NC Miners Fight Biden-Era Policy Trapping Workers in Unions They Oppose
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, March/April 2026 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
New majority at federal labor board can eliminate ‘blocking charge’ policy
The Biden NLRB’s “blocking charge” policy serves only to trap workers under union “representation” that they’ve rightfully sought a vote to oust. But courageous miners in North Carolina are now taking a stand against this unfair policy.
SPRUCE PINE, NC – Known by the moniker “The Mineral City,” Spruce Pine is famous for being the origin of a large amount of the world’s high-purity quartz, a key component in manufacturing semiconductors. But now, it’s also the source of a legal challenge that could reshape the American labor law landscape in favor of worker freedom.
Blake Davis, a miner for The Quartz Corp., is challenging a Biden era National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) policy that is blocking him and his coworkers from voting in a worker-requested election to remove United Mine Workers (UMW) union officials from their workplace. This policy, called the “blocking charge” policy, hands union officials the power to stymie the union removal (or “decertification”) process simply by filing unproven, unsubstantiated, or unrelated “unfair labor practice” charges at the NLRB alleging employer misconduct.
Filing: ‘Blocking Charge’ Policy Clashes With Federal Law and Workers’ Rights
Davis collected and submitted a petition for a decertification vote in late 2025, which contained enough of his colleagues’ signatures to trigger a vote under NLRB rules. However, regional NLRB officials have blocked the vote due to the NLRB’s current blocking charge policy.
Davis, with the help of Right to Work attorneys, has now submitted a Request for Review to the NLRB in Washington, DC, which asks the Board to overturn the blocking charge policy and let him and his coworkers vote on whether to remove the UMW union. Since his brief was submitted, the U.S. Senate approved two new presidential appointees to the NLRB, meaning the Board now has a “quorum” and can decide this case and others.
Davis’ Request for Review argues that the NLRB’s blocking charge policy directly conflicts with the text of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the federal law that the NLRB is responsible for enforcing. Davis’ brief contends that the rule lets self-interested union officials unilaterally block an election, even though the NLRA explicitly orders the Board to conduct an election whenever employees submit a valid decertification petition.
Davis’ brief also maintains that the blocking charge rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because it is arbitrary and fails to accomplish even its own stated goals. For example, the Board argues the rule is necessary to stop “coercive elections” from happening, even though the massive advantages it gives to union bosses in the election process can hardly be considered fair.
The National Right to Work Foundation has long advocated for the NLRB to return to the Election Protection Rule, which prevented many blocking charge delay tactics before the Biden NLRB overturned it in 2024. Under the Election Protection Rule, allegations of misconduct related to a union decertification election could not block employees from exercising their right to vote, and in most cases the rule permitted the vote tally to be released before litigation over the election could occur.
Trump NLRB Can Empower Independent-Minded Workers
“The NLRB’s ‘blocking charge’ policy serves only to let union officials stop the workers they claim to ‘represent’ from making a free choice about whether they want that union to represent them,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President and Legal Director Bill Messenger. “Mr. Davis and his coworkers are just the latest victims of these bureaucratic policies that trap workers in forced union ranks.
“If President Trump’s new NLRB appointees are serious about putting American workers back in control of their own livelihoods, reversing this union boss power giveaway is an excellent place to start,” Messenger added.
Wyoming Wells Fargo Bank Branch Employees Latest Group to Win Freedom from Unwanted CWA Union Bosses
Once CWA union officials’ attempt to block election failed, union once again conceded defeat rather than contest decertification election
Casper, WY (June 11, 2026) – Employees at a Wells Fargo branch in Casper have successfully regained their independence from Communications Workers of America (CWA) union bosses. The effort to remove the union was initiated when bank employees filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking a “decertification” election to remove the CWA as the bargaining representative at their Wells Fargo branch. The petition was filed with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. The decertification petition was signed by the vast majority of employees at the Wells Fargo branch, easily surpassing the required threshold of signatures needed for the NLRB to schedule a decertification vote.
