Kansas City Police Officers Seek to Handcuff Union's Forced-Dues Scheme

Right to Work Foundation attorneys challenge union hierarchy for violating employees' constitutional rights

Kansas City, MO (March 27, 2013) – Seventeen Missouri police officers have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against a local police union, the Board of Police Commissions of Kansas City, and the mayor of Kansas City for violating their rights.

The 17 officers filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

In October of 2012, Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 99 union officials agreed to a settlement in a lawsuit between the union and the city in which union officials made concessions on police officers' wages, benefits, and retirement age in exchange for the power to force nonmember police officers into paying forced union dues and fees as a condition of their employment.

Click here to read the full release.

The latest issue of Foundation Action, the Right to Work Foundation's bi-monthly newsletter, is now available on our website. Click here to download the .pdf or view the articles online. We've also put up the major articles from the January/February 2013 issue on our blog, which I've linked to below:

We also encourage you to sign up for a hard copy of Foundation Action (It's free!). You can subscribe here. 

Local School Bus Drivers Slam the Brakes on Union Boss Rights Violations

Union officials threatened bus drivers: Join the union or be fired

Gresham, OR (March 25, 2013) – A group of local school bus drivers have won a federal settlement including back pay from a local union hierarchy after union officials illegally demanded they join the union or be fired.

The settlement stems from a federal charge six of the drivers filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Office in Seattle with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

Oregon School Employees Association, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 6732 union officials demanded that all drivers join the union and pay full union dues or face discharge.

Click here to read the full release.

NOTE: This article is from the most recent issue of Foundation Action, our bi-monthly newsletter. You can sign up to receive a print edition of the newsletter here.

Pennsylvania Construction Worker Digs Up Illegal Union PAC Scheme

Worker loses his job because he didn't contribute to "voluntary" union political fund

SCOTTDALE, PA – A Pennsylvania-based construction company and a local union are facing federal charges for violating the rights of a former truck driver/laborer.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Jeff Richmond of Meadow Bridge, West Virginia, filed federal unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Cincinnati against Penn Line Service, Inc. and Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 453.

Told union membership and political contributions were required

In July 2012, when Penn Line Service hired Richmond, company management informed him that the job was a “union job.”  Between July and October, the company confiscated, and the LIUNA union hierarchy accepted, full union dues from Richmond’s paychecks even though he had not joined the union nor given authorization for the company to take full union dues from his paychecks. 

In October, Penn Line Service management gave Richmond and his coworkers a union membership and dues deductions authorization form.  The form included a section for the employees to authorize “voluntary” contributions to LIUNA’s political action committee (PAC), the Laborers’ Political League, and the West Virginia Laborer’s District Council PAC.  

Richmond signed up for union membership and dues payments because he was given the impression that union membership was required for him to keep his job.  Richmond did not, however, authorize the “voluntary” PAC contributions.  Shortly after, Richmond’s supervisor informed him that the union form was being returned for Richmond to fill out completely.  The next day, Richmond notified his supervisor he would not sign up for the PAC contributions for moral reasons.

After making a phone call, the supervisor gave Richmond an ultimatum:  fill out the form or the supervisor would take him home.  Standing by his convictions, Richmond went home.  

“Management took me home because I told them I wouldn’t sign the voluntary check off authorization for the [union’s PACs] for moral reasons,” Richmond said.  “I didn’t feel that it was right for them to terminate someone because they wouldn’t sign a ‘voluntary’ check off.”

Federal law provides some recourse; more needed

Under federal law, no worker can be forced to formally join a union.  Unfortunately, West Virginia does not have a Right to Work law, which means that workers who refrain from union membership can be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Foundation-won Communications Workers v. Beck case that nonmembers have the right to opt out of paying for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as union boss politics, ideological causes, and members-only events.  

Richmond’s charges allege that company and union officials violated his rights by telling him that the union PAC contributions were a condition of employment and terminating him from his job when he refused to pay up.  The charge also alleges that company and union officials violated federal law when they failed to inform Richmond of his rights to refrain from union membership and full union dues before confiscating full union dues from his paychecks.

“Bulldozing someone into contributing to a PAC that violates their sincerely-held beliefs is downright unconscionable and also a clear violation of federal law,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation.  “Company and union officials often collude to mislead workers into believing that full union dues payments, and in this case so-called ‘voluntary’ union PAC contributions, are a condition of employment while leaving workers unaware of their rights.”

“No worker should ever be forced to pay union dues or fees for a cause with which they disagree,” added Mix.  “That is why West Virginia desperately needs to pass a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payments completely voluntary.”

Worker Files Federal Charges against NBC Sports, CWA for Forcing Him to Join Union, Pay Full Dues

Case shows why West Virginia's workers need Right to Work protections

New York, NY (March 11, 2013) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, an NBC Sports technician has filed federal charges against his employer and the NABET-CWA Local 11 union for forcing him to join the union and pay full dues.

Over the past six months, Steve Wahlenmayer has worked as a daily hire for NBC Sports, which is party to a bargaining agreement with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union. Because New York lacks a Right to Work law, regular employees can be forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment after 30 consecutive days of employment. This means temporary or daily hires cannot be required to pay union dues if they don't reach the 30-day threshold.

Despite the fact that Wahlenmayer has never worked for NBC for 30 consecutive days, CWA officials and NBC Sports demanded he join the union and sign a dues check-off card authorizing the CWA to deduct automatically dues from his paycheck and to pay a $9,000 initiation fee. Other temporary hires at NBC Sports have faced similar demands.

Click here to read the full release.

Recently the United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Teamster union lawyers of a National Right to Work Foundation-won ruling against a local Teamster policy that discriminated against non union workers. Last year, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals slapped Teamster Local 523 with sanctions for filing a frivolous appeal in the case.


For more on the case and other developments in the Foundation's free legal aid program, watch the video below.