Fairfield, Calif. (October 6, 2004) — Two employees of Anheuser Busch have filed federal charges against a Teamsters union local for violating the terms of a recent settlement agreement and threatening to have workers fired for refusing to comply with union officials’ unlawful monetary demands.

Catherine Anderson and Noemi Palmas, part-time employees at Anheuser Busch’s Fairfield and Van Nuys facilities, respectively, filed the unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys.

As a result of earlier federal charges filed by Anderson and Palmas in July 2003, NLRB prosecutors forced Teamsters Local 896 officials to settle the cases with a requirement that they properly inform workers of their right to refrain from financially supporting the union’s political and ideological causes. Teamsters officials had also agreed to cease illegal threats to have workers dismissed for refusal to pay excessive initiation fees and agreed to provide workers refraining from formal union membership “a precise and accurate statement” about the calculation of the forced dues.

Anderson and Palmas today allege that since signing the settlement agreement, Teamsters officials have
ordered some workers to pay a union “initiation” fee for a second time, continued to charge nonmembers nearly full dues, and failed to provide a legally mandated audit of union expenditures. Additionally, union officials require that workers wishing to refrain from formal union membership must renew their objections each year, and they demand that workers show up in person at the union hall to settle all past debts with the union. A refusal to comply with these unlawful demands would result in the employee’s termination.

“This Teamsters union hierarchy wants workers simply to shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason [1], Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The repeated attempts by union officials to run roughshod over workers’ rights show the inevitable greed and corruption that flow from forced unionism.”

The actions of Teamsters union officials violated worker protections recognized in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Communications Workers v. Beck [2], 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.