Oklahoma Leader of Professional, Non-Union Teachers Receives High Recognition from National Right to Work
On April 24, the National Right to Work Committee presented Professional Oklahoma Educators (POE) executive director Ginger Tinney with the Carol Applegate Education Award.
Ginger Tinney (center) with National Right to Work Chairman of the Executive Committee Reed Larson and President Mark Mix
Tinney was a teacher for more than 11 years before taking on her full-time role as executive director of POE. She taught in both regular and special education, at elementary and secondary grade levels, and in urban and rural school districts.
Vice president of National Right to Work Stefan Gleason stated in the POE’s news release:
“We have had the pleasure of working with Ginger Tinney over many years, and we’ve always been impressed with her leadership skills, her passion for teacher excellence, and her passion for the principles of freedom and volunteerism that embody the Right to Work cause."
The Carol Applegate Education Award is presented annually by the Committee’s Board of Directors to exceptional educators who take courageous stands against the coercive policies of the National Education Association (NEA) union. The award is named in honor of Carol Applegate, a longtime English teacher who refused to formally join the NEA union and was fired from her job.
A longtime member of Concerned Educators Against Forced Unionism (an umbrella organization established by the National Right to Work Foundation), the Professional Oklahoma Educators is a all voluntary professional educators association that serves more than 4,000 teachers, administrators, and support professionals in Oklahoma. The group puts children first and focuses on true professionalism, unlike its militant union counterpart. For more information on the POE, click here.
New Right to Work Podcast: VP Stefan Gleason talks Card Check and Specter with the Liberty Roundtable
National Right to Work Vice President Stefan Gleason sits down with the Liberty Roundtable to discuss card check, the Obama administration’s early moves, and Specter’s recent GOP defection. Click here to listen or use the embeddable player below:
Federal Appellate Court Finds NLRB’s 2008 Rulings Invalid Due to Bush Administration’s Incompetence
As we noted earlier this week, President Barack Obama nominated two hard-line union militants to the National Labor Relations Board. Now, President Bush’s inability to properly staff the five-member Board during his eight years in the Oval Office has come home to roost.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. Circuit ruled that decisions of the NLRB last year (approximately 300 in total) are not valid because only two of the five seats were filled. In other words, there was no valid quorum, even if the two members agreed how to rule. (A less influential federal circuit court ruled two member board decision are valid, so the circuit court split may lead to U.S. Supreme Court review)
Either way, the fact that the Board was comprised of a mere two members for such a long time is a testimony to the total incompetence of the Bush Administration in dealing with the agency.
Bill Clinton’s NLRB overturned 1200 years of precedent in an effort to make it easier for union officials to coerce workers into union ranks and misuse their forced dues on political activism.
At first, the Bush administration simply kept intact a Clinton majority on the Board for a full year after taking office. Then the Bushies kept hardened union activists like Clinton holdover Wilma Liebman (who Obama has since named Board chairman) on the Board, while nominating soft and inexperienced Republican appointees.
As a result, the Bush Board was unable to get itself moving to reverse most of the controversial rulings of the activist Clinton Board.
After years of foolish efforts to cozy up to certain union bosses combined with a Keystone Cop-like incompetence with respect their NLRB nomination strategy, Bush and his staff simply gave up trying to fill the Board’s vacancies in mid 2007 and failed to make recess appointments.
The union bosses must be ecstatic about their good fortune. For nearly a decade, a resurgent Big Labor had its way with this Bush Administration. And now they’ve got one of their own in the White House, and the payback has already begun.
Big Labor knows how important the NLRB is to its forced unionism power over the American workplace and economy. You can bet the Obama administration will not make similar mistakes.
AT&T Worker Files Federal Charges Over Forced Union Dues
St. Louis, Missouri (April 29), 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a St. Louis-based AT&T employee has filed unfair labor practice charges challenging a local area union’s compulsory dues requirements.
