Chattanooga VW Workers File Federal Charge Against Company For Pro-Unionization Coercion

Chattanooga, TN (October 16, 2013) – Today, four Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers filed a federal charge against the company alleging that statements by German VW officials are illegally coercing fellow workers into representation by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the workers filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Atlanta.The charge comes after senior VW management in Germany stated, according to recent media reports, that for any expanded production to be considered in Chattanooga, the plant must adopt a works council that would force workers to accept the representation of UAW union officials.

School Bus Driver Files Charge against Teamster Union for Ignoring Her Rights Under Michigan’s Right to Work Law

Howell, MI (October 9, 2013) – A school bus driver has filed a state charge against a local Teamster union for violating her rights under Michigan's recently enacted public-sector Right to Work law.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Pauline Beutler of Howell filed the state charge late last week with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) in Detroit.Beutler, who works as a bus driver for the Livingston Education Service Agency, informed the Teamster Local 214 union on September 9, 2013, that she was exercising her right under Michigan's Right to Work law to refrain from union dues payments after the union's monopoly bargaining agreement with her employer expired on June 30, 2013. Under Michigan's Right to Work law, contracts entered into after the law went into effect must respect workers' right to refrain from the payment of any union dues.

UPS Worker Files Federal Charge against Teamster Union for Ignoring His Rights Under Michigan’s Right to Work Law

Grand Rapids, MI (October 4, 2013) – A Wyoming, Michigan UPS (NYSE: UPS) worker has filed a federal charge against a local Teamster union for violating his rights.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Gary Frost filed the unfair labor practice charge Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).Frost, who is not a member of the Teamster Local 406 union, had to pay union dues and fees as a condition of his employment before Michigan recently enacted a Right to Work law making union dues payments completely voluntary.

Supreme Court to Review Illinois Homecare Provider Unionization Scheme

Washington, DC (October 1, 2013) – The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it is granting a writ of certiorari in a case that will decide whether Illinois homecare providers can be forced into union ranks against their will.With the help of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, Pam Harris and seven other Illinois care providers are challenging a forced-unionism scheme enacted by Illinois Governors Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn on the grounds that it violates their rights to free expression and association by forcing them to subsidize union lobbying.

Eight Chattanooga Volkswagen Workers File Federal Charges Challenging UAW Card Check Scheme

Chattanooga, TN (September 25, 2013) – Today, eight Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers filed federal charges against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union for misleading and coercing them and other workers to forfeit their rights in what is now a "card check" unionization drive by the UAW.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the eight workers filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Atlanta.After UAW union officials claimed to possess signature cards from a majority of workers, UAW union president Bob King demanded VW deny workers a secret ballot vote on unionization and instead unionize all workers on the basis of the unreliable and abuse-prone card check process.

Worker Files Brief in Supreme Court Case Challenging Backroom Union Organizing Deal

Washington, DC (September 23, 2013) – National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys filed a brief at the United States Supreme Court late Friday for a Florida casino worker challenging a much used union organizing scheme. The case, Mulhall v. UNITE HERE, could determine whether union organizers can receive workers' personal information and other valuable organizing tools in exchange for concessions at employees' expense.In 2004, UNITE HERE Local 355 and Mardi Gras Gaming entered into an agreement in which union officials promised to devote over one hundred thousand dollars to help pass a gambling ballot initiative and guaranteed not to picket, boycott, or strike against Mardi Gras facilities.

Chattanooga Volkswagen Employees Tell Right to Work Foundation They Were Promised Secret Ballot Election

Springfield, VA (September 13, 2013) – Recent media reports suggest that United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials are pushing Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) to eliminate a secret ballot vote on unionization and instead unionize all workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee on the basis of an unreliable and abuse-prone "card check" process.After UAW union officials claimed to receive a majority of workers signing union "cards," UAW union president Bob King told Reuters yesterday that the VW employees should be put under union monopoly control through the card check, and that they should not vote in private because, he claimed, such a secret ballot vote would be "divisive."However, the National Right to Work Foundation has received a number of calls from workers at the plant who were told by UAW union organizers that a signature on the card was to call for a secret ballot unionization election.

Local Cold Storage Warehouse Worker Files Federal Unfair Labor Practice Charge against UFCW Union

Rochelle, IL (September 19, 2013) – An Americold Logistics warehouse employee has filed a federal charge against a local union for violating her rights and posting coercive notices in the workplace designed to mislead workers into dues-paying ranks.Karen Cox of Dixon filed the federal charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.In June 2012, a local affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) unionized Cox's workplace. However, union and company officials did not reach a contract until June 2013. During that time, Cox began a campaign to remove the unwanted union from her workplace. In August, the workers voted in a secret-ballot election whether to remove the union from their workplace. At the request of the union hierarchy, the results of the election have been impounded pending review by the NLRB.

FirstEnergy Worker Files Federal Charge Against Local Electrical Worker Union

Reading, PA (September 12, 2013) – A FirstEnergy Corp. worker has filed a federal charge against a local union for violating her rights.With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Deborah Adie of Orwigsburg filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In the charge, Adie alleges that International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 777 union officials demanded she join the union or she would lose her job.Under federal law, no worker can be forced to formally join a union. However, because Pennsylvania is not a Right to Work state, workers can be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. IBEW Local 777 union officials never informed Adie of her right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership, a right upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Right to Work Foundation-won Communications Workers v. Beck case.

Federal Court Upholds Wisconsin Governor’s Public-Sector Unionism Reforms, Right to Work Protections

Federal Court Upholds Wisconsin Governor's Public-Sector Unionism Reforms, Right to Work Protections National Right to Work Foundation attorneys filed brief in support of “Act 10” Madison, WI (September 11, 2013) – Today, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin upheld Governor Scott Walker's 2011 public-sector unionism reform measures, also known as "Act 10," which included giving most Wisconsin public workers the Right to Work.