Hilton Employee Wins Settlement Forcing Union Officials to Halt Unlawful Misuse of Forced Dues

**Honolulu, HI (July 20, 2006)** – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Hilton Hawaiian Village employee faced down a top UNITE-HERE union official and defeated a union policy of coercing non-union workers to pay for activities unrelated to collective bargaining.

Grant Suzuki, an electrician at the hotel, filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in March 2005 after the UNITE-HERE Local 5 union hierarchy violated his rights by requiring him and other similarly situated nonmembers to pay into strike funds that are subject to use in strikes in industries such as health care and entertainment – including some located in Guam and Saipan. In response, the NLRB agreed to prosecute the union for violating workers’ rights and scheduled a formal hearing for Tuesday, July 18.

Defense of the union’s unlawful policy was apparently of particular interest to John Wilhelm, national head of UNITE-HERE’s hospitality division, who came all the way from New York to attend the hearing before an NLRB administrative law judge in Honolulu. In the end, however, UNITE-HERE’s lawyers inked a settlement agreement that forces the union to stop misusing Hilton Hawaiian Village employees’ forced dues, post notices in the hotel describing the workers’ legal rights, and create a separate fund from nonmembers to be used only on strikes in hotel bargaining units in Hawaii.

“This victory is an incremental yet important step toward limiting the power of union officials to shake down workers to support Big Labor’s agenda,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “But as long as Hawaii workers labor under a system of compulsory unionism, such abuses will inevitably continue.”

UNITE-HERE officials are currently in contract negotiations with Hilton Hotels Corporation and are using the strike fund to leverage the chain to agree to a so-called “neutrality agreement” covering other hotels across the country. A neutrality agreement is a contract under which an employer actively supports a union’s attempt to organize its own workforce. Employers often enter into such agreements to stop union officials’ pressure tactics such as publicity stunts, frivolous litigation, and boycotts. The National Right to Work Foundation is the vanguard opponent of neutrality agreements in the courts and at the NLRB, providing free legal aid to employees across the country who are victimized by these pacts that severely undermine worker free choice.

Because UNITE-HERE does not currently have a contract with Hilton, any hotel employee who resigns his or her formal membership now can end all unwanted union dues seizures from their paychecks.

Although the settlement was an incremental victory for employees’ rights, it does not offer broad enough relief to workers under UNITE-HERE’s coercive monopoly bargaining agreements. Suzuki, with free legal assistance from the Foundation, plans to appeal the union and NLRB-signed settlement to end the collection of all forced dues for strikes.

Teamsters Union Forfeits Over $100,000 in Illegal Fines Levied Against Workers After 2003 Statewide Grocery Strike

**Los Angeles, CA (June 5, 2006)** – Responding to federal charges filed by over 60 employees of Albertsons and Ralphs grocery chains who faced retaliatory fines for refusal to engage in “sympathy strike” activities during the California grocery strike in 2003, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ordered the Teamsters union to allow the workers to rescind and void the unlawful fines.

Agreeing with arguments presented by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, an NLRB administrative law judge in Los Angeles handed down the ruling late last week that also mandated union officials must allow several hundreds – perhaps even thousands – of workers in eight different bargaining units to retroactively revoke their formal union membership and receive certain back-dues rebates.

In the wake of the grocery strike, Teamsters Local 952 union officials socked employees with confiscatory fines – ranging up to $7,400 per employee – simply for observing the union’s own “no strike” contract with their employers. The targeted employees had continued to report to work during the crippling statewide grocery strike ordered against Albertsons, Vons, and Ralphs by United Food and Commercial Workers union officials.

With free legal assistance from the Foundation, Juan Saldana and dozens of other Albertsons and Ralphs distribution center employees filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB after Teamsters officials issued the illegal retaliatory fines.

The judge ruled that Teamsters Local 952 officials illegally failed to inform workers of their rights to refrain from formal union membership and to object to paying for the union’s nonrepresentational activities, such as politics. Because the employees thus cannot be considered voluntary members, the judge ruled that internal union disciplinary measures could not be taken against them. The ruling also overturned Teamsters officials’ illegal policy of forcing workers to annually renew their objections to financially supporting the union’s political activities. The judge also struck down a restrictive union policy that required objections to be filed individually.

“Although a significant victory for these workers, this case underscores that state law should not force any worker to pay dues to an unwanted union in the first place,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Without a Right to Work law to mandate that union membership is strictly voluntary, such abuses will inevitably continue to plague California workers.”

