Indianapolis, IN (March 30, 2012) – A union headquartered in suburban Chicago that is challenging Indiana’s newly-enacted Right to Work law in federal court is again facing legal woes for violating workers’ rights.

National Right to Work Foundation attorneys are providing free legal assistance to David Bercot of Orland, a certified wastewater operator for the ITR Concession Company, which services toll road rest stops in the Fort Wayne area. Bercot has field federal unfair labor practice charges against International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 for refusing to provide him information about union financial expenditures.

Bercot must accept IUOE officials’ so-called “representation” and is still required to pay dues to the union to keep his job until the union’s current contract expires, after which he will be freed from that requirement by Indiana’s new Right to Work law.

While Bercot is forced to pay a certain portion of union dues, he is also entitled to receive an independently-audited breakdown of union financial expenditures to help him determine how much money he is obligated to contribute. IUOE Local 150 union officials only provided Bercot with an incomplete breakdown of their financial expenditures.

Bercot filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 25 in Indianapolis contesting the union hierarchy’s lack of disclosure. Recently, IUOE Local 150 union officials were forced to settle another case by reimbursing two workers $1,268 after refusing to recognize their right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

Bercot’s charges also object to another aspect of union policy, which requires employees to renew their objection to paying full union dues during a brief “window period.” If employees miss the window period, they must pay full union dues for another year.

Under federal law, workers have the right to permanently object to union dues.

Meanwhile, in response to IUOE Local 150 union bosses’ recent federal lawsuit against Indiana’s Right to Work law, Bercot joined a group of Indiana workers from across the state to file an amicus brief in support of their newly-enacted Right to Work freedoms.

“IUOE Local 150 union bosses have waged a long campaign against Indiana’s workers, even before their frivolous federal lawsuit against Indiana’s new Right to Work law,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “A Right to Work law guards against IUOE bosses’ continuing efforts to take workers’ hard-earned money from their paychecks as a condition of employment.”

Judge Reaffirms Legal Basis for Government Union Reforms While Striking down Part of Wisconsin’s Act 10

Ruling makes clear: Future reforms that include all government sector unions would be safe from legal challenges

Madison, WI (March 30, 2012) – In response to Judge Conley’s opinion striking down several aspects of Wisconsin’s recently-enacted public sector union reforms, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix issued the following statement:

“Critically, Judge Conley’s ruling reaffirms the right of states to limit government union officials’ monopoly bargaining powers. Once again, a federal court has made it clear that union officials have no right to collect dues or fees from nonmembers.”

“While we disagree with the ruling’s conclusion that there isn’t a rational basis for recertification requirements and a ban on the use of taxpayer funded-payroll systems to collect union dues for general employees, the opinion shows why public safety officials should not have been exempted in the first place. The real solution to the ‘equal protection’ claims raised by the plaintiffs in this lawsuit is to apply Act 10 to all government employee unions and stop – in the judge’s words – ‘selectively subsidizing public unions.’ If anything, this ruling provides a blueprint for state legislators looking to limit union officials’ extraordinary special legal powers that no other private organization enjoys.”

Read the entire release here.

Indiana Workers Ask to File Amicus Brief Defending Hoosier Right to Work Law

Union lawyers seek to shut workers out of the proceedings

Hammond, IN (April 2, 2012) – Today, a group of Indiana workers from across the state filed a motion for leave to file an amicus brief in federal court in support of their newly-enacted Right to Work freedoms.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, the four workers – David Bercot, a certified wastewater operator for ITR Concession Company which services Indiana toll road rest stops in the Fort Wayne-area; Joel Tibbetts, a Minteq International assistant manager in Valparaiso; Douglas Richards, an employee with Goshen-based Cequent Towing Products; and Larry Getts, a Dana Holding Corporation tube press technician in Albion – all joined in the brief defending the law against a union-boss challenge.

International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 headquartered in suburban Chicago, Illinois filed the federal lawsuit in late February challenging the law and requesting an injunction against its implementation.

Read the entire release here.

Cleaning Service Union Sweeps Workers’ Rights Under the Rug

Case underscores need for Massachusetts Right to Work law

Boston, MA (April 6, 2012) – Workers caught in a battle between a local union and Lynn-based Complete Cleaning, Inc. are fighting back.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Jairo Hernandez of Lynn filed federal charges against Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 615 after union officials claimed to have monopoly bargaining privileges over the workplace with only a handful of signatures from workers supporting the union.

Hernandez filed the charges for himself and his coworkers with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Boston.

SEIU Local 615 officials claim monopoly bargaining privileges over Complete Cleaning’s workers even though workers nearly unanimously oppose the union hierarchy in their workplace. Under federal law, it is illegal for a union to claim monopoly bargaining status over a workplace without majority employee support.

Read the entire release here.

Another Osceola Hospital Employee Comes Forward, Hits SEIU with Federal Charge

Union officials ignore workers’ repeated requests to resign

Kissimmee, FL (April 19, 2012) – An Osceola Regional Medical Center employee has joined two of her colleagues and filed a federal charge against a major healthcare union for repeatedly violating federal law by refusing to allow her and her coworkers to exercise their right to refrain from dues-paying union membership under Florida’s popular Right to Work law.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, the worker filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

In December 2011, she sent a letter notifying Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East officials that she was exercising her right to resign from union membership. Instead of acknowledging her request, SEIU officials rejected her letter because it was not “timely.” Moreover, the union continues to confiscate union dues from the worker’s paycheck.