Despite the overwhelming support for decertifying, CWA officials initially attempted to disenfranchise the employees using the NLRB’s “blocking charge” policy, which allows unions to delay, or even block entirely, worker-demanded decertification votes with unproven allegations against an employer. However, when Foundation staff attorneys pushed back against the blocking charges, the CWA dropped them, likely because the NLRB would have otherwise dismissed them as meritless.
At that point, with a decertification vote unavoidable, CWA union bosses simply “disclaimed” representation at the branch rather than face an overwhelming election defeat. Now the NLRB has accepted the disclaimer and formally revoked the union’s certification as the workers “exclusive representative.”
This year alone, Foundation staff attorneys have assisted successful Wells Fargo employee efforts to remove unwanted CWA union bosses in Spring Hill and Bradenton, Florida, Seaside Park, New Jersey, and Wilmington, Delaware. Another group of workers in Apex, North Carolina, also successfully removed the union in March. This is now the fifth Foundation-assisted case of Wells Fargo employees removing unwanted CWA union bosses from their branch.
“The Foundation is proud to assist Wells Fargo employees in Casper and other branches across the country seeking to exercise their right to free themselves from unwanted unions,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “As this string of wins by Wells Fargo employees seeking to remove the CWA demonstrates, these employees that have seen the union up close continue to come to the conclusion that they are better off without the CWA at their workplace.”
GWU Hospital Nurses Ask National Labor Relations Board to Overturn Policy Blocking Vote to Remove Union
Appeal: ‘Blocking Charge Rule’ violates text of federal law and was wrongly applied to block election requested by hundreds of nurses
Washington, DC (June 3, 2026) – Following a petition signed by hundreds of registered nurses and healthcare professionals at George Washington University Hospital, the nurse who filed the petition has asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to stop using its non-statutory “blocking charge” policy to block the GWU Hospital employees from voting in an election to remove District of Columbia Nurses Association (DCNA) union officials from power at the facility.
In April the GWU hospital workers, led by nurse Elizabeth Abraha, filed a decertification petition with the NLRB to free themselves from DCNA representation. The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions.
After Abraha’s petition was filed, DCNA union bosses moved to block the nurses’ election with unproven “unfair labor practice” charges against the Hospital. Abraha’s Request for Review argues that NLRB Regional officials accepted the DCNA’s charges without due process, stating that Abraha’s petition was suspended “based on ULP charge proceedings without holding a public hearing or even permitting Petitioner to review the charges.”
Abraha’s Request for Review contends the NLRB’s blocking charge policy is inconsistent with the text of the NLRA: “Allowing an interested, third party to unilaterally stop an election proceeding violates NLRA Section 9 [which] states that ‘whenever a petition shall have been filed’ ‘the Board shall investigate such petition’ and if the Board finds ‘a question of representation exists, it shall direct an election by secret ballot.’”
The Request for Review points out that the NLRA does not grant the NLRB the authority to invent rules to stymie worker-requested decertification elections. Moreover, it argues the NLRB Region denied the petitioner due process by refusing to hold a hearing or provide copies of the charges being used as pretext for blocking the decertification vote.
“The text of the NLRA unambiguously states that employees have the right to hold decertification elections to remove an unwanted union from their workplace,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “The NLRB should be defending employee free choice, not inventing policies that protect incumbent union bosses from being voted out by rank-and-file workers.
“Ending the biased Biden-era blocking charge policy would be one of the most pro-worker changes the new Board majority could and should take,” added Mix.
Alabama Sherwin-Williams Production Site Workers Win Vote to Eject Boilermakers Union Bosses
National Labor Relations Board certifies election freeing 83 employees from unwanted union
Birmingham, AL (May 27, 2026) – Employees at a Sherwin-Williams Packaging Coatings Group production facility have freed themselves from the unwanted “representation” of International Brotherhood of Boilermakers union officials. The workers’ effort was spearheaded by Jacob Miller, who filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), seeking a “decertification” election to end the Boilermakers’ exclusive bargaining powers over the workers. Miller’s petition was filed with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. The workers filed a majority-backed petition with the NLRB to trigger a secret-ballot election among all 83 full-time and regular part-time production, maintenance, and quality employees employed by Sherwin-Williams at its 90 Carson Road, Birmingham, facility.