Despite resigning her union membership in 2004, Jeanette Burton of Imperial, Missouri was never informed of her right to opt-out of union dues used for politics and other non-bargaining activities. When Burton attempted to exercise her right to stop paying dues, Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 6300 union officials ignored her objections and continued to collect full union dues from her paycheck.
Moreover, union officials continued to force Burton to pay dues after the union’s contract with AT&T expired in April 2009. The union’s previous agreement with AT&T contained a provision requiring nonmember employees to pay union dues for collective bargaining, but after the agreement lapsed, Burton could no longer be compelled to pay any dues to CWA officials.
CWA Local 6300 also failed to provide Burton with a federally-mandated audit of union financial expenditures, which is necessary to allow workers to determine whether they are being forced to pay more than can be required as a condition of employment.
Under the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Communication Workers v. Beck, nonmember employees can be forced to pay certain union dues as a condition of employment, but they cannot be compelled to pay for politics, lobbying, public relations, and other non-bargaining activities. Union officials are also legally obligated to inform workers of these rights.
The Foundation’s unfair labor practice charges seek an end to all unlawful union deductions and guarantees that the union hierarchy will comply with its Beck obligations and reimburse nonunion workers’ forced dues. The case will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.
“Workers shouldn’t have to jump through legal hoops just to protect their hard-earned paychecks,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The only way to stop future abuse is to pass a Missouri Right to Work law, making all union dues strictly voluntary.”
Right to Work Foundation Files Lawsuit for Nonunion Worker Forced to Pay Teamster Dues
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (April 28, 2009) – National Right to Work Foundation attorneys today filed suit in United States District Court for an employee forced to pay agency fees by Teamsters officials at a Luzerne County government office.
The plaintiff, Jeffrey McCabe, is currently employed by the Luzerne County Office of Children and Youth Services. Although International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 401 is the monopoly bargaining agent for McCabe’s office, McCabe never joined the union or consented to pay union dues.
Despite McCabe’s nonunion status, Teamsters officials failed to provide him with a federally-mandated breakdown of union expenditures and forced him to pay for union activities unrelated to collective bargaining. Teamsters officials also failed to give McCabe adequate notice of payroll deductions for forced agency fees, preventing him from challenging the Teamsters’ dues collections.
Under the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson, union officials are obligated to provide workers with an independent audit of union financial expenditures. Although employees may be forced to pay certain union dues as a condition of employment, they cannot be compelled to fund union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining. An independently-verified financial audit is required by law to ensure nonunion employees are not compelled to pay for non-bargaining activities.
The Foundation’s lawsuit seeks an immediate, court-ordered injunction to prevent further union paycheck deductions, a court order requiring the union to ensure workers have access to information on union expenditures, an order preventing the union from collecting dues unrelated to collective bargaining, and monetary damages for McCabe.
“Giving union officials free reign to deduct money from workers’ paychecks is an open invitation to abuse,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Enacting a Pennsylvania Right to Work law to make union dues fully voluntary is the only way to ensure employees are protected from avaricious union bosses.”
Obama Nominates Two Union Militants to Labor Board
On Monday, President Barack Obama announced two nominations – both with extensive backgrounds as Big Labor lawyers – to the National Labor Relations Board, the quasi-judicial body which administers federal labor law.
Craig Becker, one of the nominees, is the Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Sources indicate he was a key player in Obama’s early executive order aimed at blacklisting non-union contractors and keeping employees in the dark about their right to refrain from supporting union political activities.
Worse, and perhaps more tellingly, Becker wrote in a "labor studies" journal in 1998 that employees should not have to "petition the NLRB" or "cast an affirmative vote simply to establish a ‘representative process’ in the workplace" (see page 15 of this PDF). In other words, Becker has indicated he would be fine with installing a union monopoly even if mere "majority support" had not been established, through either a secret ballot or the more abusive "card check" process.
These appointments are just the latest payoffs by President Obama to Big Labor for spending well over one billion dollars electing him and other pro-forced unionism politicians nationwide in 2008.
