Teamster Union Faces Charges for Papering Over Indy Domtar Workers' Rights

Union and company officials ignore Indiana's Right to Work law

Indianapolis, IN (May 15, 2013) – Six Indianapolis-area Domtar Paper Company (NYSE: UFS) workers have filed federal charges against a local Teamster union and the company for violating their right to refrain from dues-paying union membership.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Broatus Lambert, Lawrence Langworth, Christopher McKay, Kenneth Rosenfeld, Kevin Schrader, and William Schwier filed the unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The six workers all exercised their right under Indiana's recently-enacted Right to Work law to refrain from membership and dues payments in the Teamster union-affiliated Graphic Communications International (GCI) Union, Local 17M. Under Indiana's Right to Work law, no worker can be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

Click here to read the full release.

Hostess Delivery Driver Wins $47,000 in Federal Case Challenging Teamster Union Boss Discrimination

Teamster union bosses sought to punish worker for refraining from union membership

Tulsa, OK (April 4, 2013) – An Interstate Bakeries Wonder Bread/Hostess delivery driver has won over $47,000 in back pay and reimbursement from a local Teamster union and the company in a union discrimination case that the union twice appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oklahoma worker Kirk Rammage received free assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation during his seven year legal battle challenging a local Teamster union's discriminatory policy.

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.

Ford Repairman's Charge Spurs Federal Prosecution of Local Teamsters Union

Board's lenient treatment of union officials’ conduct shows need for state Right to Work law

Minneapolis, MN (November 28, 2012) – Teamsters Local 974 union officials are facing federal prosecution for violating the rights of a former New Brighton Ford journeyman technician.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Minneapolis issued a formal complaint against the union after Dylan McHenry of Hammond, Wisconsin filed federal charges against the union with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

Because Minnesota does not have Right to Work protections making union affiliation completely voluntary, McHenry was still forced to pay fees to the union to keep his job. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Foundation's Communication Workers of America v. Beck case that workers are not required to pay union dues or fees for union boss political activities, lobbying, and member-only events.

Click here to read the full release.

Ready-Mix Concrete Worker Seeks to Break Free of Teamster Union Dues Scheme

Teamsters refuse to follow federal disclosure requirements

Goshen, IN (August 15, 2012) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, an Eagle Ready Mix concrete worker has filed a federal charge against a local Teamster union for violating his rights.

Edward Chupp of Goshen filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) earlier this month.

Chauffeurs, Teamsters and Helpers Local 364 union officials never informed workers of their rights, including their right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership as upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Foundation-won Communications Workers v. Beck case.

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Local Scofflaw Teamster Union Bosses Violate Federal Settlement, Worker's Rights

Union bosses continually keep workers in dark about expenditures

Seattle, WA (July 26, 2012) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Sandy, Oregon, bus driver's case before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken yet another dramatic turn.

On Monday, a NLRB Regional Director revoked a federal settlement reached between the agency and Teamsters Local 206 union officials after union officials made a mockery of federal labor law and repeatedly violated the settlement.

The legal challenge is part of an ongoing legal controversy involving the union and First Student bus driver Richard Harmon, who resigned from formal union membership in Teamsters Local 206 in January 2011.

Click here to read the full release.

Worker Slaps Construction Union Bosses with Federal Charge for Job Discrimination

Electrical worker union officials obstruct worker from getting work

Chicago, IL (July 19, 2012) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a nonunion Chicago-area construction worker has filed a federal charge against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and two of its local affiliate unions for discriminating against him on account of his union membership status.

Construction worker John Lugo filed the charge against the IBEW Local 697 and IBEW Local 601 unions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Monday.

Because IBEW union bosses claim monopoly bargaining privileges over all the workers in his workplaces, Lugo, who refrains from formal union membership, is still forced to accept union officials' so-called "representation" and go through the union's hiring halls to find employment.

Federal labor law provides that union bosses must "fairly represent" workers, including those who have exercised their right to refrain from union membership, if union bosses claim exclusive representational powers over the workers.

Click here to read the full release.

Tenth Circuit Slaps Teamster Union With Sanctions

Teamster union bosses sought to punish worker refraining from union membership

Denver, CO (July 6, 2012) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has upheld a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling against a local Teamster union policy that discriminated against nonunion workers employed by Interstate Bakeries in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma worker Kirk Rammage received free assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation during his six and a half year legal battle challenging the Teamster union's discriminatory policy.

Rammage was the single nonunion sales representative with Dolly Madison for over 15 years before his division was merged in 2005 with Wonder Bread/Hostess. Although the company initially wanted to protect Rammage's seniority during the merger, Teamsters Local 523 union officials insisted that union members receive preferential treatment by putting Rammage at the bottom of the seniority roster despite his longer workplace tenure. The company later caved in to the union bosses' demand.

At Interstate Bakeries, seniority increases employees' chances of securing desirable sales routes. By insisting that Rammage lose his seniority, Teamster officials effectively signaled that union workers took priority over their nonunion colleagues. As a result, Rammage was forced to commute to a new work location more than 70 miles away.

Click here to read the full release.

School Bus Drivers Slam the Brakes on Shoddy Federal Settlement in Teamster Union Disclosure Case

Labor Board settlement lets scofflaw Teamster union off the hook

Long Island, NY (July 6, 2012) – A group of Lindenhurst, New York, school bus drivers have appealed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office’s proposed settlement of a federal charge filed against a local Teamster union.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Baumann & Sons Bus Company driver filed the charge for herself and at least four of her coworkers in late 2011 with the NLRB regional office in Brooklyn, after Teamsters Local Union 1205 officials refused to provide the workers with adequate information about the union's financial expenditures as federal law requires.

The workers exercised their right to refrain from formal, full dues-paying union membership upheld under a National Right to Work Foundation-won precedent in the Supreme Court case Communication Workers v. Beck.

Click here to read the full release.

Teamster Union Faces Federal Charge For Illegally Using Forced Dues for Politics

Union officials violate worker’s rights; case shows need for state Right to Work law

Minneapolis, MN (June 11, 2012) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a New Brighton Ford journeyman technician has filed a federal charge against a local Teamster union for violating his rights.

Dylan McHenry of Hammond, Wisconsin filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Minneapolis against the Teamsters Local 974 union for illegally confiscating union dues payments from his paychecks for political activism and refusing to follow federal disclosure requirements.

Read the entire release here.