Nurses Challenge Federal Agency's Attempt to Install Illegitimate Union

Union organizers' intimidation sways outcome of unionization election

Massillon, OH (February 12, 2013) – Two local nurses have filed a motion with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to intervene in a federal case in which the agency is attempting to force a union hierarchy's "representation" on the nurses in the wake of a tainted organizing election.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Affinity Medical Center nurses Susan Kelley and Cinda Keener filed the motion last week.

National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) union organizers and Affinity management entered into a "neutrality agreement" that gave union organizers preferential access to the facility, helping them to impose monopoly bargaining on the nurses. Company and union officials refused to disclose the terms of the secret agreement despite repeated requests from the nurses.

Additionally, non-employee union organizers stalked, reported on, and attempted to get company management to retaliate against nurses who exercised their rights to oppose the unionization of their workplace. Company officials, at the behest of NNOC union bosses, even made one of the nurses who opposed unionization document the activities of fellow nurses who campaigned against unionization.

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Worker Advocate Seeks to Halt Obama Labor Board from Acting in Union Lobbying Case

Labor Board moving to negate Supreme Court's restrictions on union bosses' power to force workers to pay for union politics

Washington, DC (February 11, 2013) – Today, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the court to order the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to suspend further action in a case that expanded union bosses' powers to charge nonmember workers for union political lobbying.

The petition was filed in the wake of the court's ruling last month invalidating President Barack Obama's controversial purported "recess appointments" to the Board. The court held President Obama could not constitutionality make those appointments without U.S. Senate confirmation because the Senate was not in recess. National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys filed an amicus curiae brief jointly with the Landmark Legal Foundation in the case.

As a result, since at least January 3, 2012, the Board has lacked a quorum as required by a U.S. Supreme Court precedent established in 2010, thus invalidating the Board's rulings since that time.

Click here to read the full release.

National Right to Work President Mark Mix appeared on The Blaze TV to discuss a recent DC Court of Appeals ruling that strikes down President Obama's unconstitutional "recess" appointments to the NLRB. Check out the full video below:





National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys are challenging the Obama "recess appointments" in multiple cases on behalf of employees who have had their rights violated.

For more on the Obama Administration's unconstitutional attempts to pack the NLRB, check out our recent press release on the issue.

Teachers File Brief Defending Gov. Walker's 'Act 10' Reforms in Union's State Appeals Court Lawsuit

Teachers ask state court to uphold legislation protecting most state employees from forced unionism

Madison, WI (February 6, 2013) – Three Wisconsin public school teachers filed a brief in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals last week supporting Governor Walker's public sector union reform bill, known as "Act 10."

Elmbrook School District educator Elijah Grajkowski, Kenosha teacher Kristi Lacroix, and Waukesha high school teacher Nathan Berish filed the amici curiae brief with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

The case is a legal challenge brought in Dane County Circuit Court by union officials from Public Employees Local 61 and Madison Teachers, Inc., a local affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA).

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Rhode Island School of Design Technician Wins Settlement from Local Teacher Union

Union officials refused to follow Supreme Court precedents

Providence, RI (February 4, 2013) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, a Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) technician has won an informal settlement from a local union for violating his rights.

The settlement stems from a federal unfair labor practice charge Robert Vennerbeck of Providence filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Boston against the RISD Technical Association union – an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA) union.

Vennerbeck resigned formal union membership and revoked his union dues deduction authorization – a form used to take union dues from workers' paychecks. The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that workers have the right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership. Because Rhode Island does not have Right to Work protections making union affiliation completely voluntary, workers who refrain from formal union membership may still be forced to pay part of union dues to keep their jobs. However, nonmember workers cannot be required to pay union dues spent for union political activities and member-only events.

Vennerbeck charged that union officials refused to follow federal disclosure requirements outlined under Supreme Court precedent despite Vennerbeck's repeated requests.

Click here to read the full release.

SEIU Officials Face State Charge for Violating Home Care Provider's Rights

Case shows desperate need for California Right to Work law

San Francisco, CA (January 31, 2013) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a San Francisco in-home care provider has filed a state charge against a local union for illegally refusing to honor her right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

On Tuesday, Shiufan Lee filed the charge with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) against Service Employees International Union-Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW).

Lee attempted to exercise her right to refrain from formal union membership via phone in early August 2012, and in a letter she sent on August 3. Lee received a call from a union official where she again asked to resign from membership and full dues payments. Each time she spoke with union officials, they refused to acknowledge her resignation.

Click here to read the full release.