Coca-Cola Worker Wins Thousands in Settlement After Union Bosses Illegally Had Him Fired
Incident shows Pennsylvania’s workers desperately need Right to Work protections
Houston, PA (November 4, 2011) – A Coca-Cola employee has won a settlement for over $4,000 with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.
Keith Smiesko of Saxonburg won $3,356.46 from Teamster Local 585 union officials and $819.54 from Coca-Cola after he was illegally fired from his job for exercising his rights under the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck, which allows workers to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.
Earlier this year, Teamster Local 585 union officials ordered Smiesko – who had refrained from full union membership and dues payments – to immediately pay full union dues for the previous three years along with additional union initiation fees without ever notifying him that he was being charged for their so-called "representation." Union officials illegally threatened Smiesko with job termination if he did not pay.
Smiesko refused to pay, and Teamster Local 585 union officials demanded that Coca-Cola fire him. Coca-Cola complied with the union bosses’ demand.
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.
