Employees voted to oust Teamsters last November but were forced to wait months while the NLRB resolved a last-ditch union attempt to overturn results

Santa Cruz, CA (March 16, 2016) – Following a lengthy legal process, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has certified the outcome of an election removing Teamsters Local 912 from two Oakland-area Threshold Enterprises facilities. National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys participated in the hearing for Tomas Campos, a Threshold employee who opposed the union’s presence and defended the employees’ vote to eject the union.

Prior to the decertification election, Local 912 was the monopoly bargaining agent for approximately 546 Threshold employees at the facilities. Because California lacks a Right to Work law, this meant that Teamster officials were legally empowered to collect mandatory union dues or fees from all workers, including the majority who opposed the union’s presence.

In late November 2015, Threshold employees voted 269-195 to remove the Teamsters. Union lawyers responded by filing four election objections with the NLRB, three of which were immediately rejected. After holding a hearing on the remaining objection, the NLRB ultimately upheld the election results.

Not only did union officials fight the decertification results, they also retaliated against employees who opposed the union’s presence. Prior to the election, Foundation staff attorneys filed federal unfair labor practice charges for Hector Garcia and Enriqueta Morales, two employees whose jobs were threatened for working to remove the union. Garcia and Morales also say that other employees faced harassment and intimidation from Teamster operatives for opposing the union’s presence.

“Mr. Campos and his colleagues had to overcome legal obstructionism and Teamster boss intimidation tactics to get rid of a union they wanted nothing to do with,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Unfortunately, workers across the country often face similar hurdles when attempting to remove unwanted union bosses from their workplaces.”

“This episode also emphasizes the need for a California Right to Work law, which would ensure that no employee can be forced to pay union dues to get or keep a job,” continued Semmens.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.