Santa Barbara, CA (August 21, 2013) – A retired Santa Barbara County employee has filed a federal lawsuit against the county and a local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) affiliate for violating her constitutional rights and refusing to follow federal disclosure requirements.

Rosemary Banko filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California located in Los Angles with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

Before Banko retired in July, the county collected full union dues from her paychecks even though she was not a member of the SEIU Local 620.

The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that workers have the unconditional right to refrain from union membership at any time. However, because California does not have a Right to Work law, union officials can compel nonmember workers into paying union dues and fees as a condition of employment. The Supreme Court ruled in the Foundation’s Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson case that union officials must provide nonmember public workers with an independently-audited breakdown of all forced-dues union expenditures and the opportunity to object and challenge the amount of forced union fees before an impartial decision maker.

This minimal safeguard is designed to ensure that workers have an opportunity to refrain from paying for union political activities and member-only events.

Banko’s suit alleges that the county deducted full union dues from her paychecks at SEIU Local 620 union officials’ behest even though the union hierarchy refused to follow the federal disclosure requirements outlined by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hudson.

Banko is asking the court to order a refund of all illegally-seized union dues and fees from her paychecks, plus interest.

«To keep their forced-dues gravy train going, SEIU union officials are keeping Santa Barbara workers in the dark about their rights,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «This case underscores why California needs a Right to Work law making union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary.»

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.

Michigan Appeals Court Upholds Right to Work Law: «A Win for Worker Freedom»

Roughly 33,000 Michigan state employees will soon have free choice regarding union membership and dues payment

Lansing, MI (August 16, 2013) – Yesterday, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the state’s recently-enacted Right to Work law as constitutional and ruled that it will apply to the state’s roughly 33,000 state civil service workers.

Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work, issue the following statement in the wake of the ruling:

«Michigan’s new Right to Work law is a win for worker freedom, and the constitutionality of state Right to Work laws has long been a settled question.

«Regardless, Michigan government union bosses wasted taxpayer dollars and workers’ dues money tilting at windmills in hopes of rolling back any check on their forced dues powers.

«We’re happy the court rejected their frivolous arguments and ensured that tens of thousands of Michigan’s civil servants will continue to have the choice to labor free from union coercion.»

Click here to read the full release.

Lansing, MI (August 16, 2013) – Yesterday, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the state’s recently-enacted Right to Work law as constitutional and ruled that it will apply to the state’s roughly 33,000 state civil service workers.

Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work, issue the following statement in the wake of the ruling:

«Michigan’s new Right to Work law is a win for worker freedom, and the constitutionality of state Right to Work laws has long been a settled question.

«Regardless, Michigan government union bosses wasted taxpayer dollars and workers’ dues money tilting at windmills in hopes of rolling back any check on their forced dues powers.

«We’re happy the court rejected their frivolous arguments and ensured that tens of thousands of Michigan’s civil servants will continue to have the choice to labor free from union coercion.»

Michigan’s Right to Work laws will apply to state civil service workers beginning January 1, 2014, when the state contracts covering those employees entered into before the Right to Work law was enacted will have expired.

Michigan is the nation’s 24th Right to Work state. Public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans and union members support the Right to Work principle of voluntary unionism.

Minnesota Childcare Providers Appeal Federal Lawsuit Challenging Forced Unionization Scheme

Childcare providers fight dictate to push them into forced union dues ranks

Minneapolis, MN (August 7, 2013) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a group of Minnesota home-based childcare providers have appealed their federal challenge to a new law that seeks to forcibly unionize the state’s home-based childcare providers.

Jennifer Parrish from Rochester and 11 other providers from around the state filed the appeal yesterday after a U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota judge dismissed their lawsuit last month on the grounds that it was filed too soon. Foundation staff attorneys counter that childcare providers shouldn’t have to wait until their rights are violated to challenge the scheme, and that the threat of unionization in violation of their rights provides grounds for moving their legal challenge forward.

Click here to read the full release.

Minneapolis, MN (August 7, 2013) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a group of Minnesota home-based childcare providers have appealed their federal challenge to a new law that seeks to forcibly unionize the state’s home-based childcare providers.

Jennifer Parrish from Rochester and 11 other providers from around the state filed the appeal yesterday after a U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota judge dismissed their lawsuit last month on the grounds that it was filed too soon. Foundation staff attorneys counter that childcare providers shouldn’t have to wait until their rights are violated to challenge the scheme, and that the threat of unionization in violation of their rights provides grounds for moving their legal challenge forward.

Parrish and other providers seek to halt implementation of a recently-passed law intended to designate American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) officials as the monopoly political representative of thousands of providers in the state, who are either owners of childcare businesses or family members who take care of related children.

Home-based childcare and personal care providers have challenged similar forced-unionization-by-government-fiat schemes in several states across the country, including Michigan and Illinois. The Illinois case is pending at the U.S. Supreme Court. Michigan ended its scheme after Foundation attorneys filed suit for providers there.

Foundation attorneys argue that such schemes violate the providers’ First Amendment right to choose with whom they associate to petition the government. The government does not have the power to force citizens to accept its handpicked political representation to lobby itself. Under the Minnesota scheme, after the union is installed it will then be empowered to confiscate dues from childcare providers for this forced so-called «exclusive representation.»

«Citizens have the power to select their political representation in government, not the other way around,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «This scheme, which forces small business owners, and even grandma taking care of her grandchildren, into union political association is a slap in the face of fundamental American principles we hold dear.»

