Washington, D.C. (September 27, 2004) – National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have persuaded the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to order the federal labor prosecution of Heartland Industrial Partners LLP and the Steelworkers union for corralling unsuspecting employees of acquired corporations into unionization.

David Stockman, President Reagan’s former budget director, heads the firm that entered the arrangement with the Steelworkers union. Foundation attorneys argue that the agreement is an unlawful “secondary boycott,” as it imposes unionization on other companies which they purchase or with which they conduct certain business.

NLRB General Counsel Arthur Rosenfeld’s order addresses an increasingly common “top-down organizing” tactic that is used to short-circuit traditional grassroots-driven union organizing drives that have been increasingly unsuccessful due to a lack of interest among rank-and-file employees.

With the help of attorneys from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Linda Kandel, Galen Raber, Juanita Miller, and Renate Croll filed the unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB against the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) union and Heartland in August 2003.

As part of their pact with the USWA union, Heartland agreed to force any company in which it has substantial investments to accept a so-called “partnership agreement.” Under the terms of the “partnership agreement,” the company must deny employees an opportunity to vote in a traditional secret ballot election, give union organizers employees’ private information including home addresses, and ultimately force workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

Moreover, a newly acquired company must also impose the provisions of the “partnership agreement” on corporations it acquires or with which it does substantial business.

In return for this arrangement, Steelworkers union officials agreed to stifle employee rights under federal law and to limit employees’ ability to influence their own wages, benefits, and working conditions.

“Heartland and the USWA union are using their illegal sweetheart deal to force thousands and thousands of American workers into the clutches of compulsory unionism,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation.

This quid pro quo arrangement may also violate civil and criminal provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act.

Rosenfeld’s order complements a lawsuit filed by Foundation attorneys, Patterson et al. v. Heartland Industrial Partners LLP et al., challenging the “neutrality agreement” between Heartland and the USWA union. The suit was filed in federal court on behalf of Wanda Patterson, an employee of Collins & Aikman, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. In January, the U.S. District Court cleared the path for full discovery into details of the agreement, and the case is still pending.

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.