Greensburg, IN (January 31, 2006) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, nine Printpack workers filed federal charges today against the Graphic Communications Conference (GCC) union, a Teamsters union subsidiary, for illegally collecting forced union dues.

The employees filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) on behalf of themselves and nearly 270 of their colleagues at the packaging materials plant. The NLRB’s investigators will decide whether formally to prosecute GCC union officials for unfair labor practices.

From January 2005 to June 2005, the monopoly bargaining contract between the GCC union and Printpack was temporarily not in effect. But starting December 2005, GCC union officials began to retroactively charge Printpack workers for forced union dues during the contract hiatus – even though they had no legal authority to do so for that period.

Because Indiana is not yet a Right to Work state, employees can be fired from their jobs simply for refusing to pay union dues when a collective bargaining agreement is in effect. However, according to longstanding NLRB precedent, the National Labor Relations Act prevents union officials from collecting forced dues from employees when the union has no contract with the employer.

“GCC union bosses seem more interested in collecting forced union dues money so they can play politics than representing employees at the bargaining table,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The absence of a Right to Work law in Indiana allows this kind of union corruption and abuse.”

Additionally, GCC union officials deliberately failed to inform employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and pay reduced compulsory union dues. These union actions violate employees’ rights affirmed under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision. Under Beck and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials must inform employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and allow them to reclaim forced dues spent for activities unrelated to collective bargaining, such as union political activity.

Foundation attorneys also point out that GCC union officials are charging Printpack employees who file Beck objections for compulsory dues greater than their collective bargaining share, and are illegally collecting dues directly from employees’ paychecks without first providing the workers with information about union expenditures – preconditions to collecting forced union dues.

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.