The providers also requested a court injunction halting implementation of the law pending the appeal.

Air Traffic Controller Files Charges against FAA, Union for Overt Religious Discrimination

Union had worker transferred to force him to work on Saturday, violating his religious beliefs and threatening his livelihood

Potomac, VA (August 6, 2013) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employee has filed charges against his employer and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) union with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Matthew Gray’s charges allege that union and FAA officials used his religious beliefs to punish him after he decided to resign from the union.

Gray, a Seventh-day Adventist, currently works at the FAA’s Potomac facility. After resigning his membership in NATCA because he believes union membership is contrary to his faith, Gray was informed by a union official on February 6 that he was being removed from his detail and transferred to another in which he would have to work on Saturdays as punishment for resigning from the union.

Click here to read the full release.

Potomac, VA (August 6, 2013) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employee has filed charges against his employer and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) union with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Matthew Gray’s charges allege that union and FAA officials used his religious beliefs to punish him after he decided to resign from the union.

Gray, a Seventh-day Adventist, currently works at the FAA’s Potomac facility. After resigning his membership in NATCA because he believes union membership is contrary to his faith, Gray was informed by a union official on February 6 that he was being removed from his detail and transferred to another in which he would have to work on Saturdays as punishment for resigning from the union.

Instead of standing up to the union, Gray’s manager told him that he was complying with the union’s transfer request because he «no longer represent[s] the best interests of NATCA.»

A central doctrine of Gray’s church is weekly worship, and not working, on Saturday. Gray’s old position allowed him to avoid any scheduling conflict between his work and religious obligations. By removing him from his old detail, however, union officials are effectively forcing Gray to work on Saturday, find a replacement every week, or lose his job.

Gray told union officials that he only resigned because of his religious beliefs and the transfer would cause a scheduling conflict with his religious obligations. NATCA ignored his objections and went through with the transfer request.

«It’s unconscionable that an independent-minded worker was punished for attempting to exercise his deeply-held religious beliefs,» said Patrick Semmens, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Workers shouldn’t face retaliation for exercising their right not to join or affiliate with a labor union.»

«We hope the EEOC and the Federal Labor Relations Authority will quickly step in and safeguard Matthew Gray’s religious beliefs,» said Semmens.

Local FAA Worker Files Federal Charge Challenging Illegal Union Dues Scheme

Union officials refuse to acknowledge worker’s rights; continue taking dues despite his request

Myrtle Beach, SC (August 1, 2013) – A local Air Transportation Systems Specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has filed a federal charge against the Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS) union for forcing him to pay union dues even though he is not a union member.

With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Daryl Reinsch of Conway filed the charge with the Federal Labor Relations Authority earlier this week.

On October 22, 2012, Reinsch resigned membership in the PASS union and timely revoked his union dues deduction authorization effective March 1, 2013, under the contract then in effect. Union officials use union dues deduction authorizations to have dues automatically withheld from employee paychecks.

However, FAA and PASS union officials refuse to acknowledge Reinsch’s dues deduction authorization revocation because the FAA and the union hierarchy signed a new monopoly bargaining agreement in December, after Reinsch timely resigned union membership and revoked his dues deduction authorization.

As a result, the FAA continues to collect, and PASS union officials continue to accept, union dues from Reinsch’s paychecks.

Click here to read the full release.

Myrtle Beach, SC (August 1, 2013) – A local Air Transportation Systems Specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has filed a federal charge against the Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS) union for forcing him to pay union dues even though he is not a union member.

With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Daryl Reinsch of Conway filed the charge with the Federal Labor Relations Authority earlier this week.

On October 22, 2012, Reinsch resigned membership in the PASS union and timely revoked his union dues deduction authorization effective March 1, 2013, under the contract then in effect. Union officials use union dues deduction authorizations to have dues automatically withheld from employee paychecks.

However, FAA and PASS union officials refuse to acknowledge Reinsch’s dues deduction authorization revocation because the FAA and the union hierarchy signed a new monopoly bargaining agreement in December, after Reinsch timely resigned union membership and revoked his dues deduction authorization.

As a result, the FAA continues to collect, and PASS union officials continue to accept, union dues from Reinsch’s paychecks. Because Reinsch can only revoke his dues deduction authorization in January under the new monopoly bargaining agreement, he cannot ask again to stop dues payments until next year.

«Despite this worker doing exactly what he needed to do to refrain from paying union dues, those dues continue to be taken from his paychecks,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «This case displays how union officials have the power to make it difficult for workers to exercise their right to refrain from paying union dues, even in situations where workers have Right to Work protections.»

Reinsch’s charge seeks to stop the confiscation of union dues, and a refund of all illegally-seized union dues, from his paychecks.

Worker Advocate Launches TV Ad Campaign Reaching Out to Area Healthcare Professionals

National Right to Work Foundation seeks to inform workers of their rights

Pittsburgh, PA (July 30, 2013) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has launched an information campaign focusing on Pittsburgh-area hospital workers.

The Foundation launched the television ad campaign after receiving reports that a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is stepping up pressure on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) to hand over its workers and allow them to be shoved into union ranks.

The ad campaign currently consists of a series of messages featuring healthcare professionals the Foundation has assisted in the past. The Foundation is the nation’s premier organization exclusively dedicated to providing free legal assistance to employee victims of forced unionism abuse.

Click here to read the full release.