The actions of Teamsters union officials violated worker protections recognized in the U.S. Supreme Court, including rights affirmed in *Communications Workers v. Beck*, a case argued and won by Foundation attorneys. Under the Beck ruling, workers may not be compelled to pay dues beyond a union’s proven collective bargaining costs, and they are entitled to an independent audit of union expenditures.

Machinists Union Hit with Charges for Illegal Retaliatory Fines Against Boeing Employees

**Decatur, AL (May 1, 2006)** – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, eight Boeing employees have filed federal charges against the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union for illegal retaliatory fines levied against them for honoring their commitments to their employer and refusing to walk off the job during a union-ordered strike.

The employees, led by Larry Bonner, filed the federal unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against IAM union Local Lodge 44. The nonunion workers allege that IAM union officials illegally fined them $4,500 each for continuing to work during a union-mandated strike that lasted from November 2, 2005 to February 1, 2006.

“IAM union officials’ policy of bullying employees who do not toe the union line cannot continue with impunity,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “Union officials’ thuggish tactics demonstrate how the union hierarchy‘s interests are at odds with those of the very employees they claim to represent.”

The Boeing employees cannot be lawfully fined because they resigned their union memberships (and thus were no longer subject to internal union rules) before returning to work – their right under the Foundation-supported Patternmakers v. NLRB U.S. Supreme Court decision. In Patternmakers, the High Court ruled workers may resign their full, formal union membership immediately, at any time, and without restrictions.

Once an employee becomes a nonmember, union officials then have no legal basis for enforcing internal union “discipline” against them.

Additionally, IAM union officials’ actions run contrary to Alabama’s highly-popular Right to Work law – on the books since 1953 – which prevents workers from being forced to join or pay dues to an unwanted union as a condition of employment.

The NLRB will now investigate the workers’ charges and decide whether to issue a formal complaint and prosecute the IAM union.

Boeing Launch Complex Employees Hit Machinists Union with Wave of Federal Charges for Unlawful Threats

**Cape Canaveral, FL (April 18, 2006)** – Nine Boeing employees have filed a wave of federal unfair labor practice charges against the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union for unlawful threats of fines for refusing to walk off the job during a union-ordered strike. Union officials also unlawfully failed to inform the launch complex workers of their right to refrain from formal union membership.

The charges, filed at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with the assistance of National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, allege that IAM union officials illegally told the employees they had to formally join the union as a condition of employment. Additionally, the charges detail that the union is currently attempting to discipline the employees with unlawful fines for continuing to work during a strike that lasted from November 2005 to February 2006. Workers at the facility report that fines from union officials appear imminent, though the amount remains undisclosed.

“IAM union officials’ policy of bullying dissenting employees cannot go unpunished,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Union officials’ thuggish tactics demonstrate how the union hierarchy’s interests are at odds with those of the very employees they claim to represent.”

The actions of IAM union officials violate workers’ rights recognized under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision. Under Beck and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials must specifically inform employees of their right to refrain from formal, full dues-paying union membership, and of their right to pay a reduced fee to cover only the union’s collective bargaining costs.

Foundation attorneys contend that, because the employees were under the impression they had to become formal IAM union members and pay full union dues in order to keep their jobs, they are involuntary union members and thus are not subject to internal union discipline.

Because the Boeing employees work at the Cape Canaveral launch complex – which is considered an “exclusive federal enclave” – they do not enjoy the protections of Florida’s highly-popular Right to Work law. A Right to Work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union.

New York, N.Y. (December 23, 2005) – The National Right to Work Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization that provides free legal aid to employees suffering from compulsory unionism abuses, called on New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer today not to heed union officials’ calls for amnesty as part of the final settlement after those officials ordered the city’s illegal subway strike. In his letter to Spitzer, Foundation President Mark Mix warned of routine union successes in gaining amnesty after illegal public sector strikes, pointing out that such actions result in even more public services being held hostage illegally to union demands. Mix also urged the Attorney General to enforce the law requiring that TWU officials lose their special privilege to use payroll deduction for union dues, seek enforcement of all fines against the union, seek imprisonment for contempt of court, and ultimately seek the firing of all responsible union officials who hold public employment in New York. “The TWU has violated State law in a brazen attempt to hold New York City hostage to its self-serving demands,” stated Mix. “The TWU has not only endangered the safety and economic well-being of millions of metro area workers and residents, but it has done so with a blatant disregard for the transit employees it purports to protect.” The Taylor Law requires the Attorney General to institute proceedings before the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) – if it does not do so on its own. State law obligates the Attorney General to demand that the PERB order the immediate forfeiture of the TWU’s special privilege to collect fees and dues from employees via payroll deduction. “Furthermore, you should encourage State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones to continue to hold TWU officials in contempt for their unashamed violation of his injunction order, and you should encourage enforcement and collection of all fines that he has already levied upon TWU officials as well as imprisonment of the union officials found in contempt,” Mix wrote. “In addition, you should urge Governor Pataki to determine through an investigation whether any of the TWU officials who caused, instigated, encouraged, or condoned this unlawful strike are public employees. Governor Pataki should terminate any such union officials from their employment with State of New York, as provided for by law. “To allow the TWU officials to escape unscathed from their callous and selfish disdain for the law will have dire consequences for the future of labor relations in New York State and will invariably result in more illegal strikes,” Mix concluded.Mark Mix's letter to New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer is available here.

