Wallops Island NASA Employee Files Federal Brief in Union Election Dispute

Government union’s stalling tactics block workers’ representation vote

Washington, DC (April 3, 2014) – A Wallops Island NASA employee filed a federal brief with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) defending his and his coworkers’ request to vote on their union representation for the first time in 40 years.

Ronald Walsh, a 10 year NASA employee, filed the brief yesterday with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

Forty years ago, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union hierarchy won monopoly bargaining powers in Walsh’s workplace. Since then, five AFGE-affiliated unions have enjoyed monopoly bargaining powers over the workplace without a vote.

Walsh believed that the union in his workplace was out of tune with the majority of his coworkers. So in June, 2013, Walsh circulated a decertification petition at his workplace seeking a vote which would allow the workers to determine if they would like to keep the AFGE Local 1923 union in their workplace.

Click here to read the full release.

Washington, DC (April 3, 2014) – A Wallops Island NASA employee filed a federal brief with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) defending his and his coworkers’ request to vote on their union representation for the first time in 40 years.

Ronald Walsh, a 10 year NASA employee, filed the brief yesterday with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

Forty years ago, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union hierarchy won monopoly bargaining powers in Walsh’s workplace. Since then, five AFGE-affiliated unions have enjoyed monopoly bargaining powers over the workplace without a vote.

Walsh believed that the union in his workplace was out of tune with the majority of his coworkers. So in June, 2013, Walsh circulated a decertification petition at his workplace seeking a vote which would allow the workers to determine if they would like to keep the AFGE Local 1923 union in their workplace. Within a few days, Walsh obtained the required 30 percent of his coworkers’ signatures and filed the petition on June 17, 2013.

An FLRA Regional Director dismissed Walsh’s petition, stating that he could only file it between July 10 and August 26, 2013. However, the FLRA Regional Director allowed the union to wait to object to Walsh’s petition on those grounds until August 27, 2013 – one day after the supposed deadline.

Had the union made its objection within the «window period,» when originally due, Walsh would have been able to timely refile his petition.

In the brief, Walsh points out that the FLRA’s so-called «window period» does not apply to decertification petitions filed by individuals and that any other interpretation of the statute could violate workers’ First Amendment rights.

«No worker should be forced to accept a union’s representation without a say in the matter,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «The FLRA should allow these workers a voice to determine for themselves what union ‘represents’ them or if they even want something to do with a union in the first place.»

Federal Court Upholds Michigan’s Right to Work Law

Workers defend free choice for workers against spurious union boss legal challenge

Detroit, MI (March 31, 2014) – Today, a federal court upheld the major provisions of Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work law. Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement in response to the court’s ruling:

«After suffering a major legislative defeat and being rejected by voters when they attempted to entrench forced unionism in the state constitution, Michigan union bosses are seeking to strike down Michigan’s Right to Work law in the courts. In this case, AFL-CIO union lawyers argued that federal law preempts the enforcement of state Right to Work laws in several respects.

«Fortunately, the court dismissed the union lawyers’ challenges to the core provisions of Michigan’s Right to Work law and Michigan workers will continue to have the Right to Work without having to pay dues to an unwanted union.»

Click here to read the full release.

Detroit, MI (March 31, 2014) – Today, a federal court upheld the major provisions of Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work law. Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement in response to the court’s ruling:

«After suffering a major legislative defeat and being rejected by voters when they attempted to entrench forced unionism in the state constitution, Michigan union bosses are seeking to strike down Michigan’s Right to Work law in the courts. In this case, AFL-CIO union lawyers argued that federal law preempts the enforcement of state Right to Work laws in several respects.

«Fortunately, the court dismissed the union lawyers’ challenges to the core provisions of Michigan’s Right to Work law and Michigan workers will continue to have the Right to Work without having to pay dues to an unwanted union.»

With free legal assistance from Foundation staff attorneys, Terry Bowman, Brian Pannebecker, Aaric Lewis, and Robert Harris, filed a brief with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in the case filed by Michigan State AFL-CIO union officials seeking to overturn the law.

