New York, NY (November 16, 2005) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, a Saks Fifth Avenue (Saks) employee filed federal charges today against the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union Local 1102 for illegally threatening to get 150 employees fired if they assert their right to refrain from formal union membership and refuse the automatic deduction of full union dues from their paychecks.

Robert Jones, a cosmetics retail sales associate in Saks’ flagship store in Manhattan, filed federal unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after union officials illegally threatened to order the termination of roughly 150 Saks cosmetic department employees if they refuse to become formal members of the union, pay full union dues, and sign a dual-purpose membership and dues deduction “authorization” card.

Foundation attorneys cite that union officials never informed Jones, or any other similarly situated employee, of his right to refrain from formal union membership and not be forced to pay for union politics and other non-bargaining activities.

“In an effort to stuff their coffers, union officials are forcing unwanted union affiliation down the throats of intimidated employees,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “These ‘pay up or be fired’ threats demonstrate how union officials take advantage of the special privileges they have obtained under federal and state law.”

The threats of union officials violate workers’ rights recognized under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision. Under Beck and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials must specifically inform employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and pay only those proven costs directly related to collective bargaining.

Jones’ charges are the latest in a three-year legal battle between Saks employees and union officials. While union operatives won monopoly bargaining power over the department in 2002, Jones collected signatures from more than half of cosmetic department employees who would prefer to negotiate directly with their employer. Jones’ effort to decertify the union was halted under the NLRB’s “contract bar” doctrine, but he now has a deauthorization petition pending to remove the compulsory dues clause from the contract.

“No one should be forced to pay dues to an unwanted union just to get or keep their job,” stated Gleason. “This is especially true when union officials go out of their way to threaten workers who exercise their rights.”

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 more than 250 cases nationwide per year.