Pottstown, PA (December 21, 2005) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, two local workers filed federal charges against their employer, the International Chemical Workers Union Council (ICWUC), and its Local 619 chapter, for having them fired in retaliation for returning to work during a union-ordered strike. David Cameron and Walter Reigner, chemical workers at the Cabot Supermetals factory in Boyertown, were fired in November as part of a union-negotiated strike settlement between Cabot and ICWUC union officials. In the agreement, union officials explicitly demanded that Cameron and Reigner, in addition to two other similarly-situated employees, be discharged for exercising their legal right to resign their formal union memberships and continue working during the strike. As a result of union officials’ retaliatory demands against the workers who resigned from the union and disagreed with union officials’ dictates, Cabot fired the four employees and handed their jobs over to less skilled and less senior workers. Cameron and Reigner’s Foundation-assisted charges against the ICWUC unions and Cabot Supermetals seek reinstatement and back pay. “In a shameless unlawful act of retribution, four loyal employees are out on the street,” said Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “Union officials are attempting to drive four families into financial straits in order to send a message to all other employees that they had better toe the union line.” Cameron, Reigner, and their two colleagues exercised their right under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Patternmakers v. NLRB to resign from formal union membership and return to work during a strike. The firings violated the National Labor Relations Act and the duty of fair representation which are supposed to protect employees who exercise their right to refrain from collective union activity without retaliation or coercion. The National Labor Relations Board will now review the unfair labor practice charges brought against Cabot and the ICWUC union, an affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, and decide whether to issue a formal complaint.

New York, N.Y. (December 20, 2005) – Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization that provides free legal aid to employees suffering from compulsory unionism abuses, made the following statement in response to today’s illegal mass transit strike that shut down the New York City subway system: “Transportation Workers Union (TWU) officials are not only holding New York City and its economy hostage to their self-serving demands, but they are potentially jeopardizing the jobs of New York City’s 30,000 mass transit workers. “These union officials have a public-be-damned attitude and are holding a gun to the head of New York City’s business owners and workers. The costs of this illegal strike to New York’s working families will be enormous. “Moreover, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials may ultimately have no choice but to fire the illegal strikers in order to uphold the rule of law and to preserve New York’s security and economic vitality. President Ronald Reagan took similar action to protect the travelling public when he ordered the firing in 1981 of illegally striking air traffic controllers who refused to return to their jobs. “This illegal strike is a direct result of the coercive privileges union officials have gained under New York law that empowers them to force workers into union affiliation - like it or not. As long as union officials in New York enjoy compulsory unionism privileges, individual workers, the economy, and the public in general will continue to pay the price.” To schedule an interview with a Right to Work spokesperson, contact Justin Hakes at 703-770-3317.

Los Angeles, California (October 7, 2005) - The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to prosecute Teamsters Union Local 952 for violating the rights of, and illegally imposing fines as high as $13,000 on, over 70 grocery workers who refused to abandon their jobs during a Teamsters union “sympathy strike.” The contentious union strike ordered by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and Teamsters union officials shut down grocery stores across California in 2003. In early 2004, three workers assisted by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys filed NLRB unfair labor practice charges against the union. Those charges were the basis for over 70 similar complaints from employees of Albertson’s and Ralphs Grocery locations in Irvine, Brea and La Habra, California. The NLRB combined all the complaints into one case and scheduled a January 2006 hearing on the charges. The 132-page consolidated complaint describes how Teamsters union officials failed to properly inform the employees of their rights to refrain from formal union membership, making each employee’s union membership involuntarily and coerced. This failure to inform workers of their rights means that the over $120,000 in retaliatory fines union officials levied against the workers were unlawful. Teamsters union officials initiated internal union “discipline” and fined over 70 workers anywhere from $200 to $13,000 dollars because the workers continued to do their jobs after Teamsters union officials ordered a sympathy strike on behalf of the UFCW union. The amounts of other fines were not disclosed. The original charges filed by the employees also alleged that the “sympathy strike” Teamsters officials ordered was unlawful because it was in violation of the union’s own “no-strike” contract. Ultimately, the NLRB complaint only deals with the fact that by misinforming workers that formal union membership was a condition of employment, the punitive fines imposed by the union hierarchy were illegitimate because the workers were not voluntarily union members. “Teamsters union officials engaged in an ugly and unlawful campaign of retaliation that trampled the rights of rank-and-file workers who refused to walk off the job and continued working to support their families,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the Foundation. Under the Foundation-won Supreme Court decision in Communications Workers v. Beck and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials cannot require formal union membership or the payment of union dues unrelated to collective bargaining as a condition of employment. Employees are also entitled to notice of their right to refrain from union membership, an independent audit of union expenditures and notice of their right to object to paying for non-bargaining activity.

