Decertification election will allow rank-and-file workers to vote to free themselves from unwanted union “representation”

Frankfort, IN (February 3, 2022) – Healthcare workers at the Wesley Manor BHI retirement community in Frankfort, Indiana have filed a petition seeking the removal of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 962 union from their workplace. The workers’ decertification petition was filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 25 office in Indianapolis, IN with free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

The petition was filed by Robin Davis, an employee of Wesley Manor BHI. The request seeking to end AFSCME union officials’ monopoly bargaining powers at BHI was signed by about 50% of the workers in the bargaining unit, well over the legally required 30% needed to trigger an NLRB-conducted secret ballot vote to remove the union.

Indiana is a Right to Work state, meaning workers cannot legally be required to join or pay dues or fees to a union as a condition of keeping their jobs. However, even in Right to Work states, union officials who have obtained monopoly bargaining control in a workplace are granted the power impose one-size-fits-all union contracts on all workers, including those who opt out of union membership and would prefer to negotiate their own terms of employment.

The decertification petition was filed in advance of the expiration of the current union contract on April 30, 2022. If the workers’ vote is successful, AFSCME union officials will be stripped of their monopoly “representation” powers and will not be able to impose another union monopoly contract on the workers.

National Right to Work Foundation legal aid has recently assisted workers in numerous successful decertification efforts across the nation, including for workers in Kansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Delaware. Foundation-advocated reforms to decertification elections that were adopted by the NLRB in 2020 have curtailed union officials’ abuse of so-called “blocking charges” to delay or block workers’ from exercising their right to decertify a union on the basis of unproven allegations made against an employer, often completely unrelated to workers’ desire to free themselves of the union.

“Under federal law workers are entitled to an up or down vote whether to remove a union they oppose from their workplace, but unfortunately, either due to union legal trickery or convoluted NLRB policies exercising that right often requires legal assistance,” National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix said. “The good news for workers is they can turn to the Foundation for free legal aid to help secure their right to free themselves from unwanted so-called ‘union representation.’”

Despite union boss-ordered strike, all 8,000 affected King Soopers employees are free to exercise their right to return to work

Denver, Colorado (January 20, 2022) – Today, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation issued a special legal notice for workers affected by a strike at the King Soopers grocery chain in Colorado ordered by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union officials.

According to news reports, the UFCW has struck against King Soopers grocery stores for over a week, impacting more than 8,000 employees. The Foundation’s legal notice informs these affected workers of the rights union officials often hide, including that the workers have the right to continue to work to support their families.

Importantly, the notice gives workers who want to exercise their right to work information on how to avoid fines and punishment that could be imposed by union officials.

“The situation raises serious concerns for employees who believe there is much to lose from a union-ordered strike,” the legal notice reads. “That is why workers frequently contact the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to learn how they can avoid fines and other oppressive union discipline for continuing to report to work.

The Foundation’s special legal notice highlights workers’ rights to resign union membership and to revoke their union dues check-offs. The notice also provides helpful information for removing an unaccountable union from a workplace by using a decertification petition to obtain a secret ballot election.

The National Right to Work Foundation is the nation’s premier organization exclusively dedicated to providing free legal assistance to employee victims of forced unionism abuse. The full notice can be found at: https://www.nrtw.org/king-soopers-legal-notice/

“Workers always have the right to continue to work during a strike, despite what union officials may tell them or try to pressure them into doing,” National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix said. “This legal notice reflects the Foundation’s decades-long commitment to offering free legal aid to workers to protect them from union bosses’ coercive tactics which regularly go hand-in-hand with union strike demands.”