L.A. School Employees File Class-Action Lawsuit against Local SEIU for Rights Violations

Union officials stonewall workers’ attempts to refrain from union membership and full dues payments

Los Angeles, CA (October 22, 2014) – A group of Los Angeles Unified School District workers have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 for violating their rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation-provided staff attorneys, Los Angeles school district building and grounds keeper Douglas Kennedy; bus drivers Eduardo Berumen and Griselda Moran; and cafeteria worker Magi Shanagian filed the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

In the complaint, the school employees detail how SEIU Local 99 union officials denied their several requests, in one case dating back to October 12, 2012, to refrain from full dues paying union membership.

Click here to read the full release.

Los Angeles, CA (October 22, 2014) – A group of Los Angeles Unified School District workers have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 for violating their rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation-provided staff attorneys, Los Angeles school district building and grounds keeper Douglas Kennedy; bus drivers Eduardo Berumen and Griselda Moran; and cafeteria worker Magi Shanagian filed the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

In the complaint, the school employees detail how SEIU Local 99 union officials denied their several requests, in one case dating back to October 12, 2012, to refrain from full dues paying union membership.

Because California does not have Right to Work protections for workers, workers can be forced to pay union dues and fees to an unwanted union as a condition of employment. However, under Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent, workers who refrain from union membership can also refrain from paying for union politics and members-only events.

Despite the workers’ requests to refrain from union membership and full union dues payments, the Los Angeles Unified School District continues to confiscate full union dues from the workers’ paychecks at SEIU Local 99 officials’ behest. The workers are also challenging SEIU Local 99’s agreement provision with the school district that illegally restricts workers’ ability to resign union membership and dues payments to a period of 30 days over the life of an agreement, which is often for a period of three years.

“SEIU officials are stonewalling workers’ attempts to refrain from paying for the union bosses’ radical political agenda,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This case underscores the need for California to pass a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payments strictly voluntary.”

Obama Labor Board Bucks Precedent and Positions Itself to Weaken Worker-Backed Elections to Remove Unwanted Unions

Workers will challenge NLRB attempt to destroy their ballots in vote to oust union

Chehalis, WA (October 20, 2014) – Disregarding its own long-standing precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued an order that continues the impoundment of Bradken, Inc. workers’ ballots cast to determine whether the workers want to remove a local Machinist union from their workplace.

The NLRB’s ruling endangers the results of an election initiated by Jonathan Fuller and his coworkers at the steel manufacturing facility to determine whether to remove the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District W24 union as their monopoly bargaining representative.

Click here to read the full release.

Chehalis, WA (October 20, 2014) – Disregarding its own long-standing precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued an order that continues the impoundment of Bradken, Inc. workers’ ballots cast to determine whether the workers want to remove a local Machinist union from their workplace.

The NLRB’s ruling endangers the results of an election initiated by Jonathan Fuller and his coworkers at the steel manufacturing facility to determine whether to remove the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District W24 union as their monopoly bargaining representative. Fuller is receiving free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

On August 16, 2013, IAM union officials filed federal charges against Bradken during a contract dispute. On August 30, 2013, Fuller and his coworkers filed a petition seeking a decertification election to determine their union representation. On April 23, 2014, an NLRB Regional Director approved an agreement between IAM and Bradken officials that settled the union’s charges with no admission of liability by Bradken. On June 5, the Regional Director ruled based on long-standing NLRB precedent that the facility’s approximately ninety-eight workers could vote in a decertification election, which was held on July 1 despite IAM union officials’ objections.

However, IAM union officials asked the NLRB in Washington, DC to review the Regional Director’s decision allowing the election, causing the NLRB to impound the workers’ ballots. IAM union lawyers argue that the Board should overturn the precedent that permits workers’ decertification elections when union unfair labor practice charges are settled without an employer admission of wrongdoing.