Mount Clemens, MI (April 22, 2005) – In order to avoid federal prosecution by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a local union was forced to back down from its unlawful threats to fine a group of nonunion nurses up to $4,000 each for refusing to abandon their patients during a recent strike. National Right to Work Foundation attorneys persuaded NLRB prosecutors to issue a formal complaint in January 2005, after helping four Mount Clemens General Hospital nurses who had been targeted for union retaliation file unfair labor practice charges last November. In August of 2004, Deborah Mounger, Cherie Jones, Kimberly Grifka, and Jennifer Pacyga followed proper procedure by sending letters to Local 40 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) formally revoking their union memberships. By resigning from formal union membership, employees cannot be subjected to union rules and internal union discipline. After having officially resigned from formal membership in OPEIU Local 40, the four women continued going to their jobs during a union-ordered strike. In October, each woman received a letter stating union officials were filing internal charges against them. They were each threatened with fines of $500 per charge, for totals of up to $4,000 per person simply for loyally serving their patients. In an attempt to cut their losses and settle the complaint filed by the NLRB, OPEIU Local 40 officials have given up their attempt to collect these fines. The four women have been notified that all possibility of a monetary fine for continuing to work during the strike has been rescinded, and union officials must post a notice at the hospital informing other employees of the settlement. “The vicious lack of compassion displayed by union officials for the sick and feeble is stunning,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “It’s outrageous to retaliate against health care professionals simply because they refused to abandon their patients.” The action of the union hierarchy violated NLRB v. Textile Workers, a Supreme Court decision that it is an unfair labor practice for a union to fine employees who had been union members in good standing but who resigned during a lawful strike and then returned to work. According to another Supreme Court decision, Patternmakers v. NLRB, workers may resign from union membership at any time, including during a strike. “This union hierarchy’s disdain for the nurses’ freedom and economic security – to say nothing of their lack of concern for public health – shows they do not have employees’ best interests at heart.”

Old Saybrook, Connecticut (February 15, 2005) – Communications Workers of America (CWA) local 1298 officials have agreed to drop their illegal attempts to seize the wages of a local nonunion employee who continued to go to his job during a strike. The agreement settles an unfair labor practice case filed at the Hartford-based National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) office by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys on behalf of Michael Beda, an employee of SBC Communications in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. On April 5, 2004, Beda sent a letter to CWA union officials revoking his formal union membership. By resigning from formal union membership, non-union employees such as Beda are not subject to union rules and internal union discipline. In May 2004, union officials ordered a strike at SBC Communications. Beda, not bound by union membership rules, continued going to work during the four day work stoppage. Beda later received a letter from CWA union officials stating that they were filing internal charges against him, and that he faced surrendering his wages earned during the strike despite the fact he was not a union member. Beda then filed the unfair labor practice charges. In the settlement agreement, CWA union officials agree to rescind portions of their bylaws restricting employees’ right to resign their union membership, and retroactively recognize all resignations submitted by other workers to union officials since April 8, 2004. “CWA union officials tried to make an example of Michael Beda just for going to work and doing his job,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “How dare they try to abscond his wages simply because he honored his commitments to his employer.” The action of the union hierarchy clearly violated rights recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in NLRB v. Textile Workers and Pattern Makers v. NLRB. Under Textile Workers, it is an unfair labor practice for a union to fine employees who had been union members in good standing but who resigned during a lawful strike and thereafter returned to work during that strike. Under Pattern Makers and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials are obligated to honor employees’ resignations from formal union membership. “This union hierarchy’s disdain for workers’ freedom and economic security shows that, contrary to their claims, they do not have employees’ best interests at heart,” said Gleason.