Falls Church, VA (April 1, 2010) – With free legal aid from staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation, a Giant Food employee has filed unfair labor practice charges against United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 union bosses for forcing the employer to deduct union dues from his paycheck even though he exercised his right to refrain from union membership.

In the last six months, Peyman Jamshidi learned that unauthorized deductions were being made from his paycheck for union dues, despite the fact that he informed UFCW local 400 union officials that he did not want to be a union member. Because Virginia is a Right to Work state, Giant Food and UFCW Local 400 cannot require nonmember employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

When Jamshidi informed a union official that he was exercising his right to refrain from union membership, the union official still demanded that Jamshidi sign a union membership card for a vague promise of “protection.” Upon receiving the signed card from Jamshidi, the union official wrote on the card that Jamshidi was not to be charged any fees.

In addition to Virginia’s Right to Work law that protects the freedom of association of independent-minded workers, federal law requires union officials to inform employees of their right to refrain from union membership and makes dues deduction check-off procedures entirely voluntary. Other employees in the workplace less informed about their rights may have been illegally coerced into signing union membership cards and authorizing dues deductions.

The Baltimore-based Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will investigate the charges and determine whether to prosecute UFCW Local 400 union bosses before an administrative law judge. Jamshidi demands that the illegal forced dues deductions cease immediately and seeks a full reimbursement of all money deducted from his paycheck without his consent.

Jamshidi’s charges mirror a similar case currently pending before the NLRB Regional Director in San Diego, California. In that case, union officials similarly misled a grocery store worker into signing a union membership card and writing “Beck Decision” on the card, suggesting that he could only be charged union fees related to workplace bargaining in line with the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent Communication Workers of America v. Beck. But UFCW local union officials ordered he be fired when he attempted to pay the amount he believed he lawfully owed and not the full union dues and initiation fees the union demanded.

“UFCW Local 400 union bosses’ practice of illegally seizing dues from workers’ paychecks without their consent demonstrates a flagrant disregard for Virginia’s longstanding and popular Right to Work law,” explained Patrick Semmens, legal information director for the National Right to Work Foundation.

“More troublingly, there appears to be a pattern among UFCW local union officials to deliberately and fraudulently coerce workers into joining dues-paying ranks,” continued Semmens. “At least one worker in California has already been illegally fired as a result of this disturbing practice, clearly demonstrating the need for forced-unionism states like California to adopt Right to Work protections for independent-minded workers.”

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.