All four workers are or were employed in workplaces where a forced dues contract was in place between their employers and union hierarchies before the Right to Work law was enacted. Consequently, the workers could be forced to pay union dues or fees just to keep their jobs, despite the fact they do not belong to the union nor sought the union’s so-called «representation.»

In the brief, Foundation staff attorneys pointed out that the 24 state private-sector Right to Work laws are protected under federal labor law and cite various federal and state precedents that support their argument. Despite several prior preemption challenges to other state Right to Work laws, there is not a single case invalidating a Right to Work law.

Michigan’s Right to Work law states that no employee can be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment, but forced dues contracts between unions and employers entered into prior to the law’s effective date remain in force throughout the state until they expire.

Springfield, VA (March 31, 2014) – The National Right to Work Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal assistance to employees nationwide, has just filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in a case involving Pacific Lutheran University and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 925. The Foundation’s brief supports Pacific Lutheran’s efforts to resist union encroachment on its religious prerogatives.

Under the auspices of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), SEIU Local 925 officials are attempting to organize adjunct professors at Pacific Lutheran University. According to Foundation staff attorneys, this violates longstanding Supreme Court precedent, which holds that the Board has no authority over religiously-affiliated schools.

Moreover, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the federal government from regulating the religious work of churches. Pacific Lutheran University was established by the Lutheran Evangelical Church in America and continues to operate under the church’s authority. As Foundation attorneys point out in their brief, the university’s educational mission is inextricably linked to the teachings of the Lutheran Church.

Foundation attorneys note that unionization could place the university in direct conflict with the Lutheran Church. If the NLRB recognizes Local 925 as the adjuncts’ exclusive bargaining agent, union officials will be empowered to negotiate over terms and conditions of employment with Pacific Lutheran University. Those negotiations could force university administrators to make concessions that contradict the school’s religious mission, such as expanding access to abortion under the university’s health care plan.

Foundation attorneys also argue that adjunct professors are considered managers under the National Labor Relations Act, rendering them statutorily ineligible for unionization.

“Aided and abetted by a pliant NLRB, Big Labor is taking aim at religiously-affiliated universities,” said Patrick Semmens, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Of course, the SEIU’s ultimate goal is to force more people to pay union dues, even if it means infringing on the liberty of religious institutions.”

Sanford Nurse Files Federal Charges against Major Healthcare Union and Local Hospital

California union officials stonewall nurse’s attempt to exercise her rights under state’s Right to Work law

Sanford, FL (March 28, 2014) – A Central Florida Regional Hospital nurse has filed federal charges against a major California-based healthcare union and her employer for violating her rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Margaret Clark, a registered nurse in critical care at the hospital for 27 years, filed the charges last week with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

In November, 2013, Clark, who has 39 years of nursing experience, sent a letter to National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) union officials and Central Florida Regional Hospital management stating that she was exercising her right under the state’s Right to Work law to refrain from union membership and dues payments.

Click here to read the full release.

Sanford, FL (March 28, 2014) – A Central Florida Regional Hospital nurse has filed federal charges against a major California-based healthcare union and her employer for violating her rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Margaret Clark, a registered nurse in critical care at the hospital for 27 years, filed the charges last week with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

In November, 2013, Clark, who has 39 years of nursing experience, sent a letter to National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) union officials and Central Florida Regional Hospital management stating that she was exercising her right under the state’s Right to Work law to refrain from union membership and dues payments. Under Florida’s Right to Work law, union officials must respect nonmember workers’ right to refrain from the payment of any union dues.

NNOC union officials denied Clark’s request to revoke her dues deduction authorization – a form union officials use to automatically withhold union dues from employee paychecks – stating she could do it only during a period of time which is different than the one specified in the authorization. Consequently, the hospital continues to collect full union dues – about $70 a month – from her paychecks at the union’s behest, even though she is no longer a union member.

Clark points out in her charges that the union’s dues deduction authorization form is conditioned on union membership, which means that workers can revoke the card at will once they resign union membership. The charges also challenge the burdensome process workers must complete in order to revoke their dues deduction authorizations.

