Los Angeles, CA (February 5, 2013) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, KTLA-TV sports reporter and weekend anchor Rebecca Hall has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union for attempting to force her to join the union and pay full dues.
SAG-AFTRA is the monopoly bargaining agent for KTLA-TV, which means employees can be forced to pay union dues to get or keep a job with the station. Under federal law, however, employees cannot be compelled to join the union or pay union dues for things unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as members-only events and political activism.
Despite these prohibitions, SAG officials demanded Hall become a full union member and pay excessive initiation fees and union dues if she wanted to keep working at KTLA-TV. Union officials failed to notify Hall that she could opt out of dues unrelated to workplace bargaining and never provided her with any information about union financial expenditures, information that is required by law to help nonunion workers determine what dues they can be obligated to contribute.
When Hall declined to join or pay up, SAG officials threatened to have her fired for refusing to comply with their outrageous demands.
Hall’s charges are now being investigated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency charged with administering private sector labor law.
“Instead of informing Ms. Hall of her workplace rights, SAG bosses threatened to have her fired for refusing to join their union and pay full dues,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “That’s unacceptable, which is why we’re helping her fight back against these heavy-handed tactics.”
“Unfortunately, Ms. Hall and others in California will continue to be subjected to similar ‘pay up or be fired’ threats until California employees are protected by a Right to Work law, which would make union membership and the payment of union dues completely voluntary,” added Mix.
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.