Portage, Indiana (December 5, 2011) – In response to charges filed by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys for two Minteq employees, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a complaint against International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 union officials.

The NLRB issued the consolidated complaint against Minteq and Local 150 for forcing employees to continue paying union dues after the bargaining agreement between the company and the union expired. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is providing free legal aid to two employees, Joel Tibbets and Adam Hill, who filed the original unfair labor practice charges.

From 2006 to December 31, 2010, Minteq and Local 150 were party to a union monopoly bargaining agreement that required employees to pay union dues to keep a job with the company. Such agreements are legal because Indiana lacks a Right to Work law, which would prohibit union officials from forcing workers to pay dues as a condition of employment.

Once the contract between Minteq and the union expired, however, company officials continued to deduct union dues from Minteq employees’ paychecks and hand them over to Local 150 bosses. Union and company officials have not agreed to a new contract since December of last year.

The NLRB’s charges seek the reimbursement of all dues collected since December 31, 2010 from Hill and Tibbets. A hearing will take place on February 15, 2012 in Hammond, Indiana to determine the validity of the charges.

“Union and company officials kept collecting dues from unwilling employees for nearly a year after their bargaining agreement expired,” said Patrick Semmens, legal information director for the National Right to Work Foundation. “We hope that Joel Tibbets and Adam Hill will be able to reclaim their hard-earned money, but this type of abuse will continue until Indiana passes a Right to Work law and makes all union dues and fees strictly voluntary.”

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.