Union officials violated Mississippi’s Right to Work law by requiring union dues or fees as a condition of job at Port of Pascagoula

Pascagoula, Mississippi (October 19, 2015) – A worker at the Port of Pascagoula has filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi against the International Longshoremen Association Local 1752 union.

The lawsuit, which was filed with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, alleges that the government imposed monopoly union violated Mississippi’s longstanding Right to Work protections for workers by demanding union fees, as a condition of employment.

Patrick Simms, a clerk, filed the lawsuit seeking declarative and injunctive relief after he was told he could not work unless he paid a “service fee” to Local 1752. That demand is in direct conflict with Mississippi’s Right to Work law, which prohibits requiring union dues or fees to get or keep a job.

Simms is an employee of CSA Equipment Company, LLC (CSA). CSA has a monopoly bargaining agreement with Local 1752 that requires that any individual CSA hires for work at its operations at the Port of Pascagoula must be referred through Local 1752’s hiring hall.

In order to be referred through Local 1752’s hiring hall, and therefore gain employment with CSA at Pascagoula, Local 1752 requires that all workers either join or pay a service fee to the union. Simms is not a member of Local 1752, but had been hired by CSA.

On April 16, 2015, Simms received a letter from Local 1752 stating that he would be denied further employment if he did not either join the union or pay the service fee. On May 1 Simms was discharged. He was out of work for one day before he agreed, only under duress, to begin paying the service fee and repay Local 1752 more than $3,000 in “delinquent” service fees.

Currently, Simms is employed by CSA and is paying the monthly union fee under protest to keep his job.

“Union bosses have ignored the clear intent of Mississippi’s Right to Work law in an effort to confiscate a portion of every workers’ paycheck as a condition of employment,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation.

“Unfortunately, this is not the first time that workers in Right to Work states have been victims of forced unionism. Right to Work laws and workers’ rights must be vigorously enforced and defended in order to protect against union officials desire to force workers to pay them just to get or keep a job,” continued Mix.

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.