Labor Board charge: Union violated federal law by ignoring worker’s request to stop dues payments without any explanation
Orlando, FL (February 24, 2023) – Jose Alejandro Class Robles, a Disney Parks and Resorts employee in Orlando, Florida has filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against UNITE HERE Local 362 for illegally deducting dues from his paycheck. The unfair labor practice charges were filed with the NLRB Region 12 office with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
Since 1943, Florida’s Right to Work protections make union membership and financial support strictly voluntary. However, rather than respect workers’ ability to decide individually whether or not to voluntary financially support the union, UNITE HERE union officials are blocking Class from exercising his rights under the law and stonewalling his request for required information regarding the dues deductions.
According to his charge, in December 2022, Class resigned his union membership and revoked the union’s authorization to deduct dues from his paycheck. That December letter also requested that, if union officials did not immediately accept his dues checkoff revocation, that the union provide him with a copy of any checkoff he may have signed within 14 days of receipt.
To date, the union has not stopped collecting dues from his wages, nor has it provided him with the requested copy of a signed checkoff authorization, which might specify when revocation is allowed. “In an all too common situation, union officials are blatantly ignoring a worker’s right to end financial support to a union just so they can fill their coffers by seizing union dues from unwilling employees,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Workers everywhere, especially in Right to Work states, should know they can turn to the National Right to Work Foundation for free legal aid to help enforce their rights.”
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.
