Decertification election to remove “Workers United Mid Atlantic Regional Joint Board” union officials set for Thursday

Emporia, VA (May 8, 2024) – A majority of employees at Emporia Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Emporia, Virginia, have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a secret ballot vote to remove the Workers United Mid Atlantic Regional Joint Board union from their workplace. A decertification election has been scheduled for Thursday, May 16. Emporia employee Christy Smith filed the petition requesting the vote with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

Smith filed the union decertification petition on April 18 with the NLRB, the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, which includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. Smith’s petition contained support from over half of her 60 coworkers, well more than required to trigger a decertification vote under NLRB rules. SEIU affiliate, “Workers United” [sic] Mid Atlantic Regional Joint Board union officials have maintained monopoly bargaining power at Smith’s workplace for over a decade.

Virginia is a Right to Work state, which means that union financial support is strictly voluntary for employees. In contrast, in states that do not have Right to Work laws, union officials can require employees to pay union dues or fees under threat of termination. However, in both Right to Work and non-Right to Work states, union officials are empowered by federal law to impose a union contract on all employees in the work unit, including those who oppose the union.

A successful decertification vote strips union officials of such monopoly bargaining powers. Nursing staff, Dietary staff, and Housekeeping staff, comprising of the 61 employees at the facility, are eligible to vote in this NLRB-supervised election.

“This majority-backed decertification petition at Emporia Rehabilitation and Healthcare is yet another example of the growing interest among workers in unionized workplaces to reconsider union affiliation,” said Foundation President Mark Mix. “The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation stands ready to provide free legal aid to workers seeking to exercise their right to remove an unwanted union from their workplace and to defend workers against any attempts by union officials to undermine or block workers from freeing themselves from unwanted so-called union ‘representation.’”

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.