Columbus, OH (January 19, 2005) – A local Delille Oxygens worker filed federal unfair labor practice charges against Teamsters Union Local 284 after union officials unlawfully negotiated over workers’ terms of employment with company officials even though a dissenting majority of employees have signed a “decertification petition” seeking to rid their workplace of the unwanted union.

Delille Oxygens provides welding and industrial gas services within the Columbus metro area.

Delille Oxygens employee Michael Whetstone obtained free legal assistance from attorneys with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and filed the class-action charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for the more than one dozen employees in the bargaining unit.

Whetstone alleges that Teamsters officials unlawfully ignored a decertification petition that he and other employees filed with the NLRB after the employer and the Teamsters had been negotiating for over a year. The petition demonstrated that a majority of employees rejected Teamsters union monopoly representation. Under the National Labor Relations Act, if a union has actual knowledge that 50% or more of the employees in a bargaining unit have signed a petition stating that they no longer want to be represented by a union, the union must cease negotiating for the employees. The NLRB will now investigate the charges and decide whether to issue a formal complaint in the case.

“Union officials want workers like these to simply shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason [1], Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Rather than have their will stifled by union officials, these workers ought to be free to choose their own representation.”

The actions of Teamsters officials violated employee rights recognized by the National Labor Relations Act and affirmed by the NLRB in such cases as Maramont Corp. Under Maramont, union officials are prohibited from negotiating terms of employment as monopoly representative if they know they do not have the support of a majority of employees within the bargaining unit.

“Most employees prefer a workplace where they are free to discuss their terms and conditions of employment directly with the employer, without intervention by a third party,” said Gleason.