would be fired unless she joined Local 951. Fries then signed the union membership and dues checkoff authorization forms under duress, adding the phrase “did not want to join.”

When Fries called Local 951’s office later that day, another union official said that she had been wrongfully informed that union membership is required for employment. However, this union representative also said that Fries would have to send a letter stating her desire to refrain from union membership, and informed Fries she owed back union dues from January 2015, when she first began working at Rite Aid. November 2 was the first time Fries had ever been told that she had to pay union dues as a condition of employment and owed back dues.

On November 3, Local 951 acknowledged receipt of Fries’ letter expressing her desire to refrain from joining the union. However, Local 951 did not indicate whether Fries’ resignation had been accepted. Local 951 also failed to provide any further information about what “back dues” Fries allegedly owed, and did not inform Fries how she could avoid paying for Local 951’s political activities, despite the union’s legal obligation to do so.

Fries’ employer began deducting full union dues from her paycheck in November. According to the NLRB’s complaint, several other employees were also told they would lose their jobs if they did not join the union.

“Union officials illegally threatened workers who had no interest in joining the union or paying full dues,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “While we hope the NLRB promptly intervenes to ensure nonunion employees’ rights are respected, this case demonstrates the importance of Michigan’s new Right to Work laws, which prevent union bosses from using their forced dues powers to abuse employees’ rights.”

Veteran officer was transferred out of prestigious SWAT position for asserting his workplace rights

Hartford, CT (March 3, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Connecticut State Trooper has just filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against the Connecticut State Police Union (CSPU), the CSPU’s president, and Connecticut’s Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. According to Sergeant Joseph Mercer, he and other troopers suffered retaliation from union officials for exercising their workplace rights.

Sergeant Mercer, a veteran state trooper, is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed in 2015 that alleges CPSU officials refused to allow nonunion employees to opt out of paying dues for union politics. Sergeant Mercer says that he was then transferred from a prestigious post because he resigned from the union, refrained from supporting its political agenda, and is involved in the lawsuit.

In May 2015, Sergeant Mercer was appointed Operations Sergeant to the Emergency Services Division, a prestigious command position that entails significant responsibility for SWAT training and field operations. Although Sergeant Mercer has seventeen years of SWAT experience, CPSU President Andrew Matthews made several attempts to meet with state police command staff to protest Sergeant Mercer’s new position because of his nonunion status. In June 2015, Matthews filed a grievance against Sergeant Mercer’s appointment. Matthews’ grievance claimed that there had been no “selection process” to fill the position, despite the fact that none of Sergeant Mercer’s union-member predecessors had undergone any kind of selection process before they got the job.

In October 2015, Matthews successfully lobbied the Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services to have Mercer transferred out of the Emergency Services Division to an administrative post. Mercer’s new position gives him substantially fewer opportunities to work in the field or accrue overtime pay. The transfer order could cost Mercer approximately $50,000 in pensionable overtime pay per year.

Prior to his transfer, Mercer had never received any warnings, reprimands, or other disciplinary actions during his career as a Connecticut State Trooper. Mercer’s lawsuit seeks his reinstatement as Operations Sergeant in the Emergency Services Division and compensatory damages for the decrease in his overtime pay opportunities.

“Union bosses just can’t stomach employee dissent, or even the mention of rights that employees have to refrain from union activities,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Instead of respecting Mercer’s rights to refrain from joining the union and supporting its political agenda, the CSPU’s president launched an ugly campaign to deprive him of a position he obtained on his own merits.”

“Law enforcement officers shouldn’t have to endure workplace reprisals for standing up for their rights,” continued Mix. “We hope this lawsuit holds CSPU bosses accountable for their retaliatory actions.”

10 Maysteel workers file charges to stop company and union officials from seizing forced union dues

Washington County, WI (March 2, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, ten Maysteel Industries employees have filed charges in Wisconsin State Circuit Court as well as with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission against International Association of Machinists Union District 10, IAM Lodge 2053, and Maysteel Industries, LLC. The workers charge that IAM union bosses and Maysteel violated Wisconsin’s Right to Work law when they were forced to pay union fees to keep their jobs.

