Caterpillar Workers File Federal Charges Against Machinist Union in Wake of Summer Strike

Chicago, IL (November 6, 2012) – In the wake of last summer's Machinist union boss-instigated strike against Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), two Caterpillar workers have filed a federal charge against the Machinist union and its local affiliate for violating their rights.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Daniel Eggleston and Steven Olson filed their charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Chicago. Foundation attorneys anticipate more charges will be filed for other Caterpillar workers at the facility.

Worker Forces Elevator Union Bosses to Settle Federal Charge and Drop Retaliatory $20,000 Fine

Chicago, IL (October 24, 2012) – A former Barnard/Imperial Elevator employee has won a settlement from a local union after union officials demanded he pay about $20,000 for working at a non-union workplace.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Robert Fierke filed a federal charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Chicago after union officials levied approximately $20,000 of fines against him.Fierke worked for Barnard/Imperial Elevator before the company went bankrupt. International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) Local 2 union bosses enjoyed monopoly bargaining privileges over the workplace. IUEC union officials never informed workers, including Fierke, of their right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership as upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Foundation-won Communications Workers v. Beck case.

Employees Continue to Defend Indiana’s New Right to Work Law against Spurious Union Legal Challenge

Lake County, IN (October 24, 2012) – A state court judge has denied a motion to dismiss a union legal challenge to Indiana’s newly-enacted Right to Work law. The case will now move forward for a decision on the merits of the union’s challenge. Meanwhile, Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys plan to file another amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) brief in support of the law for David Brubaker and Douglas Richards, two Indiana workers who are currently forced to accept union monopoly bargaining and pay union dues. Although Indiana’s Right to Work law prohibits new forced dues contracts, forced dues contracts that predate the legislation – such as the ones Brubaker and Richards are subject to – are still in place.

Rhode Island School of Design Technician Combats Illegal Union Boss Intimidation and Threats

Providence, RI (October 17, 2012) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Rhode Island School of Design technician has filed federal charges against a local union for violating his rights.Robert Vennerbeck of Providence filed the federal charge against the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Technical Association union with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Boston.Vennerbeck resigned formal union membership and exercised his right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership as upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Foundation-won Communications Workers v. Beck case. Under Beck, workers have the right to opt out of paying for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as members-only events and political lobbying.

NLRB Subpoenas Foundation Attorney Assisting Latino Express Workers Who Wish to Oust Unwanted Union

Chicago, IL October 16, 2012 – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has frozen out Latino Express workers from participating in a dispute between their employer and Teamsters Local 777 that will determine whether they must accept an unwanted union in their workplace. Meanwhile, the NLRB subpoenaed the National Right to Work Foundation staff attorney advising these workers to testify during the Latino Express hearing, a move that prevented him from advising his clients, three of whom also appeared as witnesses. Although a majority of Latino Express employees oppose the Teamsters’ presence and have signed a decertification petition to remove the union, Teamster lawyers filed charges with the NLRB alleging that the company unlawfully withdrew recognition of their union.

West Boca Medical Center Nurses Challenge Corrupt Agreement between SEIU and Hospital

Boca Raton, FL (October 10, 2012) – A local nurse has filed a federal charge against West Boca Medical Center and its parent company for enacting a secret deal that discriminates against the nurses and gives Service Employees International Union (SEIU) operatives preferential access to the facility.With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Registered Nurse Jenna Orlando filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Tampa.According to the charge, SEIU union officials entered into a "neutrality agreement" with West Boca Medical Center and its parent company, Tenet Healthcare Corporation. The agreement successfully greased the skids for the nurses unionization.

Longmont Police Officers Hit Police Union, Longmont City Officials with Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit

Denver, CO (October 5, 2012) – Two Longmont city police officers have filed a federal lawsuit against a local Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) union and the city for violating their rights.Cary Nickolls and James Bundy filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.Both Nickolls and Bundy refrain from formal union membership in the Longmont Fraternal Order of Police (LFOP) Lodge 6 union, an affiliate of the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police, and invoked their right to not pay full union dues.

Providence Memorial Nurses Challenge Corrupt Agreement between California Union and Hospital

El Paso, TX (October 3, 2012) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, an El Paso nurse filed federal charges against a California-based nurse union and Providence Memorial Hospital for enacting a secret deal that gives union organizers preferential access to the facility.Nurse Perry Pielaet filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Phoenix.California Nurses Association-affiliated National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) union officials entered into a "neutrality agreement" with Providence Memorial Hospital and its parent company, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, designed to grease the skids for the nurses' unionization.

Workers Challenge Obama Labor Board Recess Appointments in Federal Appeals Court

Washington, DC (October 1, 2012) – National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys filed a brief in yet another legal battle over President Barack Obama's purported "recess appointments" to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).Foundation attorneys filed the amicus curiae brief jointly with the Landmark Legal Foundation on Wednesday in the case Noel Canning v. NLRB, pending now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.The brief was filed for four workers who are represented by their Foundation attorneys in cases pending before the NLRB.Another direct legal challenge to the Obama recess appointments is a Foundation case pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. That case is among the first in the nation to reach the appellate courts challenging the Obama recess appointments and may help set the standard for all further challenges

U.S. Supreme Court Fails to Correct Dangerous Union Exemption from State Identity Theft Laws

Washington, DC (October 1, 2012) – Today, the U. S. Supreme Court denied a petition to hear a case brought by North Carolina-based AT&T (NYSE: T) employees asking the Court to review two state court decisions regarding a state identity theft law and federal preemption.The workers appealed the case to the Supreme Court with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.In the fall of 2007, Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3602 union president John Glenn maliciously posted the names and social security numbers of 33 AT&T employees on a publicly accessible bulletin board at the company's facility in Burlington, N.C.All the employees whose names and personal information were posted in a hallway close to the building entrance, accessible to the public, had exercised their freedom under the state's Right to Work law to resign from CWA union membership and cease paying union dues.