Fairfield, Calif. (March 4, 2004) — Responding to unfair labor practice charges brought by
a Fairfield-area resident employed on a part-time basis as a weekend lab technician for Anheuser Busch, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will prosecute the local chapter of the Teamsters union for failing to properly inform employees of their right to refrain from financially supporting the union’s political and ideological causes.

Obtaining free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Catharine Anderson originally filed the unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB in July 2003. Anderson charged that officials of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 896 demanded from her and her coworkers excessive union fees, misrepresented employee rights, and threatened to have employees fired for refusing to comply with the union hierarchy’s illegal demands. Meanwhile, other California-based Anheuser Busch employees in past months have also filed similar charges.

“The bully tactics used by the Teamsters hierarchy are despicable,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Unfortunately, so long as California union officials enjoy compulsory unionism privileges, workers will continue to suffer such abuse.”

In addition, union officials have failed to provide workers refraining from formal union membership with an independent audit of union expenditures to assure their forced dues did not fund activities not directly related to collective bargaining, such as lobbying and electoral politics.

In their complaint, NLRB officials agreed that Teamsters union officials violated worker protections recognized in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling 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 the union’s proven collective bargaining costs, and they are entitled to an independent audit of union expenditures before any forced dues or fees are seized.

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.