SEIU officials attempted to overturn the result of an August 2021 decertification election at Research Medical Center

Kansas City, MO (February 9, 2022) – Hospital workers at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, are now free from control by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Kelly Pirman, an imaging technologist at the hospital, petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a union decertification election.

In a news release following the vote Pirman said: “The SEIU has not represented us fairly, nor provided us the value they claim.” Many of Pirman’s coworkers agreed that they no longer wanted SEIU officials’ so-called representation, and Pirman collected enough of their signatures to trigger an NLRB-supervised decertification election. In June 2021, the NLRB announced that the hospital workers voted 203-171 in favor of removing the union.

Despite losing the election, SEIU officials didn’t give up their monopoly bargaining privileges over the hospital staff. Instead, they filed objections to the result with the NLRB. Though the objections concerned only the hospital’s conduct, SEIU lawyers argued the workers’ choice to remove the union should be overturned.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys submitted a position paper for Pirman, contending the union officials’ objections were not sufficient reason to overturn the election. NLRB Region 13 Director Andrea Wilkes agreed, and on February 8^th, 2022, overruled all of the union’s objections. Wilkes certified the decertification election’s results, freeing Pirman and her coworkers at Research Medical Center from SEIU control.

“Although we are pleased that the Regional Director rejected SEIU bosses’ cynical attempt to maintain power over Research Medical Center workers, it shouldn’t take months of legal proceedings to stop union bosses from overturning the results of the vote the union lost,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Unfortunately, because Missouri workers lack the protection of a Right to Work law, union officials are incentivized to fight to keep unwilling workers under their thumbs, knowing that as long as they remain in power they can force every worker to pay up or be fired.”

“No worker should be forced under a union monopoly they oppose. Missouri can begin to address that injustice by at least protecting workers against being forced to subsidize unwanted representation by passing a Right to Work law to make union financial support strictly voluntary,” added Mix.

Appellate panel’s November decision in case signaled desire to revisit precedent that subjects workers to unwanted unionization

Las Vegas, NV (January 21, 2022) – In late 2019, a large majority of the workers at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada voted “no” to unionization, but a federal district court judge ordered their employer to bargain with union officials anyway. On Thursday, with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, casino employee Raynell Teske again backed an effort to overturn the judge’s order.

In August 2021, the casino appealed the district judge’s order to a three judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Teske then filed an amicus brief with Foundation legal aid arguing the district judge was wrong to impose the union on her and the other workers who made it clear in their secret-ballot election that they rejected unionization.

On November 26, 2021, the panel declined to overturn the lower court’s decision, citing binding Ninth Circuit precedent. But all three judges issued a concurring opinion saying they disagreed with that precedent, and signaled they would be willing to overturn it if the issue came before a Ninth Circuit en banc panel. Red Rock petitioned for an en banc rehearing, and Teske’s attorneys again filed an amicus brief on Thursday urging the court to rehear the case and overturn the district judge’s mandate.

The situation at Red Rock began in December 2019, when the National Labor Relations Board held a secret ballot election on whether to unionize Red Rock. A sizable majority of employees rejected union officials’ effort to become their monopoly bargaining representatives. Despite that vote, NLRB Region 28 Director Cornele Overstreet filed a federal court injunction action seeking to have the union imposed over the workers’ objections.

On July 20, 2021, District Judge Gloria Navarro agreed with the NLRB Director’s request, and issued a “Gissel” order forcing Red Rock to bargain with union officials despite the employees’ vote against unionization. The judge said the order was justified because, before the vote, union officials claimed that a majority of workers had signed union authorization cards.

Teske’s amicus brief argues those “card check” signatures are unreliable evidence of union support, and not reason enough to conclude the union ever had majority support. She contends the level of union support was tested fairly by the secret-ballot election, in which workers voted 627-534 against unionization. As the NLRB and federal courts have recognized in other cases, secret ballots are a more reliable way of gauging worker support for a union, because workers are often pressured, harassed, or misled by union organizers into signing cards.

Unions themselves know that “card check” signatures do not indicate solid worker support. The AFL-CIO admitted in its 1989 organizing handbook that it needed at least 75% card check support before having even a 50-50 chance of winning a secret ballot election. An earlier union guidebook acknowledged that some workers sign cards just to “get the union off my back.”

Teske’s brief argues the union’s possession of so-called “cards” is an insufficient legal basis for imposing unionization, especially after a secret ballot election which the union lost. It agrees with the employer that the “Gissel” order should be overturned, and that Teske and her coworkers should not be subjected to monopoly bargaining by a union they rejected in an NLRB-supervised secret ballot election.