On October 10, a three-member panel of the Board issued a 2-1 order granting the IAM’s request for review, thereby leaving impounded the workers’ ballots. By not counting the ballots the NLRB leaves the union in place even though a majority of workers may have voted it out over a year ago. The grant of review signals the NLRB majority’s embrace of the union officials’ position that the ballots should be destroyed and the vote ruled invalid even though there is no current Board precedent for doing so under these circumstances.

“Taking its cue from Machinist union bosses, the Obama NLRB is positioning itself to eliminate a longstanding worker right to remove an unwanted union from their workplace during a dispute between the union and their employer,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “If the Board does so, it would not be the first time the Obama NLRB destroyed workers’ ballots when they sought to determine their own union representation.”

In 2011, the NLRB overturned earlier Foundation-won protections for workers challenging union recognition via card check unionization. As a result, workers must now wait up to three years after the date of the first bargaining agreement between their employer and union officials before they can petition for a secret ballot vote. In the wake of that ruling, hundreds of worker ballots were destroyed.

Disney Company Driver Files Federal Charge Against Teamsters Union Officials for Ignoring His Rights

Workers’ rights do not magically disappear in “The Most Magical Place on Earth”

Lake Buena Vista, FL (October 20, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Walt Disney Company driver has filed federal charges against a local Teamsters union and the company for violating his rights.

Lakeland resident Mike Silva filed the unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Teamsters Local 385 and Walt Disney for ignoring his right to refrain from paying union dues. Under Florida’s popular Right to Work law, no worker can be required to join or pay fees to a union as a condition of employment.

Silva, who refrains from union membership, sent two letters to Teamsters Local 385 union officials in August requesting a copy of his dues deduction authorization – a document used by union officials to automatically collect dues from workers’ paychecks. The union officials ignored both letters. Then on September 10, Silva sent Local 385 officials a letter revoking his dues deduction authorization. This letter also got no response.

On September 30, Silva attempted to deliver a copy of the revocation letter to Walt Disney’s Human Resources Department. A Human Resources representative told Silva he could not deliver his letter in person and indicated that she would probably throw away the letter if she received it.

Click here to read the full release.

Lake Buena Vista, FL (October 20, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Walt Disney Company driver has filed federal charges against a local Teamsters union and the company for violating his rights.

Lakeland resident Mike Silva filed the unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Teamsters Local 385 and Walt Disney for ignoring his right to refrain from paying union dues. Under Florida’s popular Right to Work law, no worker can be required to join or pay fees to a union as a condition of employment.

Silva, who refrains from union membership, sent two letters to Teamsters Local 385 union officials in August requesting a copy of his dues deduction authorization – a document used by union officials to automatically collect dues from workers’ paychecks. The union officials ignored both letters. Then on September 10, Silva sent Local 385 officials a letter revoking his dues deduction authorization. This letter also got no response.

On September 30, Silva attempted to deliver a copy of the revocation letter to Walt Disney’s Human Resources Department. A Human Resources representative told Silva he could not deliver his letter in person and indicated that she would probably throw away the letter if she received it.

Despite Silva’s repeated efforts to exercise his right to refrain from union dues payments, Walt Disney continues to confiscate full union dues from his paychecks at Teamsters Local 385 union officials’ behest.

Last month, another Walt Disney worker filed a federal charge against Teamsters Local 385 for ignoring his right to refrain from paying union dues.

“Teamster union bosses are refusing to honor workers’ legally-protected right to cut off union dues,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “To Teamsters union bosses’ chagrin, federal and state statutory protections for workers still apply in the so-called Magic Kingdom.”

The charge will be investigated by the NLRB regional office in Tampa.

Springfield, OR (October 14, 2014) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, several PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center employee have filed another round of federal charges against International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 701 for failing to provide adequate financial disclosure about the amount of union dues they are forced to pay as a condition of employment.

In January 2014, Rick Wirtz, John Bykerk, and several other Sacred Heart employees sent letters to the union affirming their nonmember status and objecting to the payment of full union dues. Because Oregon lacks a Right to Work law, nonunion employees can be required to pay union fees for workplace bargaining, but they cannot be forced to contribute to activities unrelated to that purpose, such as union political spending, lobbying and members-only events.

