DEFIANCE, Ohio (September 4, 2003) — In response to charges brought by employees at Diehl, Inc.’s evaporated milk plant, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a formal complaint against Teamsters Local 908 for unfair labor practices. An administrative law judge will hold a hearing on the complaint on January 12, 2004.

With the assistance of National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, Donald Manis filed federal charges in August and September 2001 against union officials for preventing him and his coworkers from exercising their right to reclaim forced union dues spent for politics and other non-bargaining activities.

“Teamsters union bosses go to great lengths to force workers to pay for their ideological agenda,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation.

An agreement between Teamsters officials and Diehl forces all employees to pay union dues to keep their jobs. Under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court CWA v. Beck decision, employees cannot be forced to pay union dues for activities unrelated to collective bargaining, like politics and organizing.

Union officials demanded the dues despite the fact that they had not provided, as required by the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson decision, the employees with an independent audit breaking down union expenditures. Local 908 officials also unlawfully required employees to send multiple objection letters before being allowed their right to review the union’s finances, and they forced employees to pay for part of the cost of arbitration regarding the amount of the reduced dues objectors pay.

Foundation attorneys are demanding that union officials return any illegally seized forced union dues, provide proper financial disclosure, and halt their practice of forcing objecting employees to go through an excessive bureaucratic process before being able to exercise their rights.

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.