Local Transit Worker Wins Federal Settlement After Union Officials Misled and Ignored Worker to Pocket Extra Union Dues

Mesa, AZ (January 30, 2014) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a local transit worker has won a federal settlement after union officials violated his right to refrain from paying union dues or fees.David Azbell worked as a bus driver for Veolia Transportation and then for First Transit, which took over Veolia Transportation's contract with the city. In June 2013, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1433 union officials were considering calling a strike against the new company to pressure company management into entering a monopoly bargaining agreement with the union.

U.S. Supreme Court Reviews Illinois Homecare Provider Unionization Scheme

Washington, DC (January 21, 2013) – Tuesday morning, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys will argue a case before the United States Supreme Court that will decide whether Illinois homecare providers can be forced into union ranks against their will.The case, Harris v. Quinn, is a class-action lawsuit filed by Pam Harris and seven other Illinois care providers after Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed an executive order designating 4,500 individuals who offer in-home care to disabled persons as "public employees," thus rendering them vulnerable to unwanted union organizing. However, the scheme only designates providers as public employees for the purposes of unionization, leaving the homecare recipients as the employers for all other aspects of the providers' work.

National Right to Work Foundation’s Notice Posting Court Victory Stands

Washington, DC (January 3, 2014) – The deadline passed yesterday for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to file petitions at the U.S. Supreme Court to appeal one or both federal appeals court decisions striking down a new Board rule that required virtually every private-sector employer in the country to post biased information about employee rights online and in the workplace.The Board's inaction lets stand two appeals courts' victories won by the National Right to Work Foundation and other groups challenging the NLRB's aggressive and unprecedented rule-making.At the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, attorneys from the Foundation and other groups won a unanimous decision striking down the rule. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit also struck down the rule in a separate legal challenge filed by other groups.

Foundation-Assisted Michigan Workers File Brief in Federal Court Supporting State Right to Work Law

Detroit, MI (December 27, 2013) – Today, a federal court judge accepted an amicus curiae brief filed by four Michigan workers defending Michigan's recently-enacted Right to Work law from a union legal challenge pending before the court.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Terry Bowman, Brian Pannebecker, Aaric Lewis, and Robert Harris filed the brief last week with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.The case is a federal lawsuit filed by Michigan State AFL-CIO union officials seeking to overturn the law, arguing that because federal law preempts the enforcement of state Right to Work laws in certain limited respects, the whole law is invalid.

First Grade Teacher Hits Teacher Union Officials with State Charge for Violating Kansas’s Longstanding Right to Work Law

Wichita, KS (December 26, 2013) – A first grade teacher at Peterson Elementary School has filed a state charge against a local teacher union for violating her rights under Kansas's long-standing Right to Work law.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Tiffani Knowles filed the state charge last week with the Kansas Department of Labor in Topeka.On July, 31, 2013, Knowles sent a letter to the United Teachers of Wichita (UTW) union stating that she was exercising her right under the state's Right to Work law to refrain from full union membership and dues payments. Under Kansas's Right to Work law, union officials must respect workers' right to refrain from the payment of any union dues.

UPS Worker Files Federal Charge against Teamster Union for Ignoring His Rights Under Texas’s Right to Work Law

Irving, TX (December 20, 2013) – A Desoto UPS (NYSE: UPS) worker has filed a federal charge against a local Teamster union for violating his rights.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Laroderick Wilson filed the unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).Wilson informed the Teamster Local 745 union that he was exercising his right under Texas's Right to Work law to refrain from union dues payments in September, 2013. Under Texas's Right to Work law, union officials must respect workers' right to refrain from the payment of any union dues.

Supreme Court Dismisses Union-Backed Petition to Overturn Organizing Case

Washington, DC (December 10, 2013) – Today, the United States Supreme Court announced that it "dismissed as improvidently granted" a union appeal of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling in Mulhall v. UNITE HERE.The order leaves intact a significant victory for National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys and a Florida Mardi Gras Gaming employee in which the appeals court ruled that the company's organizing assistance to union officials could be unlawful "thing[s] of value." Consequently, as Jack Goldsmith, the Henry L. Shattuck Professor at Harvard Law School, today said about the Mulhall dismissal in a blog, "as long as CA11's decision stands, the specter of expensive and difficult litigation will hover over neutrality/bargaining agreements in many circuits, and will indeed chill the making of those agreements."

Pro-Act 10 Settlement in Wisconsin Teachers’ Lawsuit Clears Path for Union Recertification Elections

Waukesha, WI (December 5, 2013) – The Waukesha County Circuit Court has approved a settlement between five Wisconsin public school teachers and the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) that will allow teachers across the state to determine whether union officials can continue to claim to represent those teachers in their respective workplaces guaranteed under Wisconsin Act 10.With the help of attorneys from the National Right to Work Foundation and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, five Wisconsin public school teachers filed a lawsuit in the state court last month against the WERC after WERC officials canceled the teachers' recertification elections.The WERC cancelled the elections, which were originally scheduled to take place in early November, after a Dane County Circuit Court judge halted implementation of the law.

Indiana Regional Medical Center Nurse Files Federal Charges Against Union and Hospital

Indiana, PA (December 4, 2013) – An Indiana Regional Medical Center nurse has filed a federal unfair labor practice charge against her employer and a local nurse union for violating her rights.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Joanna Smith of Clymer filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).Starting in August 2003, Smith worked as a per diem float nurse, a position subject to the representation of the Indiana Registered Nurses Association (IRNA) Local 5120 union hierarchy. In June 2011, Smith was moved to a patient advocate position, which was not under the union monopoly bargaining control. Then, in November 2012, Smith returned to a float nurse position.In her charge against the union, Smith alleges that in September 2013, an IRNA Local 5120 union official illegally demanded that she join the union as a condition of her employment.

UAW Union Local Faces Charge for Harassing Thomas Built Buses Worker

High Point, NC (December 4, 2013) – A local Thomas Built Buses worker has filed a federal charge against a local union for subjecting her to a campaign of harassment and intimidation because she exercised her right to refrain from union membership and inform her coworkers of their right to refrain.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Tracy McLaughlin filed the unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).United Auto Worker (UAW) Local 5287 union officials obtained monopoly bargaining powers over the workplace in 2006 after union and company officials cut a deal to force union "representation" on the workers without a secret-ballot election.