Los Angeles, CA (August 9, 2010) – Three employees at the Carson Boeing plant have filed federal charges against the United Auto Worker (UAW) union in response to local union officials’ efforts to illegally punish them for exercising their rights to resign from formal union membership.

Before working during a UAW Local 148-instigated strike, the three employees exercised their right, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Pattern Makers v. NLRB (1985), to resign from formal, full dues-paying union membership.

The UAW Local 148 union hierarchy began internal union disciplinary procedures against the nonmember employees for refusing to abandon their jobs despite receiving their resignation letters before the union boss-ordered strike. Union officials have no legal power to punish nonmember employees for honoring their commitments to their employer as long as they first resigned their union membership.

Foundation attorneys have represented independent-minded employees across the country who suffered from union boss retaliation for refusing to abandon their jobs during union boss-ordered strikes. In some cases, nonmember employees have experienced sham disciplinary proceedings and even confiscatory fines to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.

“In these tough economic times, it is unconscionable for UAW union bosses to retaliate against nonmember workers for providing for their families,” said Patrick Semmens, legal information director of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Boeing employees who exercise their long-recognized right to resign from union membership at any time should be allowed to make a living without the fear of harassment and intimidation for not toeing the union boss line.”

The NLRB regional office will now investigate the charges and decide whether to issue a formal complaint and prosecute the union.

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.