Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona (November 12, 2009) – America’s preeminent workers’ rights advocacy organization which helps victims of union coercion is offering free legal aid to workers whose rights are abused during the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union-ordered strike scheduled to begin tomorrow.

Union officials apparently intend to impose fines upon union members who wish to continue to go to their jobs in opposition to the union’s militant approach.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has received numerous calls from Arizona Safeway Stores, Inc. and Kroger-owned Fry’s Food Stores employees who want to continue providing for themselves and their families during the UFCW union-ordered strike.  The Foundation encourages workers to learn about their rights from independent sources and posted a special legal notice for workers on its website at https://www.nrtw.org.

"Not long ago, UFCW union bosses ordered an unpopular strike in Southern California, and for five months employees were out of work," said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation.  "Now the union brass wants to replicate that situation in Arizona, and concerned workers are contacting the Foundation seeking help."

"The National Right to Work Foundation stands ready to defend the rights of employees who want to continue supporting themselves and their families, and those who are illegally threatened or coerced by UFCW union bosses for doing so," added Gleason.

Under Supreme Court precedent and under the protections guaranteed by Arizona’s popular Right to Work law:

• Workers have the right to resign from union membership.

• Workers have the right to go to work even if the union is on strike. If a worker chooses to work during a strike, they must first resign from union membership to avoid oppressive union disciplinary actions and fines.

• Workers have the right to revoke their dues check-off authorization and stop allowing union officials to collect money from their paycheck. Now that there is no longer a collective bargaining agreement in effect between UFCW union bosses and Safeway/Fry’s, employees can revoke their dues deduction authorizations at any time.

• Workers have the right to sign a decertification petition to hold a secret ballot election to remove the union hierarchy from the workplace.

The full notice can be found at www.nrtw.org/ufcwaz

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.