SACRAMENTO, Calif. (March 28, 2002) — With the help of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, two Sacramento city employees, Hewett Hesterman and Michele Rudek, have filed a federal suit against the city of Sacramento and the Western Council of Engineers (WCE) union for forcing the illegal firing of workers who refuse to pay full union dues, including dues spent for politics.

Foundation attorneys also filed for a temporary restraining order against the city in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

“Hesterman and Rudek should not have their careers destroyed for opposing the union’s agenda,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “How can union officials claim to be on the side of workers when they thwart their ability to make a living?”

The situation arose last month, when WCE officials demanded that non-union employees pay an agency fee equal to full union dues or face termination from their jobs. In response, Hesterman and Rudek asked for a written account of how the union spends workers’ dues and asked for a reduction in the fee because they were not union members. In violation of the employees’ constitutional and due-process rights established by the U.S. Supreme Court, WCE officials rejected both of these requests and had Hesterman fired last Friday, March 22. Rudek has been notified she will be fired on April 4 if she refuses to pay the full agency fee.

Since the union officials have flagrantly violated the employees constitutional rights, Foundation attorneys are seeking a court order to reinstate Hesterman to his job and to prevent Rudek from being fired, in addition to having their dues demands reduced to an amount that covers only expenses that directly relate to collective bargaining. Hesterman is also demanding all back pay he would have earned had he not been illegally dismissed.

The actions of WCE officials directly violate the Foundation-won Supreme Court decision in Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson, which requires unions to provide objecting employees an advance reduction of forced union dues used for politics and other non-bargaining activities. Under Hudson, union officials must provide audited disclosure of their books and justify expenditures made from forced union dues seized from employees who have chosen to refrain from union membership.

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.