All of the plaintiffs work at Maysteel’s sheet metal fabrication plant in Allenton. Before Wisconsin had a Right to Work law, Maysteel and IAM entered into a monopoly bargaining agreement which expired on March 4, 2015 that contained a forced dues clause.

In mid-March 2015, several of the workers approached human resources officials to get a copy of the new monopoly bargaining agreement that would be imposed. The workers were told that IAM officials and Maysteel were still working on the contract and that it would be signed on March 18, 2015.

Wisconsin’s private sector Right to Work law, which protects a worker’s right to refrain from paying any union dues or fees as a condition of employment, took effect on March 11, 2015. Several of the workers sent letters to Maysteel and IAM officials noting that because the Right to Work law would apply to the new contract, they could no longer be required to pay any fees to IAM as a condition of employment.

In late April, union bosses responded in a letter incorrectly claiming that Wisconsin’s Right to Work law did not apply to the new contract and threatening that if the workers did not pay a portion of their paycheck to IAM officials, the union would order Maysteel to terminate their employment. Since the new contract took effect, Maysteel has continued to require union fees from all ten of the workers in violation of Wisconsin’s Right to Work law.

“Sadly, this is just the latest Big Labor scheme to siphon off money from workers’ paychecks,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Union bosses apparently think that workers won’t notice if they flat-out ignore Right to Work laws. Fortunately these workers decided to fight back, and the National Right to Work Foundation is proud to fight alongside them, because no worker should ever be fired for refusing to pay union fees.”

IAM lawsuit seeks to overturn labor reform that freed Wisconsin workers from being forced to pay union dues to keep a job

Dane County, WI (February 25, 2016) – Today, veteran National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorney Milton Chappell will defend Wisconsin’s Right to Work law in Dane County Circuit Court against a lawsuit filed by International Association of Machinist (IAM) union lawyers. Chappell represents four Wisconsin employees who believe they should not be forced to pay union dues to keep a job. The motion to file an amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) brief was submitted by attorneys from the National Right to Work Foundation and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.

Randy Darty, Tod Momberg, Daniel Sarauer, and Daniel Zastrow are all nonunion employees who work in unionized workplaces. All four wish to safeguard their right to refrain from paying dues to unions to which they don’t belong. Prior to enactment of Wisconsin’s Right to Work law, nonunion private-sector employees could be forced to pay union dues to keep a job.

The National Right to Work Foundation has a long history of successfully defending Right to Work laws in state and federal court, most recently in Indiana and Michigan. Foundation attorneys also provided free legal assistance to several Wisconsin civil servants who sought to refrain from paying union dues or fees under Governor Scott Walker’s 2011 public-sector labor reforms.

After Wisconsin’s Right to Work law went into effect on March 11, 2015, the National Right to Work Foundation announced an offer of free legal aid to any employees seeking to assert their rights under the new law. The Foundation also created a special task force to defend the Wisconsin law in court from any union legal challenges.

“We are proud to defend Wisconsin’s Right to Work law for the hundreds of thousands of Badger State workers who can no longer be forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Our staff attorneys have a great deal of experience defending state Right to Work laws, and we are confident that this latest union legal gambit will not succeed in undermining Wisconsin employees’ newly-enshrined workplace freedoms.”

Decision also struck down union “window period” policies that restricted employees’ rights to leave unions, opt out of dues

Detroit, MI (February 25, 2016) –The Michigan Employee Relations Commission (MERC) has affirmed the right of Michigan employees to leave a union and stop paying union dues at any time. MERC also ruled that union officials may not dispatch debt collectors to collect illegally demanded forced union dues. The rulings were issued in two cases brought by public school employees with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

Alphia Snyder, a Battle Creek Public Schools employee, resigned her union membership in April 2013, after the pre-existing monopoly bargaining agreement expired and she became fully covered by Michigan’s public sector Right to Work law. However, Michigan Education Association (MEA) union officials insisted that Snyder could only leave the union during an annual 30 day window period in August. Throughout the fall of 2013, Snyder received several demands from MEA bosses for forced dues. Snyder repeatedly reiterated that she had resigned her union membership and would no longer pay any union dues or fees. Snyder filed unfair labor practice charges against the MEA in the spring of 2014.

