Solon, Ohio (January 5, 2005) – A Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has decided to prosecute Bakery and Confectionary Workers (BCW) Union Local 19 and Schwebel Baking Company, Inc. for causing the unlawful firing of a worker who exercised his right not to subsidize union political activities, and refused to join the union and sign a dues “check-off” card.

The NLRB complaint originated when Steven Taday, a former Schwebel employee, obtained free legal assistance from attorneys with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and filed separate unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB against Schwebel and the BCW union, respectively. Taday filed the charges after union officials pressured the company into firing him for refusing to sign a card authorizing automatic dues deductions from his paychecks. The Regional Director consolidated the charges in issuing the formal complaint. The case will be heard by an Administrative Law Judge of the NLRB in March.

Taday alleges that, beginning in February 2004, union officials misrepresented his rights by telling him he had to maintain full union membership and sign a dues check-off authorization allowing the automatic deduction of union dues from his paycheck as a condition of employment.

“Union officials want workers like Steven Taday to simply shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Rather than respect the rights of workers they represent, union officials are bullying workers to pay for their political electioneering.”

Taday’s firing from Schwebel, which employs more than 300 people, violated his rights recognized by the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision. Under Beck and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials must specifically inform employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and their right not to be forced to pay for costs unrelated to collective bargaining, such as union political activity.

“Unfortunately, as long as Ohio workers labor under a system of compulsory unionism, these sorts of abuses will continue to plague workers across the state,” said Gleason.

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.