Minneapolis, MN (August 16, 2012) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a New Brighton Ford journeyman technician has filed a federal appeal with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C.
Dylan McHenry of Hammond, Wisconsin, filed the appeal after the NLRB Regional Office in Minneapolis partially dismissed his federal charge that the Teamsters Local 974 union illegally confiscated union dues payments from his paychecks for political activism and refused to follow federal disclosure requirements.
Because Minnesota does not have Right to Work protections making union affiliation completely voluntary, McHenry is 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.
Union officials must also provide workers with an independently-audited financial breakdown of all forced-dues union expenditures. This procedural safeguard helps inform workers of how their forced union dues are being spent and makes it less difficult for workers to hold union officials accountable.
After McHenry resigned from formal union membership, Teamster union officials provided him with an incomplete breakdown of union expenditures. The union was taking money from McHenry’s paychecks for the Teamster hierarchy’s political action committee – a clear violation of federal law.
The NLRB Regional Director dismissed the charge after Local 974 union officials claimed the illegal dues payments were a “mistake.” The regional office refused to direct the union to refund the illegally-seized union dues or impose any other punishment against the union, even though the illegal extractions continue.
“Teamster union officials were caught red-handed illegally taking workers’ hard-earned money for the union bosses’ political agenda. Yet, the NLRB regional office in Minneapolis is allowing them to get away with it,” said Mark Mix, National Right to Work President. “To prevent these types of forced unionism abuses in the future, Minnesota needs to pass a Right to Work law making union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary.
Twenty-three states have Right to Work protections for their workers. Recent public polling shows that 80 percent of Americans and union members support the Right to Work principle of voluntary unionism.
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.