In Florida and across the country, NNOC union officials and Central Florida Regional Hospital’s parent company, HCA Holdings, have often colluded to force healthcare professionals into union ranks

«NNOC union officials are flaunting their own rules to force this nurse into forced dues payments in violation of Florida’s popular Right to Work law,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «This case is just another in a long list of rights abuses against nurses and other healthcare professionals perpetrated by NNOC and HCA Holdings officials.»

Twenty-four states have Right to Work protections for employees. Public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans and union members support the Right to Work principle of voluntary unionism.

Wasilla, AK (March 25, 2014) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a local First Student employee has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against her employer and the General Teamsters Local 959 union for demanding she join the Teamsters or lose her job and forcing her to pay full union dues.

Ruth Chester, an administrative aide with First Student, has never been a member of Local 959. Despite her decision to refrain from union membership, Teamster officials demanded she join the union and pay full dues.

Within the past six months, moreover, First Student has deducted full union dues from Chester’s paycheck and passed them on to Local 959.

Because Alaska lacks a Right to Work law, employees can be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. However, workers have the right to refrain from formal union membership and opt out of paying union dues for activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as political activism and members-only events.

Unions are also required to provide nonunion employees with an independently-audited breakdown of their financial expenditures to help them determine what dues they are legally obligated to contribute. Teamster officials never provided Chester with any information on her financial obligations to the union.

Chester’s charges will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency responsible for administering private sector labor law.

“First Student and the Teamsters both have bad histories of ignoring workers’ rights,” said Patrick Semmens, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Foundation staff attorneys have represented other First Student employees in Alaska, Ohio, and Oregon whose rights were violated by union officials.”

“We hope these charges force First Student and the Teamsters to respect nonunion employees’ rights to refrain from union membership and the payment of full union dues,” continued Semmens. “However, this type of abuse will continue as long as Alaska lacks a Right to Work law, which would make union membership and dues payments strictly voluntary.”

Four Additional Michigan Workers File State Charges Alleging Unions’ Right to Work Law Violations

Michigan union officials stonewall workers’ attempts to refrain from dues payments

Detroit, MI (March 21, 2014) – Four additional Michigan public employees from throughout the state have filed state charges against unions for violating their rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, three public school employees, Lindsey Bentley of Muskegan, Alphia Snyder of Battle Creek, and Mary Derks of Whitehall, and Tina House, a Lapeer County employee, each filed state charges last week with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) in Detroit.

Click here to read the full release.

Detroit, MI (March 21, 2014) – Four additional Michigan public employees from throughout the state have filed state charges against unions for violating their rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, three public school employees, Lindsey Bentley of Muskegan, Alphia Snyder of Battle Creek, and Mary Derks of Whitehall, and Tina House, a Lapeer County employee, each filed state charges last week with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) in Detroit.

The three public school employees filed the charges against the Michigan Education Association (MEA) union because MEA union officials refuse to allow these workers to exercise their right under Michigan’s Right to Work law to refrain from union dues payments. Instead of complying with the workers’ requests to respect their rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law, MEA union officials told them that they would have to wait for a union-designated «window period» of August 1 through August 31 before they could resign union membership and refrain from union dues payments.

House was also denied her right to refrain from union dues payments after informing the Teamster Local 214 union that she was exercising her right under Michigan’s Right to Work law. Teamster Local 214 union officials told House that she would have to wait for a union-designated «window period» in July 2014 before she could revoke her dues deduction authorization and opt out of union dues.

Under Michigan’s Right to Work law, contracts entered into after the law went into effect must respect workers’ right to refrain from the payment of any union dues or fees. The workers point out in their charges that Michigan’s Right to Work law protects their unequivocal right to refrain from union membership at any time.

«Across the state, union officials are pulling out all the stops to keep workers from exercising their rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «Foundation staff attorneys are assisting workers throughout the state whose rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law are being denied by unscrupulous union officials.»

In similar cases across Michigan, Foundation staff attorneys have already assisted five other public-sector workers who filed charges with the MERC and two private-sector workers who filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).