OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (February 7, 2002) — Richard Ohse and 60 other employees of the Carlon Corporation have won their long-running case against the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) Local D465. Mr. Ohse, with the help of National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to reclaim dues that had been illegally collected by the union and used to support political activities.

As a result of the NLRB’s ruling, IBB Local D465 officials will have paid out a total of $120,000 in full refunds of illegally seized dues, plus interest, to the 61 employees who were the beneficiaries of the complaint.

Mr. Ohse, and the other employees of the Carlon Corporation, have had to wait more than a decade for this ruling. The charge was first filed in 1991, but it took several years to force the Clinton NLRB to act on the matter.

“After all of these prosecutorial delays and the union’s stonewalling, these employees have finally been made whole,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “No matter how long union officials hold out, they cannot ultimately deny workers their fundamental rights.”

The case arose after IBB officials violated the workers’ rights established by the U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision. Under Beck, a case that Foundation attorneys argued and won, workers who are not protected by a Right to Work law may resign from formal union memberships and halt and reclaim the portion of forced union dues spent on politics and other activities unrelated to collective bargaining.

Since Oklahoma only passed a Right to Work law on September 25, 2001, these employees were not protected from forced unionism. National Right to Work Foundation attorneys are also representing employees defending Oklahoma’s new Right to Work law from union attack.

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.