“Ms. Teske and her coworkers voted decisively against unionization, but an Obama-appointed judge imposed it on them anyway,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “‘Card Check’ unionization is widely accepted as unreliable, especially compared to an NLRB-supervised secret ballot election. There are countless examples of workers being pressured, misled and even bribed to sign union cards.”

“There is no reason why a district court judge should be able to substitute the wishes of NLRB bureaucrats for the choice workers already made at the ballot box. The Ninth Circuit should promptly convene an en banc panel and overturn Judge Navarro’s order that blatantly violates the rights of rank-and-file workers,” added Mix.

Employees voted nearly 2-1 to remove unwanted Teamsters ‘representation’

Atchison, KS (January 12, 2022) – Distribution center workers at Blish-Mize, a wholesale hardware distributor in Atchison, Kansas, voted to remove Teamsters Local 696 union officials from their workplace. With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Diane Dame, a Blish-Mize employee, filed a decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The petition bore the signatures of enough of Dame’s coworkers to trigger an NLRB-supervised decertification election, during which a large majority of the employees voted to oust Teamsters officials from their workplace.

Yesterday, NLRB regional officials tallied the ballots and announced the workers had voted 26-14 to remove the Teamsters. Now, barring any legal challenges from Teamsters bosses, the workers at this location will no longer be subject to union monopoly control.

In the past year alone, Foundation attorneys helped numerous workers remove unwanted Teamsters officials from workplaces across the country. Thanks to “blocking charge” reforms adopted by the Trump NLRB in 2020 at the Foundation’s urging, workers have been able to act on their desire to oust unpopular union officials with far fewer delays.

The “blocking charge” reforms prevent a union’s unfair labor practice charges against employers from halting decertification elections. Now, except in extraordinary circumstances, even if charges are filed, employees still have a chance to vote immediately and know the results. Before the reforms went into effect, even charges that ultimately proved meritless could delay an election for months or years.

“Diane Dame and her coworkers exercised their right to free themselves from unwanted Teamsters boss control,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “We hope that Teamsters officials respect the choice made by the workers they claim to represent, and don’t resort to legal tricks to try to remain in power in a workplace where it’s clear they aren’t wanted.”

After NLRB refused to tally 2020 election results to enforce ‘contract bar,’ subsequent vote reveals widespread opposition to union bosses

Selbyville, DE (December 20, 2021) – In June and July of 2020, employees at the Mountaire Farms poultry plant in Selbyville, Delaware held a union decertification election on whether to remove officials of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union from their workplace. In April of 2021, union lawyers convinced the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to destroy the hundreds of ballots employees had cast before they were ever counted. Last week, a second vote conducted by the NLRB confirmed that nearly a year and a half later, Mountaire Farms employees decisively opposed the UFCW in a 356-80 vote.

The summer 2020 vote was requested by Mountaire employee Oscar Cruz Sosa, who received free legal representation from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Cruz Sosa sent a petition signed by many of his coworkers to the NLRB requesting a vote. The election was held, but the ballots were impounded while the Board considered whether its non-statutory “contract bar” policy should invalidate the election.

The “contract bar” prevents workers from holding a decertification vote, for up to three years, while a union monopoly bargaining contract with their employer remains in effect. Foundation attorneys urged the Board to reverse the bar because it is not found in the text of the National Labor Relations Act, and serves only to protect unpopular union bosses from worker accountability.

Ultimately, the Board sided with union lawyers, upheld the “contract bar,” and threw out the ballots cast by workers at the 800-employee facility. The employees were forced to wait almost a year for the contract UFCW bosses had with their employer to expire before beginning anew the process for another election.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix issued the following statement about the election results:

Despite what we now know to be overwhelming opposition to their presence at Mountaire Farms, UFCW officials took advantage of the NLRB’s rules to block a decertification vote for over a year and a half. The vote tally only emphasizes the injustice of the NLRB’s April decision to apply the “contract bar” policy and destroy  these workers’ ballots, leaving them trapped paying compulsory union dues despite such massive opposition to union officials’ so-called “representation.”

While we’re under no illusions that the Biden NLRB, stacked with former union officials, will end this longstanding impediment to workers’ right to free themselves of an unwanted union, this saga demonstrates why the injustice that is the non-statutory “contract bar” must be ended by a future Board.

2020 Labor Board reforms stopped union boss attempt to block election, resulting in 13-0 vote against union ‘representation’

Houston, TX (December 17, 2021) – Yesterday the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) formally certified the results of a union decertification election in which workers at MDS Boring & Drilling in Houston voted unanimously to remove International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) officials from their workplace. The overwhelming election results were finalized after union officials dropped charges they had filed against the company that could have used by union lawyers to overturn the result.

