Louisville, Kentucky (September 23, 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, several Jefferson County educators have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against local and national teacher unions for a series of schemes designed to force unwilling educators into full-dues paying union membership.

The lawsuit alleges that union officials routinely blocked membership resignations for years at a time, automatically enrolled new teachers in the union without their consent, and used a collective bargaining scheme to force county teachers to pay union dues.

The teachers’ lawsuit, filed against the Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA) union and its national affiliate, the National Education Association (NEA), in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, seeks the return of illegally seized dues, a modification of the union’s contract to allow employees to resign from union membership at any time, and a regular notice from the union that informs public school employees of their right to refrain from membership.

The NEA is also named in the teachers’ suit because it encouraged JCTA officials to continue to block resignation attempts despite the concerns of local educators. Foundation attorneys believe that this lawsuit has the potential to deter similar NEA practices across the country by setting a favorable precedent under the First Amendment guaranteeing the right of teachers to resign from union membership at any time.

Currently, teachers employed in Jefferson County are automatically enrolled as union members and forced to pay union dues unless they explicitly register an objection to JCTA union officials. Moreover, teachers are only permitted to resign from formal union membership during a ten day-window period after an individual teacher’s contract is signed or after the union hierarchy agrees to a new contract with the local school board. If a teacher fails to register an objection to union membership within either period, he or she is forced to remain a union member until the expiration of the union’s five-year contract with the local school board. Many teachers report that JCTA officials never informed them of their right to refrain from joining the union in the first place.

Foundation attorneys believe that any collective bargaining agreement that forces educators to pay union dues to keep their jobs is illegal under state law. Moreover, the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Abood v. Detroit Board of Education ensures that teachers and other public employees have the right to resign from union membership. Retaliation or discrimination against employees for deciding against belonging to a union is also illegal.

“The JCTA’s illegal policy has allowed union officials to hold teachers hostage for far too long,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “While we’re confident that the Foundation’s lawsuit will be successful, the best way to prevent future abuse of this nature is for Kentucky to adopt a Right to Work law. Doing so would make union membership and dues-payment strictly voluntary.”

Warwick, RI (September 23, 2009) – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Kent Hospital nurse has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against a local nursing union for illegally attempting to coerce her and other employees into formal, full-dues paying membership.

The charges come just as the nurses are seeking an election to strip the United Nurses and Allied Professionals (UNAP) Local 5008 union hierarchy of all power to compel dues payments as a job condition.

In the 22 states with Right to Work protections, employees cannot be forced to pay any union dues. The U.S. Supreme Court held in the Foundation-won Communication Workers of America v. Beck (1988) that union officials in states like Rhode Island, which do not have Right to Work laws, can lawfully compel nonmembers to pay union dues as a job condition, but not the part of dues spent for activities like political activism, lobbying, and member-only events. Union officials must also provide nonmembers with an independently audited breakdown of union expenditures, and nonmembers may challenge the calculation of the reduced fees.

Local 5008 recently disseminated a “Fact Sheet on Union Dues” to Jeanette Geary and other nurses at Kent Hospital. In the document, union officials told the employees that if they wish to exercise their right to refrain from union membership, they will pay only one dollar less per pay period than union members. But union officials never provided the nurses with the required independent audit of union expenditures necessary to determine whether they are being forced to pay more than allowed under law.

Foundation attorneys argue that Local 5008 union bosses have also implemented an illegal policy designed to force employees into “choosing” automatic deduction of monthly dues over the burdensome alternative of two lump sums paid semi-annually. Union officials have also informed the nurses that dues will be deducted automatically, even if they never authorized the deduction.

The National Labor Relations Board regional director in Boston will now investigate the charges and determine whether to prosecute Local 5008 before an administrative law judge. Geary is also spearheading a campaign to collect signatures from her fellow nurses to conduct a deauthorization election, which would remove the forced-dues clause from the contract.

“Sadly, skirting financial disclosure requirements and trying to coerce nurses like Jeanette Geary into union membership has become standard operating procedure for these union officials,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation.

Philadelphia, PA (September 22, 2009) – Today, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys filed unfair labor practice charges for Kimberly Hummel, a Philadelphia nurse who has been subpoenaed to testify at a private arbitration hearing for daring to oppose a backroom deal between Hahnemann University Hospital and the California Nurses Association (CNA) union.

In June 2009, the CNA union decisively lost a so-called “consent election” to determine if Hahnemann employees would be forced to accept union monopoly bargaining. Despite a coercive deal between union bosses and hospital officials that gave CNA organizers preferential access to hospital facilities, circumvented federal oversight, and prevented nurses from discussing the downsides of unionization, Hahnemann University Hospital employees voted against the CNA, 309 to 267.

