CWA Union officials illegally attempted to levy five figure fines against Verizon employees who exercised rights to work despite union boss-initiated work stoppage

New York, NY (January 17, 2017) – In mid-October, 2016, seven Verizon employees filed federal unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union for violating federal labor law. The violations came after the employees exercised their right to resign their union memberships during a high profile union boss-ordered strike last year.

After CWA union officials ordered the strike, the workers chose to resign from the union and return to work. Later they were notified by CWA officials that they were being tried on internal “union discipline” charges, despite the fact that these workers were not union members when they returned to work and thus are protected by federal law.

On September 15th, the union held an internal union trial and fined the workers for going to work. Soon after, the workers were informed by letter that they had been fined sums of between nine and thirteen thousand dollars each.

Now, CWA Local 1107 union officials were required to settle the NLRB charges filed against them. The settlement requires that a notice describing the workers’ rights, and stating that the illegal fines imposed by the union bosses have been rescinded, be posted in the facility where the workers are employed.

“Union officials were caught red-handed violating the rights of workers with illegal five-figure fines just because the employees exercised their right to return to work in order to support their families,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Although these employees have won their legal battle, it is outrageous that these types of illegal retaliatory fines remain common when workers choose to exercise their right to remain on the job and defy union-ordered strike demands.”

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.