Ballots were mailed to eligible employees on October 22 after Seth Patrick, an MDS Boring employee, petitioned the NLRB for a vote to remove IUOE officials from his workplace. He filed his petition with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, and collected signatures from enough of his coworkers to trigger an NLRB-conducted decertification election.

On November 19, the NLRB tallied the results and announced that the workers had voted unanimously 13-0 to remove IUOE Local 450 officials. However, the NLRB would not then certify the result because union officials had previously filed unfair labor practice charges against MDS Boring that served to delay certification of the election results.

Under the NLRB’s old rules, such “blocking charge” allegations against an employer would have been grounds for cancelling the vote or delaying it for months or even years until the charges were resolved. Using the “blocking charge” tactic, sometimes repeatedly, union officials often trapped workers into union ranks nearly indefinitely, despite overwhelming worker opposition to union affiliation. In states without Right to Work laws that make financial support of unions voluntary, this incentivized union bosses to drag out the process so they could collect more forced dues from workers.

However, thanks to Foundation-backed “blocking charge” reforms adopted by the NLRB in 2020, elections themselves cannot be delayed by union litigation. Instead, a vote is held, and any extraneous litigation occurs after the election results are announced. In the case of MDS Boring, the vote demonstrated that IUOE officials lacked the support of even a single worker, making it far more difficult for union officials to justify a drawn-out effort to remain in power.

“A unanimous vote proved beyond a doubt that MDS Boring workers didn’t want IUOE officials’ so-called ‘representation,’” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Under the old system, union officials could have stalled the election for months or years to retain power. Thanks to the new Foundation-backed NLRB reforms, these workers were able to promptly hold the vote, which then demonstrated that each and every worker wanted the union out of their workplace.”

Former top Labor Board prosecutor found SEIU’s confusing forms misled workers about rights during contract hiatus

Seattle, WA (December 7, 2021) – Eighteen hospital employees at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle together received thousands of dollars of union dues refunds, ending a legal case that challenged union officials’ failure to tell nonmember workers they were under no obligation to pay dues during a contract hiatus. Roger White, whose federal charges led to the refunds, was represented for free by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys.

In January 2020, White sent a letter to officials of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare 1199NW resigning his membership and invoking his right to pay reduced union fees under the Foundation-won Beck U.S. Supreme Court decision. Beck prevents workers from being charged for union activities unrelated to bargaining, like union boss political lobbying.

White filed an unfair labor practice charge at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in April 2020 after SEIU officials failed to inform him that during a recent contract hiatus, when no forced dues agreement was in place between the hospital and union officials, he and other nonmembers were under no obligation to pay union dues. Then-NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb agreed with White’s Foundation attorneys that union officials had unlawfully kept White in the dark about his rights during the contract lapse.

General Counsel Robb – who was later removed in an unprecedented action by President Biden minutes after taking office despite almost a year left on the General Counsel’s four year statutory term – also found that union officials used membership forms that were “confusing and ambiguous,” and did not provide enough information to allow an informed decision about union membership. The form signed by Swedish Medical Center employees that authorized SEIU officials to take dues from their paychecks “may be interpreted to preclude employees from revoking their authorization upon expiration of the contract,” Robb found.

The SEIU’s forms misled White and his coworkers about their rights. Though union bosses stopped charging White after his complaints, other nonmembers continued paying forced union dues even when they were not legally required to pay because union officials hadn’t given them an accurate picture of their rights.

Following the General Counsel’s ruling, the case returned to the NLRB Seattle Region, and a settlement was reached that required SEIU officials to pay back over $3200 of union dues they had seized from 18 current and former Swedish Medical Center employees who had resigned their union memberships but still paid dues during the contract hiatus. The settlement also requires union officials to inform nonmember Beck objectors that they have no obligation to pay union dues during any future contract hiatus.

“To maximize their forced dues revenues, SEIU bosses kept Roger White and his coworkers in a state of ignorance about their rights, and maintained that ignorance by drafting membership forms that misled the very workers the SEIU supposedly represents,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “As nonmembers who wanted as little involvement with the SEIU as possible, it is outrageous that these workers were forced to pay any money just to be ‘represented’ by union bosses who didn’t respect them enough to fully inform them of their rights.”

“Cases like this, where General Counsel Robb sided with independent-minded workers whose rights were being violated by union bosses, are exactly the reason for President Biden’s unprecedented removal of Robb despite nearly 11 months remaining on his Senate-confirmed term,” added Mix. “Unfortunately given Biden’s partisan power grabs at the NLRB, if Roger White and his coworkers brought this case today, there is every reason to believe SEIU bosses would get away scot-free.”

