Union officials violated employees’ rights by threatening to have them fired if they didn’t pay full union dues and a hefty union initiation fee

Portland, OR (March 7, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, three KOIN TV employees have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the NABET-CWA Local 51 union. The employees charge that union officials failed to inform them of their right not to formally join the union, billed them for full union dues, and demanded they pay a $2,700 “union initiation fee” or be fired from their jobs.

Hannah Button, Peter Marshall, and Lacey Hamerin all began working at KOIN TV in late 2014 and early 2015. Because Oregon lacks a Right to Work law, nonunion employees can be required to pay union fees as a condition of employment. However, these employees cannot be forced to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as union politics. They are also entitled to information about union finances to help them determine what they are obligated to pay.

In all three cases, union officials blatantly ignored these longstanding protections. When Hannah Button joined KOIN TV in January 2015, union officials failed to inform her of her right to refrain from paying full union dues. In July 2015, Button sent the union a letter announcing her decision to resign and reduce her dues payments. Union officials failed to respond to Button until February 2016, when they told her that she would still be charged for full union dues for the period before she submitted her resignation letter, despite the fact that she was never informed of her right to resign and reduce her dues payments in the first place.

Union officials also claimed that Button still had to pay a full “union initiation fee” of $2,700, and that the total amount she owed was over $3,000. Further, if she did not pay the entire amount within 17 days, the union would have her fired.

Marshall and Hamerin faced similar demands from union officials when they attempted to resign and reduce their dues payments. All three employees were never informed of their workplace rights and received no information from union officials about how the forced dues they supposedly owe were calculated. Like Button, Marshall and Hamerin were also told that they would lose their jobs if they failed to promptly pay thousands of dollars in union dues and initiation fees.

Button, Marshall, and Hamerin’s charges will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.

“Union officials will go to great lengths to extract as much cash as possible from nonunion employees,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Although Local 51 officials’ outrageous demands clearly violate federal law, Oregon law enables this type of abuse by empowering union officials to require nonunion workers to pay some union fees as a condition of employment.”

“Oregon should rectify this unjust arrangement and curb future abuses by passing a Right to Work law, which would make all union dues strictly voluntary,” added 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.