Washington, D.C. (February 28, 2002) – Fearing the White House may be buckling under pressure from union officials, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has delivered more than 57,000 grassroots petitions urging President Bush to appeal a U.S. District Court decision enjoining his executive order that requires federal contractors to inform employees of their right to withhold compulsory union dues spent for partisan politics.

“It is alarming the White House has not decided to fight to ensure that employees are able to exercise their political freedom,” stated Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “Union officials are already spending millions of dollars in workers’ forced union dues on this fall’s congressional campaigns.”

Earlier this week, the AFL-CIO decided to hit America’s working families with another mandatory tax to pay for electioneering. This is the latest example of union operatives seizing compulsory dues to fund political activities, even as polls show that 62 percent of unionized employees object to this practice.

The deadline for the Bush Administration to appeal the court’s decision is March 4. The National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, who won the Supreme Court decision (Communications Workers v. Beck) that was the basis for the Executive Order 13201, filed as amicus curiae at the District Court level in defense of the Executive Order, and has promised to do so on appeal as well.

“Appealing the court’s decision is a fight on behalf of working people that the Bush Administration could win – if it has the courage to show up,” said Gleason.

Signed on February 17, 2001, Executive Order 13201 would affect a segment of the 12 million American employees compelled to pay union dues as a condition of employment, as it requires companies with federal contracts to inform workers of their rights under the Foundation-won Supreme Court decision in Communications Workers v. Beck.

In May 2001, a group of unions filed the case, known as UAW-Labor Employment and Training Corporation et al. v. Chao et al. Judge Henry H. Kennedy of the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia enjoined the implementation of the President’s directive on the grounds that the action was preempted by Congress – despite the fact that Bush’s Executive Order only seeks to enforce the Supreme Court’s interpretation of congressionally enacted law.

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.