Supreme Court protects workers’ First Amendment rights, overturns lower court injunction against Paycheck Protection Act

Charleston, WV (November 23, 2021) – In a 3-2 decision, West Virginia’s Supreme Court reversed a preliminary injunction issued by a Kanawha County Circuit Court judge against West Virginia’s Paycheck Protection Act. In September, attorneys at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a charitable nonprofit dedicated to protecting workers’ legal rights from compulsory unionism, filed an amicus brief urging the Court to reverse the injunction, which union bosses obtained as they challenged the new law in Court.

Foundation staff attorneys argued that the Paycheck Protection Act is not only valid, but essential to protect West Virginia public sector workers’ rights under the Foundation-won 2018 Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision. To ensure compliance with Janus the Paycheck Protection Act prohibits the government from automatically deducting union dues or fees from public employees’ paychecks, leaving voluntary union members free to make their own arrangements for payment of union dues if they want.

“The Act prevents the government from unwittingly violating their employees’ First Amendment rights by seizing union dues from them without their voluntary, affirmative consent and knowing, intelligent waiver of those rights, as required under Janus,” the Foundation’s brief reads. “The State’s protection of its employees’ First Amendment rights does not violate the constitutional rights of Respondents West Virginia AFL-CIO, et. al. (‘the Unions’), because the Unions have no constitutional entitlement to employees’ money or to the employer’s administration of union dues deduction schemes.”

The Supreme Court’s Janus v AFSCME ruling made union dues for public sector workers completely voluntary. The Court held that no union dues or fees can be taken from a public worker’s wages without a knowing and intelligent waiver of that employee’s First Amendment right not to pay, and that such a waiver “cannot be presumed.” The decision reasoned that, because all public sector union activities involve lobbying the government, forcing public sector workers to pay any money to a union amounts to forced political speech forbidden by the First Amendment.

In the amicus brief Foundation attorneys argued the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals should overturn the preliminary injunction, because West Virginia has a legitimate interest in protecting its employees’ First Amendment rights, and because union officials’ lawsuit against the Paycheck Protection Act has no chance of success on the merits. Yesterday’s decision agreed with those arguments, citing Janus, and reversed the injunction as Foundation attorneys had advocated.

This is not the first time the Foundation has defended state policies designed to protect public employees’ First Amendment Janus rights. Last year, Foundation staff attorneys filed detailed comments backing a Michigan Civil Service Commission (MiCSC) policy that required public employers to obtain annual consent from their workers before taking union payments out of their wages. Officials from the United Auto Workers (UAW) and other unions ultimately abandoned a lawsuit contesting the rule in October 2020.

Foundation staff attorneys also filed 10 legal briefs defending West Virginia’s Right to Work law, which was the target of a legal attack by union officials from 2016 until last year. Among the Foundation’s filings were amicus briefs for Reginald Gibbs, who worked as a lead slot machine technician with the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, WV, and Donna Harper, who worked as a laundry aide and nursing assistant at the Genesis HealthCare Tygart Center in Fairmont, WV. Both workers opposed paying money to the union bosses in power at their workplaces and supported the protections the West Virginia Right to Work law afforded them.

“West Virginia’s Paycheck Protection law properly takes the government out of the union dues collection business, and in the process helps ensure that no union payments are taken from public employees in violation of their First Amendment rights recognized in Janus,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “The Supreme Court of Appeals made the right decision by reversing the Circuit Court’s injunction which was issued under the outrageous premise that union bosses have a legal right to use taxpayer-funded government payroll systems to divert workers’ money into union coffers.”

Employees vote 13-0 to remove unwanted union officials

Houston, TX (November 19, 2021) – Today, according to a tally of votes announced by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), workers at MDS Boring in Houston voted to remove unwanted International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) officials from their workplace. Seth Patrick, an MDS Boring employee, petitioned the NLRB so he and his coworkers could vote to remove the union. He filed his petition with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, and collected signatures from enough of his coworkers to trigger an NLRB-conducted decertification election.

Ballots were mailed to eligible employees on October 22, and on November 19, the NLRB tallied the results. Workers voted unanimously 13-0 to remove IUOE Local 450 officials from their workplace.

Decertification is a difficult process under the NLRB’s rules, and union officials often attempt to delay worker decertification efforts through litigation. IUOE officials have filed unfair labor practice charges against the company to delay certification of the election results.

