STANFORD, Calif. (June 28, 2001) — A Stanford Hospital nurse today filed federal charges against a local nursing union after its officials illegally demanded that she pay a fine for refusing to abandon critically ill patients during a recent strike.

With the help of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, Barbara Williams, a nurse at Stanford Hospital and Clinic, filed the unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA) union.

“This union harassment of a loyal nurse for standing by her patients is outrageous,” said Randy Wanke, Director of Legal Information for the National Right to Work Foundation. “The union must now be held to account.”

In April of this year, union officials imposed an illegal fine of $2,500 on Williams for exercising her Right to Work during a June 2000 strike. Williams, who refused to take part in a walkout which left patients unattended, cannot be subject to union fines or “discipline” because she is not a union member.

Since the strike, Williams has been subject to threats and continual harassment from striking nurses.

The charges also state that union officials have been unlawfully seizing full union dues from Williams since 1988. The union’s dues-collection practices violate the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court decision Communications Workers v. Beck, which held that workers may resign their union memberships and pay a reduced fee representing only the union’s proven collective bargaining costs.

CRONA officials never notified Williams of her Beck rights and continue to demand that she fork over an amount equal to full union dues. CRONA officials have also failed to provide Williams with any breakdown of their fees or an audit of union finances, in violation of disclosure requirements established under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson decision.

Foundation attorneys are demanding that CRONA officials halt their practice of collecting full union dues from nonmembers, provide proper financial disclosure to employees, and rescind the fine illegally imposed on Williams for refusing to walk out on Stanford’s patients.

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.