Union officials belatedly responded to the employees’ letters in August 2014. Although they offered to reduce the workers’ dues by 13%, IUOE officials included no information about how they arrived at that figure. Under federal labor law, unions are obligated to provide an independently-audited breakdown of their financial expenditures to help nonunion employees determine what dues they are required to pay and to decide whether to challenge the calculation.

According to union officials, Sacred Heart employees could only obtain a financial breakdown if they made an appointment at the union’s office, which is a two hour drive from their homes.

After the first round of unfair labor practice charges were filed in September 2014, union officials finally sent the objecting employees an audit of the local’s expenditures. However, they provided no information about the expenditures of the union’s national affiliates. Moreover, the audit revealed that nonunion employees were being charged for “death benefits,” which are only available to full union members.

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

“When Mr. Wirtz and his co-workers asked for information they’re entitled to under federal law, union officials responded with obstruction, obfuscation, and delay,” said Patrick Semmens, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Clearly, the union’s top priority is extracting as much money as possible from nonunion employees.”

“We hope the NLRB will promptly intervene to protect Sacred Heart employees’ workplace rights,” continued Semmens. “However, this type of abuse will persist until Oregon adopts a Right to Work law, which would make union membership and dues payments strictly voluntary.”

Truck Driver Files Federal Charge Challenging UAW Scheme to Intimidate Workers Exercising Their Right to Work

Union officials stonewall workers’ attempts to exercise their rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law

Detroit, MI (October 10, 2014) – A local truck driver has filed federal charges against a local United Auto Workers (UAW) union for using intimidation and coercion to stop her from exercising her rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, CEVA Logistics U.S., Inc. truck driver Kathileen Sulkowski filed the charge Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Detroit.

According to the charge, Sulkowski sent a letter in August exercising her right to resign UAW union membership and refrain from paying union dues. Under Michigan’s Right to Work law, no worker can be forced to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment.

On September 18, 2014, a UAW Local 600 union official sent Sulkowski a letter denying her request. Further, the UAW union official demanded that she show up in person and provide photo identification in order for her to exercise her rights.

Click here to read the full release.

Detroit, MI (October 10, 2014) – A local truck driver has filed federal charges against a local United Auto Workers (UAW) union for using intimidation and coercion to stop her from exercising her rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, CEVA Logistics U.S., Inc. truck driver Kathleen Sulkowski filed the charge Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Detroit.

According to the charge, Sulkowski sent a letter in August exercising her right to resign UAW union membership and refrain from paying union dues. Under Michigan’s Right to Work law, no worker can be forced to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment.

On September 18, 2014, a UAW Local 600 union official sent Sulkowski a letter denying her request. Further, the UAW union official demanded that she show up in person and provide photo identification in order for her to exercise her rights.

“Across the state, union officials 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. “UAW union officials’ latest tactic to show up in person and furnish photo identification is designed to dissuade or intimidate workers from exercising their rights to refrain from membership.”

“On the UAW’s website, the union hierarchy opposes what it calls ‘outrageous voter ID laws’ but apparently union officials have no problem requiring ID for workers who want to resign and cut off union dues, including dues money spent to promote the union boss position on voter ID legislation,” continued Mix.

Foundation staff attorneys are assisting several workers in cases across Michigan challenging union officials’ schemes to stonewall workers attempts to exercise their rights under the state’s Right to Work law.

Right to Work Foundation Announces Offer of Free Legal Aid to Alabama Mercedes-Benz Employees

Unions collude to force workers into union ranks

Springfield, VA (October 3, 2014) – Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, has issued the following statement in response to recent media reports regarding United Auto Workers (UAW) union bosses’ latest push to unionize Mercedes-Benz workers at the Vance, Alabama plant:

“Recent media reports suggest that UAW union officials are joining forces with foreign union bosses to unionize Mercedes-Benz employees in Alabama.

“The National Right to Work Foundation has seen again and again the UAW union hierarchy cut backroom deals with outside union groups, and even companies, that are designed to push workers into union ranks whether the employees like it or not, most recently in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Click here to read the full release.