Washington, DC (June 16, 2006) — With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a group of 15 United Airlines (UAL) employees filed a federal lawsuit against the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union today for discriminating against nonunion pilots. According to the complaint, the ALPA union hierarchy purposefully and illegally failed to inform nonunion employees of their right to sell future United stock shares issued during the airline’s bankruptcy reorganization plan.

The workers filed the class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for all nonmember United pilots – a number estimated to exceed 200.

The airline and ALPA union officials agreed that, prior to the issuance of the new United stock upon its emergence from bankruptcy, each pilot would have the option to sell their future right to receive the stock. Any pilot could exercise that option by authorizing ALPA union officials to sell his or her interest in the claim for the highest price achievable in the market.

As a result of this agreement, employees who participated in the auction profited from the new United stock at a substantially greater amount than what the shares could be sold for when subsequently distributed.

But ALPA union officials informed only union members – not nonmembers – of this option to participate in the auction. Information regarding the option to sell future stock, and the forms required to participate in the auction, were secluded to a remote “members only” portion of the union’s website accessible only with a password not given to nonmembers.

“The ALPA union hierarchy deliberately and unlawfully misled nonmembers in an attempt to retaliate against them for refusing formal union membership,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Union officials wanted to send a message to all employees that they had better toe the union line.”

Employees who are not formal members of the ALPA union are still forced to accept the terms of the union’s monopoly bargaining contract and all of its provisions regarding salary, benefits, seniority, and pensions. Under the Railway Labor Act, it is unlawful for employees to negotiate their own, more-favorable contracts with their employer. The Act also stipulates that the ALPA union owes nonmembers in the bargaining unit a so-called “duty of fair representation,” which supposedly prevents union officials from acting against the interests of those refraining from formal union membership.

The United pilots’ lawsuit seeks an order declaring that the ALPA union breached its duty of fair representation, as well as damages for each employee equal to the share difference between the auction sales price for the claims and the actual trade price of the stock at the time it was issued, plus interest.

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.