School Bus Drivers File Charges against AFSCME Union for Illegal Threats, Dues Collections
School Bus Drivers File Charges against AFSCME Union for Illegal Threats, Dues Collections
Lack of Right to Work law leads to ugly union abuse of workers
Indianapolis, IN (April 24, 2009)– With free legal aid from staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation, three bus drivers have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against union bosses for an illegal scheme to bully nonmember employees into paying full union dues.
Barry Hickman, Connie Hickman, and Thomas Spencer II drive school buses for First Student, where they are forced to accept the “representation” of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3826. In March and April 2008, Barry and Connie Hickman sent two letters each to AFSCME Council 62, the regional body which handles the local’s objection policy, objecting to pay for non-bargaining costs they could not be required to financially support. Spencer sent a similar objection letter in May.
Because Indiana is not yet a Right to Work state, nonmembers may be fired from their jobs for refusal to pay compulsory fees to a union with which they want nothing to do. However, union officials may not lawfully compel nonmembers to pay for activities like political activism, lobbying, and member-only events.
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Read the full release here.
School Bus Drivers File Charges against AFSCME Union for Illegal Threats, Dues Collections
Indianapolis, IN (April 24, 2009) – With free legal aid from staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation, three bus drivers have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against union bosses for an illegal scheme to bully nonmember employees into paying full union dues.
Barry Hickman, Connie Hickman, and Thomas Spencer II drive school buses for First Student, where they are forced to accept the “representation” of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3826. In March and April 2008, Barry and Connie Hickman sent two letters each to AFSCME Council 62, the regional body which handles the local’s objection policy, objecting to pay for non-bargaining costs they could not be required to financially support. Spencer sent a similar objection letter in May.
Because Indiana is not yet a Right to Work state, nonmembers may be fired from their jobs for refusal to pay compulsory fees to a union with which they want nothing to do. However, union officials may not lawfully compel nonmembers to pay for activities like political activism, lobbying, and member-only events.
AFSCME union bosses, however, did not acknowledge the objection letters and failed to provide the employees with a notification of their rights under the Foundation-won Beck v. Communication Workers of America. Under Beck, unions must also provide such employees with an audited breakdown of chargeable expenses.
In September, AFSCME union officials deducted full union dues from the paychecks of the Hickmans, Spencer, and other similarly situated employees, even though the employees never authorized dues deduction. Two months later, union bosses threatened that the employees would be fired by First Student if they did not join the union and sign dues deduction authorization cards.
In mid-January, AFSCME union brass finally provided the Hickmans with a notice of objection policy but informed them that they would need to send new objection letters by January 31, even though they had already each formally objected twice in the last year. Union officials never provided Spencer with such a notice at all.
In charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board, Foundation attorneys argue that AFSCME union chiefs violated their duty of fair representation under federal labor law by deducting full union dues without the employees’ consent, failing to provide Beck notices before deducting dues, and illegally threatening the employees for exercising their absolute right to refrain from formal union membership.
“Time and time again, union bosses trick, mislead, and threaten employees to pay union dues to fund their agenda,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Only a Right to Work law in Indiana will protect against these heavy-handed tactics.
Forced Unionism States Hit Hardest by Recession
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Jim Lindgren observes that the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics findings show that heavily unionized states are being hit hardest by the economic downturn. Four of the six states with the highest unemployment rates also lack Right to Work laws, while the six states with the lowest unemployment rates all have Right to Work laws which help improve a region’s economic performance.
This reinforces what we already know: In addition to violating workers’ rights, forced unionism also hurts their economic prospects. No wonder union bosses are so eager to prevent workers from getting all the facts about Big Labor’s agenda during their coercive unionization drives.
Regular Working Mom Fights Off Abusive UAW Union Operatives
Using card check, UAW operatives muscled their way into a plant in Albion, Indiana. The courageous working mom featured below joined with her coworkers to exercise legal rights won by the National Right to Work Foundation to throw the union back out.
Check out the National Right to Work Committee’s latest video on one working mom’s encounter with professional UAW organizers:
Previous Right to Work videos on the UAW’s abusive card check drive in Albion are available here and here.
