WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 28, 2001) — National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys today filed a “Friend of the Court” brief in federal court in response to a lawsuit filed by union lawyers to stop employees from finding out about their right to reclaim their forced union dues spent for politics.

Foundation attorneys filed the Amicus Brief on behalf of union-abused workers after the United Auto Workers (UAW) lawyers filed the lawsuit to stop the Bush Administration from enforcing Executive Order 13201, which simply requires federal contractors to post a standard workplace notice informing employees of their rights under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Communications Workers v. Beck. Beck, a case won by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys in 1988, established that employees cannot be compelled to formally join a union or pay dues spent for politics or any other activities unrelated to collective bargaining.

UAW lawyers ironically complained that President George W. Bush’s executive order imposes “substantial administrative burdens” on businesses.

The UAW union, along with the UAW-Labor Employment and Training Corporation and two affiliates of the Office and Professional Employees International Union, quietly filed the lawsuit last month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and several other high-ranking Administration officials.

(A copy of the “Friend of the Court” brief is available upon request.)

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.

Posted on Jun 28, 2001 in News Releases