Unwilling to take “no” for an answer, CNA operatives responded by filing a series of objections to the election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging that the unionization drive was somehow tainted by hospital officials’ actions, despite the fact that the hospital’s management provided assistance to union organizers. The CNA union filed similar objections with a private arbitrator, who promptly subpoenaed Hummel, a leading opponent of the CNA’s abusive organizing tactics, threatening her with a monetary fine if she refused to participate. NLRB officials have already set a date for a hearing on these objections, however.

Because Hummel never agreed to submit to private arbitration, her unfair labor practice charges assert that she is under no obligation to answer questions at the private arbitration hearing, where union operatives would have free-reign to harass and interrogate her prior to the upcoming NLRB investigation. Absent federal safeguards, a private arbitration hearing also threatens to undermine Hummel’s due process rights. As a result, Hummel has refused to appear before the CNA’s tribunal and has filed unfair labor practice charges against the union for threatening her with a subpoena.

“With the help of complicit hospital administrators, CNA operatives have already tried to forced Hahnemann nurses into the dues-paying ranks of an unwanted union,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Now that they’ve been rebuffed by Philadelphia nurses, union bosses are attempting to drag Kimberly Hummel into a union kangaroo court for interrogation.”

“The union’s objections are already being investigated by the NLRB, so employees like Mrs. Hummel will absolutely not attend a private arbitration hearing that lacks basic due process safeguards,” continued Gleason. “Instead of pursuing this ludicrous hearing, union officials should respect the wishes of these nurses to remain union-free and go away.”

Employees File Federal Class Action Suit to Halt Abusive Mandatory Union Dues Scheme

Right to Work Foundation helps employees challenge national union’s illegal “annual objection” policy

Aberdeen, MD (September 21, 2009) – Today, two employees filed a class action federal suit challenging the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union’s nationwide policy requiring employees to object year after year to paying union dues they cannot be lawfully forced to pay.

With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, Jacobs Technology Incorporated employees Rick Gorham and Robert Negosta are challenging the IAM union officials’ scheme intended to thwart non-union members’ legal rights to refrain from paying union dues for union electioneering and other non-bargaining activities. Foundation attorneys filed the complaint in Maryland’s U.S. District Court on behalf of the two employees and all of Jacobs Technology’s other similarly-situated employees.

In the Foundation-won Communication Workers of America v. Beck (1988), the U.S. Supreme Court held that union officials can lawfully compel nonmembers to pay union dues as a job condition, but not the part of dues spent for non-bargaining activities like political activism, lobbying, and member-only events. However, these limited rights have been difficult to enforce, as union officials often concoct illegal schemes such as these “annual objection” policies to burden or thwart employees from exercising their rights.

(Continue reading this news release…)

Aberdeen, Maryland (September 21, 2009) – Today, two employees filed a class action federal suit challenging the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union’s nationwide policy requiring employees to object year after year to paying union dues they cannot be lawfully forced to pay.

With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, Jacobs Technology Incorporated employees Rick Gorham and Robert Negosta are challenging the IAM union officials’ scheme intended to thwart non-union members’ legal rights to refrain from paying union dues for union electioneering and other non-bargaining activities. Foundation attorneys filed the complaint in Maryland’s U.S. District Court on behalf of the two employees and all of Jacobs Technology’s other similarly-situated employees.

In the Foundation-won Communication Workers of America v. Beck (1988), the U.S. Supreme Court held that union officials can lawfully compel nonmembers to pay union dues as a job condition, but not the part of dues spent for non-bargaining activities like political activism, lobbying, and member-only events. However, these limited rights have been difficult to enforce, as union officials often concoct illegal schemes such as these “annual objection” policies to burden or thwart employees from exercising their rights.

While the IAM union hierarchy’s annual objection policy should not apply to employees who have refrained from IAM union membership, IAM union officials still illegally require nonmember employees nationwide to file formal objections every year. Additionally, IAM union bosses regularly change the dates for the annual thirty-day window period ostensibly to create additional confusion.

Foundation attorneys won a similar case challenging the IAM’s annual objection policy under the Railway Labor Act in a U.S. District Court in Virginia. The court forced the union to abandon the policy, but the union lawyers are trying to keep the policy in force in all workplaces not governed by that statute. Foundation attorneys are now challenging the policy that applies to employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

“These workers are taking a courageous stand against funding the Machinist union bosses’ radical political agenda and fat-cat lifestyles,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “No worker should be compelled to hand over their hard earned dollars so that IAM union bosses can play politics or take vacations with the union’s $2 million private jet.”