Mary Carr, a Grand Blanc Community Schools employee, resigned her union membership in November of 2013, just as she became fully covered by Michigan’s Right to Work Law. However, MEA officials responded to Carr’s resignation letter by informing her it would not be effective until the following August “window” period. Union officials then sent multiple demands for forced dues, and eventually threatened Carr that if she did not pay the forced dues, union officials would dispatch debt collectors. Carr also filed unfair labor practice charges against the MEA in the spring of 2014.

In previous decisions, MERC has held that resignation “window” periods are illegal. In this decision, MERC reaffirmed that Michigan’s public sector Right to Work law protects Snyder and Carr’s right to resign union membership and stop all dues and fees at any time, for any reason. MERC noted that Snyder and Carr’s obligation to pay union dues ended the moment they submitted their resignations.

MERC also found union officials’ threats to hire debt collectors “unlawful,” and held that any future such threat would violate the Right to Work law.

“MERC’s decision deals a serious blow to union bosses’ campaigns of threats and intimidation against workers who chose to exercise their Right to Work,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Union bosses just don’t want to accept that Michigan is a Right to Work state, and workers unfortunately face resistance and intimidation just for exercising their workplace rights. The NRTW Foundation will continue to fight against such unlawful practices, and work to ensure that no Michigan worker is ever forced to pay union dues or fees just to get or keep a job.”

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation assists public school teachers after Ann Arbor Education Association union officials illegally demanded ‘mandatory’ union fees

Ann Arbor, Michigan (February 22, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, public school teachers in Ann Arbor, Michigan have filed unfair labor practice charges with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) against the Ann Arbor Education Association (AAEA). The charges allege that the AAEA violated Michigan’s public sector Right to Work law when union officials demanded compulsory union fees.

Jeffrey Finnan has worked at Skyline High School since August 2010, and Cory Merante has worked at Pittsfield Elementary since August 2006. Both schools are part of the Ann Arbor Public Schools District which has (and had at the time both plaintiffs were hired) a monopoly bargaining agreement with the Ann Arbor Education Association.

Finnan and Merante joined AAEA when they were hired. Because Michigan lacked a Right to Work law at the time, they were required to join AAEA or pay an “agency” fee nearly equal to full union dues as a condition of employment. In August 2014, Finnan resigned his union membership, and Merante resigned his membership in August 2015.

In June 2014, the AAEA and school district entered into a new contract that modified teachers’ compensation packages and renewed the forced dues clause in the previous contract, despite the fact that Michigan’s Right to Work law protects teachers from forced-dues schemes that are renewed, extended, or created after the law’s effective date of March 28, 2013. Thus, the Right to Work law’s prohibition on forced dues applied to the 2014 contract.

Throughout the summer of 2015, Finnan received monthly invoices from union officials demanding he pay installments for the union fee, despite the fact that Finnan had resigned union membership and could no longer be forced to pay any union dues or fees.

In August 2015, the AAEA and school district again entered into an agreement that contained a forced-dues clause in violation of the Right to Work law. On December 18, 2015 both Finnan and Merante received letters from the Michigan Education Association on behalf of AAEA which stated that they were required to either join AAEA or pay an “agency” fee, and demanded over $500 in fees.

The MERC will now investigate both charges.

“Union bosses are desperate to maintain their coffers, so it appears they are willing to blatantly violate Michigan’s Right to Work law,” said Mark Mix, president of the NRTW Foundation. “These sorts of schemes must not continue, because no teacher, nor any worker, should be forced to pay union dues or fees just to get or keep a job.”

