Springfield, VA (May 22, 2014) – The National Right to Work Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal assistance to employees nationwide, has just filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in defense of Michigan’s recently-enacted public sector Right to Work law. The brief was submitted to the Michigan Employee Relations Commission in a case involving the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 1085 union.

Several teachers have accused AFT Local 1085 union officials of deliberately suppressing their rights under Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work laws. Under the new laws, no employee can be forced to join or pay dues to a union just to get or keep a job. However, union contracts with forced-dues clauses that predate the enactment of the Right to Work laws are still legally enforceable until those agreements expire.

AFT officials sought to take advantage of this exemption by hastily entering into a stand-alone 10- year forced-dues contract with the Taylor School District in January of 2013, just two months before Michigan’s public sector Right to Work law went into effect. This agreement was not prompted by the expiration of the union’s existing contract with the school district and was aimed solely at ensuring that union officials could continue to force nonunion teachers to pay dues for another ten years.

The National Right to Work Foundation’s brief points out that the union’s actions were motivated by a desire to circumvent Michigan’s recently-enacted Right to Work protections. Consequently, the opportunistic forced-dues agreement between AFT officials and the Taylor School District should not be allowed to remain in effect.

“Union bosses may have lost the legislative battle over Right to Work protections for Michigan workers, but that hasn’t stopped them from attempting to exploit legal loopholes to continue collecting forced dues,” said Patrick Semmens, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation.

“Michigan’s Right to Work laws won’t mean anything if they’re not vigorously enforced,” continued Semmens. “That’s why Right to Work staff attorneys are working to ensure that union officials are held accountable for their actions in court.”

Foundation staff attorneys are currently representing 17 employees defending or enforcing Michigan’s Right to Work laws in cases before the the Michigan Employee Relations Commission and federal court.

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.