**Cape Canaveral, FL (April 18, 2006)** – Nine Boeing employees have filed a wave of federal unfair labor practice charges against the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union for unlawful threats of fines for refusing to walk off the job during a union-ordered strike. Union officials also unlawfully failed to inform the launch complex workers of their right to refrain from formal union membership.

The charges, filed at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with the assistance of National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, allege that IAM union officials illegally told the employees they had to formally join the union as a condition of employment. Additionally, the charges detail that the union is currently attempting to discipline the employees with unlawful fines for continuing to work during a strike that lasted from November 2005 to February 2006. Workers at the facility report that fines from union officials appear imminent, though the amount remains undisclosed.

“IAM union officials’ policy of bullying dissenting employees cannot go unpunished,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Union officials’ thuggish tactics demonstrate how the union hierarchy’s interests are at odds with those of the very employees they claim to represent.”

The actions of IAM union officials violate workers’ rights recognized under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision. Under Beck and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials must specifically inform employees of their right to refrain from formal, full dues-paying union membership, and of their right to pay a reduced fee to cover only the union’s collective bargaining costs.

Foundation attorneys contend that, because the employees were under the impression they had to become formal IAM union members and pay full union dues in order to keep their jobs, they are involuntary union members and thus are not subject to internal union discipline.

Because the Boeing employees work at the Cape Canaveral launch complex – which is considered an “exclusive federal enclave” – they do not enjoy the protections of Florida’s highly-popular Right to Work law. A Right to Work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union.

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 about 200 cases nationwide per year.