**Toledo, OH (April 21, 2006)** – With the assistance of National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, four nurses from the St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo have filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 8 Director in Cleveland against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and its Toledo Local 12 for violating their rights.

The charges detail how UAW union officials have used a compulsory unionism clause in their contract with the medical center to threaten to have nurses fired, despite failing to inform the employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and the right to pay a reduced fee in lieu of dues. Under the Foundation-won United States Supreme Court decision Communications Workers v. Beck, union officials must inform workers of their right to remain nonmembers or resign from formal union membership and to refrain from paying for activities unrelated to collective bargaining, such as union political activities.

In addition to their “pay-up-or-be-fired” threats, union officials have also recently begun demanding forced union dues from per diem nurses without informing them of their rights.

The medical professionals also charge automotive union officials with misleading nurses into filling out UAW membership cards that “irrevocably” designate the UAW as their exclusive representative in all employment matters, flouting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Foundation-supported case of Pattern Makers v. National Labor Relations Board, which affirmed the right of private sector employees to resign their formal union membership at any time. The union cards also require the employee to pledge “true and faithful Allegiance to the International (UAW) Union.”

Frustrated by their treatment at the hands of union officials, a group of nurses have created a website called “Nurses For A Union Free St. Vincents” (www.NursesKnowTheTruth.bravehost.com) with the goal of ridding their medical center of the unwanted automotive union. According to federal labor law, if 30 percent of the nurses in the autoworkers union collective bargaining unit sign the decertification petition, the NLRB will hold an election where the nurses can vote the union out. However, if a majority of the nurses sign the petition the hospital can voluntarily drop its recognition of the union.

“UAW union officials have shown their willingness to break any law in their never-ending mission to corral more St. Vincent nurses into paying forced union dues,” said Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “Given such disregard for the rights of the very rank-and-file employees that UAW officials claim to represent, it comes as no surprise that many nurses are leading an effort to show them the door.”

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.