Miller’s petition was signed by enough of his coworkers to prompt the NLRB to schedule a union decertification vote. Following the workers election on May 6-7, in which a majority of workers voted against the union, NLRB Region 10 certified the election results to formally end Boilermakers union bosses’ exclusive representative status on May 15.
Alabama is one of 26 states with Right to Work protections, which safeguard workers by making union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary. However, even in Right to Work states, union officials can impose exclusive bargaining control upon all workers in a workplace, meaning they can dictate working conditions even for employees who oppose the union.
“We congratulate Mr. Miller and his coworkers on exercising their legal right to terminate the presence of unwanted Boilermakers union bosses at their workplace,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “While the workers at Sherwin-Williams were able to have their election administered and certified in a prompt manner, many more American workers remain trapped in union rank-and-file by union bosses abusing NLRB policies that undermine employees’ legal right to vote out unwanted unions.
“We hope the Trump NLRB will take the needed measures to protect workers from the rampant abuses of Big Labor by overturning the agency’s biased policies that block or bar decertification elections,” added Mix.
Delaware Wells Fargo Branch Employees Latest to Remove CWA Union
Labor board officially revoked union certification after workers overwhelmingly petitioned to end union boss ‘representation’
Wilmington, DE (May 18, 2026) – Employees at a Wells Fargo branch in Wilmington, Delaware, have successfully ousted Communications Workers of America (CWA) union bosses from their workplace. The effort to remove the union was initiated when bank employee Nancy Horsky filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), seeking a “decertification” election to remove the CWA as the bargaining representative at her Wells Fargo branch. Horsky filed the petition for her coworkers with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. Horsky’s petition was signed by a clear majority of her coworkers at Wells Fargo’s Concord Pike branch, prompting the NLRB to schedule a union decertification vote.
The workers requested that the NLRB schedule a secret-ballot election among all full-time and regular part-time tellers, personal bankers, and premier bankers employed by Wells Fargo at the Wilmington branch. The workers were looking to vote on whether to remove the so-called “Wells Fargo Workers United” union (an affiliate of the CWA).
However, shortly before the election was scheduled by the NLRB, CWA union officials declared that they “disclaim interest” in the Wilmington Wells Fargo employees. CWA union officials, perhaps expecting an overwhelming election loss, abandoned their status as the workers’ so-called “representatives.”
Delaware is one of 24 states without Right to Work protections, which make union affiliation and dues payment fully voluntary, meaning that Horsky and her coworkers could have been forced to pay union dues or fees or else be fired, so long as the workplace remained under CWA union control. The Wilmington Wells Fargo employees are the latest in a growing number of workers who have approached the Foundation seeking to exercise their legal right to remove union officials that claim to “represent” workers’ interests.
This year alone, Foundation staff attorneys have assisted successful Wells Fargo employee efforts to remove unwanted CWA union bosses in Spring Hill, Florida, Seaside Park, New Jersey, and Bradenton, Florida. Another group of workers in Apex, North Carolina, also successfully removed the union in March.
Meanwhile, in Casper, Wyoming, Wells Fargo workers overwhelmingly backed a petition requesting that the NLRB administer a secret-ballot election to remove the CWA from their branch. However, before an election could be scheduled, CWA union bosses filed “blocking charges” in an attempt to prevent the employees from having their requested vote.
“We are pleased to have been able to assist Ms. Horsky and her coworkers in exercising their right to remove unwanted CWA union bosses,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Clearly Wells Fargo employees across the country are coming to the realization that, despite CWA union bosses’ claims, they are better off without the union interfering in their relationship with their employer.
“Other Wells Fargo employees who want to join their colleagues in ejecting unwanted CWA union officials from their locations should feel free to contact the National Right to Work Foundation for free legal assistance,” added Mix.
Despite Arizona Dispensary Employees’ Landslide Vote to Remove UFCW, Union Bosses Seek to Overturn Election Result
Union officials ask Labor Board to disenfranchise workers who voted 14-1 to end union affiliation
Phoenix, AZ (May 14, 2026) – Employees of Curaleaf Camelback Dispensary overwhelmingly voted United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 99 union bosses out of power at their workplace. Dispensary employee Jennifer Mooney, who filed a petition for her coworkers with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last month, led the workers’ effort. The petition sought a “decertification” election to terminate the status of UFCW Local 99 as the workers’ exclusive “representative.”