Read the entire release here.

Obama Administration Sides with Union Bosses Over Workers in Federal Court Case on Backroom Union Deals

Union officials ignore workers’ repeated requests to resign

Hollywood, FL (April 19, 2012) – The Obama administration is weighing in on a worker’s protracted, precedent-setting federal legal victory against a local union and Mardi Gras Gaming.

The case stems from a legal challenge initiated by Mardi Gras Gaming groundskeeper Martin Mulhall with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.

In 2008, Mardi Gras officials entered into an agreement with Unite Here Local 355 union officials promising that they would hand over employees’ personal contact information (including home addresses), grant union operatives access to company facilities for the purpose of organizing through a coercive card check campaign, and refrain from speaking about the downsides of unionization. In return, Unite Here Local 355 union officials expended over one hundred thousand dollars to support a gambling ballot initiative and guaranteed not to picket, boycott, or strike against the facility.

Read the entire release here.

Unionized Probation Officers Win Refunds in Federal Suit over Free Speech Rights

New York public employees desperately need Right to Work protections

Rochester, NY (April 24, 2012) – Four Monroe County probation officers have won relief in their protracted federal legal battle against two government unions for violating their First Amendment rights.

The four officers, led by David Scheffer, filed the suit with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys.

The probation officers sued Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) union and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union for deliberately violating their First Amendment rights by seizing forced union dues from their paychecks for illegal union expenditures. The officers charged that union officials were spending their forced dues on union organizing drives, despite the officers’ objections.

Read the entire release here.

Worker Advocate Announces New Addition to Legal Team

Regent-trained attorney dedicated to the cause of individual liberty for America’s workers

Washington, DC (April 26, 2012) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has hired Nathan McGrath, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as an addition to its legal staff.

McGrath is an active member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and 2010 graduate of the Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“Nathan brings to the Foundation energy and dedication to defending and advancing individual liberty against the injustices of compulsory unionism in the workplace,” said Ray LaJeunesse, vice president and legal director of the National Right to Work Foundation.

“He will assist the Foundation’s cutting-edge legal team in defending America’s workers from Big Labor’s growing influence in the government sector, enforcing individual employees’ rights against compulsory unionism, and establishing new precedents to increase workplace freedom for America’s workers.”

Read the entire release here.

Madison, WI (March 30, 2012) – In response to Judge Conley’s opinion striking down several aspects of Wisconsin’s recently-enacted public sector union reforms, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix issued the following statement:

“Critically, Judge Conley’s ruling reaffirms the right of states to limit government union officials’ monopoly bargaining powers. Once again, a federal court has made it clear that union officials have no right to collect dues or fees from nonmembers.”

“While we disagree with the ruling’s conclusion that there isn’t a rational basis for recertification requirements and a ban on the use of taxpayer funded-payroll systems to collect union dues for general employees, the opinion shows why public safety officials should not have been exempted in the first place. The real solution to the ‘equal protection’ claims raised by the plaintiffs in this lawsuit is to apply Act 10 to all government employee unions and stop – in the judge’s words – ‘selectively subsidizing public unions.’ If anything, this ruling provides a blueprint for state legislators looking to limit union officials’ extraordinary special legal powers that no other private organization enjoys.”

In addition to upholding most of Act 10, the order granted three employees represented by National Right to Work Foundation and Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty attorneys amicus status. Each of the employees has exercised their right to refrain from full membership in the same public sector unions challenging Act 10 and favor the protections the reforms give them as nonmember employees.

A number of other groups had asked to file amicus briefs, but were all denied by Judge Conley.

Hammond, IN (April 2, 2012) – Today, a group of Indiana workers from across the state filed a motion for leave to file an amicus brief in federal court in support of their newly-enacted Right to Work freedoms.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, the four workers – David Bercot, a certified wastewater operator for ITR Concession Company which services Indiana toll road rest stops in the Fort Wayne-area; Joel Tibbetts, a Minteq International assistant manager in Valparaiso; Douglas Richards, an employee with Goshen-based Cequent Towing Products; and Larry Getts, a Dana Holding Corporation tube press technician in Albion – all joined in the brief defending the law against a union-boss challenge.

International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 headquartered in suburban Chicago, Illinois filed the federal lawsuit in late February challenging the law and requesting an injunction against its implementation.

Both Bercot’s and Tibbetts’s workplaces are unionized by the IUOE Local 150 union hierarchy. Both workers have refrained from union membership. However, they are still forced to accept IUOE Local 150 union officials’ so-called "representation" and are required to pay dues to the union as a condition of employment until expiration of contracts entered into before Indiana’s Right to Work law was enacted.

Despite both workers having to accept the IUOE union hierarchy’s "representation" by force (as a condition of their employment), IUOE union lawyers have already moved to exclude the workers’ voluntarily-sought and wanted legal representation – National Right to Work Foundation attorneys – from the proceedings.

"IUOE union bosses believe one set of rules should apply to them while the workers who are forced to accept their so-called ‘representation’ are essentially told to shut up and stay out of the way," said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. "Fortunately, these courageous workers are dedicated to protecting their rights in the face of rank union boss hypocrisy."

Indiana is the nation’s 23rd Right to Work state. Public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans support the Right to Work principle, including 80 percent of union members.