However, thanks to Foundation-backed “blocking charge” reforms adopted by the NLRB in 2020, elections themselves cannot be delayed by union litigation. Previously, union officials could block decertification votes almost at whim by filing unfair labor practice charges against employers without even proving the employer’s actions had affected workers’ desire to oust the union. The new rules established by the Trump NLRB limit such delays, and MDS Boring’s employees were able to decisively vote against IUOE bosses soon after filing their petition.

“Thanks to Texas’s Right to Work law, workers at MDS Boring couldn’t be forced to pay union dues, but they were still forced to accept union bosses’ so-called ‘representation’ at the bargaining table,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “The Foundation is proud to help Seth Patrick and his coworkers assert their independence. It is unfortunate, but not unexpected, that IUOE bosses are now using litigation to block the outcome unanimously favored by the workers they claim to represent.”

Kellogg plant workers have legal right to rebuff union officials’ strike demands, cut off dues and seek ‘decertification’ vote to remove union

(November 16, 2021) – National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys issued a special legal notice to the approximately 1,400 Kellogg employees in Battle Creek, Michigan; Omaha, Nebraska; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee who are affected by a strike ordered by officials of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM).

“News reports indicate union officials rejected Kellogg’s ‘Last Best Final Offer’ without allowing workers to vote on the matter,” the notice reads. “The situation raises serious concerns for Kellogg employees who believe there may be much to lose from a union-ordered strike.”

The Foundation’s legal notice simply informs rank-and-file workers of the rights union bosses won’t tell them about, including their right to resign their union memberships and keep working during the union-ordered strike, and to remove union officials from their workplace entirely by organizing a decertification vote. The notice discusses why workers across the country frequently turn to the National Right to Work Foundation for free legal aid in such situations.

The full notice is available at www.nrtw.org/kellogg-strike-notice.

The notice outlines how Kellogg employees can exercise their right to return to work during the strike and avoid punishing fines and discipline by union bosses, complete with sample union membership resignation letters.

Further, the notice reminds workers of their right to cut off all union dues payments in the absence of a monopoly bargaining contract. The notice encourages employees to seek free legal aid from the Foundation if they experience union resistance while attempting to exercise their rights.

“After union officials unilaterally refused to end the strike they ordered by rejecting Kellogg’s final bargaining offer without a vote by the workers they supposedly represent, workers may question whether the month-long strike is really best for themselves and their families,” commented National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Workers who feel union officials are not serving their best interests have the right to resign their union memberships and continue working despite the strike.”

“Kellogg employees whose rights may be violated or threatened by union bosses should immediately contact the Foundation for free legal aid,” added Mix.

Hospital workers have right to rebuff union officials’ demands to abandon patients amidst pandemic

(November 9, 2021) – National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys issued a special legal notice to the approximately 32,000 Kaiser Permanente employees affected by a strike ordered by officials of the United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals /AFSCME, the United Steelworkers, and the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, all members of the Alliance of Health Care Unions (AHCU). The strike is scheduled to begin on November 15.

The Foundation’s legal notice informs rank-and-file nurses and other hospital staff of the rights union bosses won’t tell them about, including their right to refuse to abandon their patients and keep working to support their families despite the union-ordered strike. The notice discusses why workers across the country frequently turn to the National Right to Work Foundation for free legal aid in such situations.

“This situation raises serious concerns for employees who believe there is much to lose from a union-boss ordered strike,” the notice reads. “Employees have the right under federal labor law to rebuff union officials’ strike demands, but it is important for you to get informed before you do so.”

The full notice is available at https://www.nrtw.org/kaiser-permanente-legal-notice/.

The notice outlines the process that Kaiser Permanente employees should follow if they want to exercise their right to return to work during the strike and avoid punishing fines and discipline by union bosses, complete with sample union membership resignation letters.

Further, the notice reminds workers of their right to cut off all union dues payments in the absence of a monopoly bargaining contract with the hospital. The notice encourages employees to seek free legal aid from the Foundation if they experience union resistance as they attempt to exercise any of these rights.

The Foundation has defended hospital employees against union boss abuses in a number of recent cases. It provided free legal aid to Jeanette Geary, who filed charges against United Nurses and Allied Professionals bosses in Rhode Island when they ignored her right not to fund union lobbying. After over a decade of litigation, Geary prevailed and in doing so set a precedent that protects the rights of nurses and other employees nationwide not to be required to fund union political activities.

“Kaiser Permanente workers unequivocally have the right to reject union boss strike orders and continue to serve those in need,” commented National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix.  “Those who question whether the union-ordered strike is really best for themselves, their families, and their patients cannot be forced by union officials to stop working.”

“Kaiser Permanente employees whose rights are violated by union bosses should immediately contact the Foundation for free legal aid,” added Mix.