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act, a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. The petition was filed with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Mooney’s petition, filed April 3, 2026, requested an NLRB-administered secret-ballot election for the 25-member work unit, including all full- and part-time Store Associates employed at the Curaleaf Camelback Dispensary’s Phoenix location.
The workers’ election took place on May 1, when dispensary employees voted 14-1 to remove UFCW Local 99 as the employees’ representative. However, UFCW union bosses filed a last-minute request with the NLRB seeking to overturn the workers’ decisive vote against the union.
“My colleagues and I didn’t appreciate how UFCW officials ignored our interests and tried to force a contract that we didn’t like,” stated Mooney. “We are thankful to have the Foundation’s assistance in exercising our legal rights.”
Arizona is one of the 26 states with Right to Work protections, which safeguard workers by making union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary. However, even in Right to Work states, union bosses can impose exclusive bargaining control upon all workers in a workplace, meaning they can dictate working conditions even for employees who oppose the union. A worker decertification victory would remove the union’s monopoly bargaining powers over those workers.
Foundation attorneys have recently assisted with a string of worker efforts in the cannabis industry to push out unwanted unions, including in Massachusetts, Missouri, and Ohio. Late last year, Foundation attorneys also submitted an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case Ctrl Alt Destroy v. Elliott, Case No. 25-2419, which may determine whether state laws that impose so-called “labor peace agreements” on the cannabis industry break federal law. The Foundation’s brief argues that California’s labor peace agreement scheme violates federal labor law by forcing cannabis industry employers to bargain with union officials – even when a majority of workers haven’t expressed that they want a union – in order to lawfully operate within the state.
“Once again, rather than respect the decision of workers who overwhelmingly want to be free of the UFCW at their workplace, union lawyers are attempting to overturn the vote of workers opposed to union affiliation,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Unfortunately, many American workers who undertake to exercise their legal rights are often trapped by union officials who abuse the NLRB’s non-statutory, pro-Big Labor policies that keep workers in the unions’ rank-and-file for months or even years.
“Cannabis industry workers in particular are being targeted by Big Labor, which is using legislative efforts to impose union control in the cannabis industry, with little regard for workers’ right to have a free and fair election on union exclusive representation,” Mix added. “Foundation attorneys will always fight to ensure that workers can exercise their right to choose, free of impediments at both the state and federal levels.”
Despite Five Months of Union Delay Tactics, Ohio Dispensary Employees Win Effort to Kick Teamsters Local 413 Union Bosses Out
After Teamsters lawyers were forced to drop meritless “blocking charges,” Labor Board formally revokes Teamsters monopoly bargaining status
Athens, OH (May 1, 2026) – Employees of Herbal Wellness Center have officially freed themselves from unwanted Teamsters Local 413 union bosses after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Director of Region 9 revoked the Teamsters’ certification as the workers’ exclusive monopoly “representative.” The workers’ effort was spearheaded by dispensary employee Todd Cooper, who filed a petition for his coworkers with the NLRB last November seeking a “decertification” election to end the presence of Local 413 union officials at their workplace.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act, a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. The petition was filed with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Cooper’s petition was backed by the majority of his coworkers, who sought an NLRB-administered secret-ballot election for the 18-member work unit, including all full- and part-time Budtenders, Team Leads, and Receptionists employed at Herbal Wellness Center’s Athens location.
However, before the NLRB could schedule an election, Teamsters union officials filed a series of “blocking charges” in November and December 2025 to prevent the election from taking place. Blocking charges are often meritless allegations of employer misbehaver made by union bosses in order to delay or prevent workers from removing unwanted unions.
Ultimately though, with the pending NLRB investigation of the Teamsters union bosses’ blocking charges likely to find no merit to the Teamsters’ claims, the Teamsters moved to drop the charges rather than have them formally dismissed by the NLRB. With nothing left to block the vote, union officials eventually declined to even contest the election, resulting in the NLRB certifying the union’s ouster on April 22.