Foundation staff attorneys will offer free legal representation to West Virginia workers seeking to exercise new Right to Work protections

Springfield, VA (February 16, 2016) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation announced today the creation of a special task force to defend and enforce West Virginia’s newly-passed Right to Work law. Foundation staff attorneys will offer free legal advice and aid to Mountain State workers seeking to exercise their rights to refrain from union membership and union dues payment, guaranteed by the Right to Work law.

On Friday February 12, West Virginia legislators overrode Gov. Tomblin’s veto of Right to Work legislation, thereby making West Virginia the nation’s newest Right to Work state. Under the law – which applies to monopoly bargaining contracts entered into, modified, renewed or extended after July 1, 2016 – workers will no longer be required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment once any union monopoly bargaining agreement in effect on or before June 30, 2016, is modified, renewed or extended.

The NRTW Foundation has a long history of assisting employees seeking to exercise their Right to Work rights, most recently under Right to Work provisions enacted in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Foundation staff attorneys are prepared to defend the West Virginia Right to Work law from any spurious legal challenges brought by union officials. Big Labor, unwilling to give up their forced-dues powers, routinely challenges Right to Work laws in courts despite the fact that Right to Work laws have repeatedly been upheld.

Unfortunately, union officials also often try to stymie independent-minded workers who seek to exercise their rights under Right to Work laws. Any West Virginia worker who has questions about his or her rights, or encounters any resistance or abuse while trying to exercise his or her workplace rights, is encouraged to contact Foundation staff attorneys for free legal aid.

Staff attorneys are preparing a special legal notice to be released in the coming days to inform all West Virginia workers of their new workplace rights. Affected employees are encouraged to call the Foundation’s legal hotline toll-free at 1-800-336-3600 or contact the Foundation online at www.nrtw.org to request free legal assistance or to learn more about their new rights.

“It’s not enough to enact Right to Work protections; they must be vigorously defended and enforced,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. Union bosses will go to great lengths to keep workers in their forced-dues grasp. The National Right to Work Foundation will fight to make sure that every West Virginian’s Right to Work is protected, because no worker should ever be forced to pay union dues or fees just to get or keep a job.”

Home healthcare providers file suit to force SEIU Local 503 and state officials to comply fully with Harris v. Quinn, stop blocking providers from exercising their constitutional rights

SALEM, Oregon (February 15, 2016) – With free legal assistance from the Freedom Foundation and National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, a Medicaid-funded home healthcare provider in Oregon filed a federal lawsuit against Service Employees International Union Local 503 (Local 503) and the State of Oregon and various state agencies. The lawsuit seeks to end a Local 503 scheme which forces home healthcare providers, who are former union members, to continue paying dues to Local 503 as part of a state policy.

A similar forced-dues scheme in Illinois was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2014. In the NRTW Foundation-won case, Harris v. Quinn, the Court held that because home healthcare providers who merely receive a state subsidy are not full-fledged public employees, they cannot be forced to join or pay a fee to a union to receive the state subsidy.

The Oregon lawsuit seeks to force Local 503 and Oregon state officials to comply with the Court’s Harris precedent, and allow providers to revoke any previous dues authorizations.

Local 503 officials are imposing bureaucratic hurdles to make it very difficult for home healthcare providers to stop dues deductions. Local 503 officials have imposed a restrictive annual 15-day window period to revoke dues deductions authorizations.

The lawsuit seeks to strike down the window period and require Local 503 and the state to comply with Harris, so that any Oregon home healthcare worker who receives a state subsidy can stop all dues and fees to Local 503 at any time, for any reason.

“Despite a Supreme Court ruling that explicitly outlaws this sort of forced-dues scheme, union bosses continue to seize money from mothers and fathers who are simply taking care of their own children,” said Mark Mix, president of the NRTW Foundation. “It is outrageous that the state of Oregon continues to permit SEIU bosses to siphon off funding intended for the care of children.”

“This case demonstrates why Oregon needs a Right to Work law, which would make union membership and payment of dues or fees strictly voluntary,” continued Mix.