Ohio is one of the 24 states that lack Right to Work protections, meaning that Teamsters union bosses can force employees to pay dues or fees as a condition of getting and keeping a job. By contrast, in neighboring Right to Work states like West Virginia and Indiana, union membership and union financial support are strictly voluntary.
“Herbal Wellness Center employees have the protected right, as do all workers in unionized workplaces, to eject union boss ‘representation’ they oppose,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It is reprehensible that Teamsters officials continue to be allowed to use ‘blocking charges’ to disenfranchise the very workers they claim to ‘represent’ for months or sometimes even years.”
Bradenton Wells Fargo Employees Latest to Force Out CWA Union
Wells Fargo workers across country are seeking to escape from the CWA union, at least four branches already free
Bradenton, FL (May 1, 2026) – Following their request to a federal labor board for a vote to remove the union, employees at the Beachway Plaza Wells Fargo branch have successfully forced Communications Workers of America (CWA) union bosses out of their workplace. Wells Fargo employee Amanda Seda kicked off the union removal effort by submitting a decertification petition backed by her colleagues to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on April 20. Seda filed the petition with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing private sector labor law, a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. Seda’s petition received more than the required threshold of her coworkers’ signatures to trigger the process for the NLRB to schedule a decertification vote. The petition requested that the NLRB hold the vote on May 14 among “[f]ull-time & regular part-time personal bankers, branch operations coordinators, [and] tellers.”
Only about a week after Seda filed her petition, CWA union officials announced they were “disclaiming interest” in continuing their control over the bank branch. In other words, CWA agents announced they were leaving the Wells Fargo location, likely to avoid an embarrassing lopsided loss at the ballot box.
Florida is a Right to Work state, meaning state law forbids union bosses from enforcing contracts that require workers to pay money to the union to keep their jobs. In contrast, in states that lack Right to Work protections, union bosses can get workers fired for refusing to pay union dues or fees. However, in both Right to Work and non-Right to Work states, exclusive “representation” privileges in federal labor law grant union officials the power to dictate terms of employment for every employee in a workplace, regardless of whether they voted for or support the union.
Wells Fargo Workers Across America Seeking Escape From CWA Union Ranks
Roughly four years after CWA union officials began a high-profile campaign to unionize Wells Fargo under the moniker “Wells Fargo Workers United,” employee opposition to the union is rising. Foundation staff attorneys are assisting multiple groups of workers across the country with efforts to oust CWA union officials, and some of these efforts have already seen success: After petitioning for union decertification elections, Foundation-backed Wells Fargo employees in Spring Hill, Florida; Seaside Park, New Jersey; and now Bradenton, Florida, are free of the CWA union’s exclusive “representation.” Wells Fargo workers in Apex, North Carolina, also voted out CWA union officials in March.
In addition to the case at Seda’s workplace, the Foundation’s cases for Wells Fargo workers at the Spring Hill and Seaside Park bank branches involved union bosses submitting “disclaimers of interest” shortly after workers began seeking a vote to scrap the union. However, CWA union officials have filed “blocking charges” in an attempt to prevent Foundation-supported Wells Fargo workers in Casper, Wyoming, from having their requested decertification vote. Blocking charges are unproven allegations of employer misconduct that union officials frequently file to stop decertification elections from moving forward. NLRB bureaucrats will often delay decertification elections for months or even years on the basis of union blocking charges, without ever ordering a hearing into the charges’ veracity or connection to worker discontent with the union.
“Wells Fargo employees nationwide are beginning to question how well CWA union officials are actually serving their interests, and many are choosing to exercise their right to vote out unions they oppose,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “While CWA bosses have quietly left some branches rather than face a vote of the employees they claim to ‘represent,’ at other branches they’re using legal maneuvering to try to disenfranchise workers by blocking elections from occurring.
“While Wells Fargo workers should not hesitate to reach out to Foundation attorneys for assistance in seeking to decertify unwanted CWA unions, the Trump NLRB should also seek to reform federal regulations that let union bosses trap workers in union ranks against their will,” Mix added.
