Springfield, Va. (July 3, 2001) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation today announced the promotion of senior staff attorney Raymond J. LaJeunesse, Jr., to the position of Vice President and Legal Director.

LaJeunesse succeeds Rex H. Reed, who recently retired after serving 30 years as Legal Director for the Foundation.

“As the Foundation’s new Legal Director, I’ll continue to keep our precedent-setting program on the cutting edge of protecting hardworking Americans against the evils of compulsory unionism,” said LaJeunesse.

LaJeunesse was promoted to Legal Director based on his 30 years of successful litigation on behalf of union-abused workers. He became the Foundation’s first staff attorney in 1971 and has helped direct some of the Foundation’s most important and far-reaching legal victories, including the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Association and Communications Workers v. Beck.

As Legal Director, LaJeunesse is responsible for overseeing the Foundation’s legal aid program, which has helped hundreds of thousands of workers victimized by forced unionism abuse throughout the country and built powerful precedents expanding employee rights. He will also be in charge of developing long-term legal strategies and goals. One of those goals, according to LaJeunesse, is ultimately to bring a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in which compulsory unionism itself could be declared unconstitutional.

LaJeunesse received his law degree from Washington & Lee University in 1967. In addition to litigation, he has communicated his expertise on employee rights through public speeches, articles in legal journals, and testimony before Congress.

Oxnard, Calif. (June 28, 2001) — 150 berry pickers who were illegally fired by the Coastal Berry Company at the demand of United Farm Worker (UFW) union officials filed state unfair labor practice charges today against the union and their former employer. The workers were fired for exercising their right not to subsidize union political activities.

With the assistance of National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, Francisco Alzazar, Bertha Ambriz, Bertha Andrade, Ella Carranza, Alma Rose Arredondo, and Manuel Mena filed the class-action charges against the UFW and the Coastal Berry Company with California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB). Coastal Berry, which employs approximately 750 workers, is the world’s largest strawberry producer.

“In a cold-hearted act of retribution, UFW union officials and Coastal Berry put 150 workers out on the street,” said Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason.

In May 2000, by order of the ALRB, UFW union officials were granted monopoly bargaining power at Coastal Berry. In March 2001, Coastal Berry entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the UFW union. Shortly thereafter, UFW officials demanded that all Coastal Berry workers join the union and sign payroll deduction cards that would have allowed union officials to seize dues from their paychecks. More than 150 workers refused to comply with the UFW union’s illegal ultimatum and were fired last March at the demand of union officials.

The charges state that UFW union officials violated the rights of employees by demanding that they become full union members and pay full union dues as a condition of employment, in violation of several Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including CWA v. Beck. UFW union officials also violated the rights of employees by failing to provide workers with an independent audit of union expenditures as required by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson.

Foundation attorneys are seeking to force Coastal Berry to rehire all the fired berry pickers, with back pay, and to force UFW union officials to post notices informing all Coastal Berry workers of their right to object to belonging to the union.

California State Senator Tom McClintock (R-19th District), whose legislative district includes Oxnard, also weighed in on behalf of the workers. “The National Right to Work Foundation should be commended for representing the hard-working Californians that have been denied their jobs due to politics. Ironically, the UFW claims to be for workers, yet it turned more than 150 workers away from the fields where they have labored for years.”

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (June 28, 2001) — Utilizing free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, several state employees intervened today to defend Utah’s Voluntary Contributions Act, a recently enacted measure that requires union officials to obtain union members’ permission before spending their dues for political activities.

Claiming that the law’s requirements infringe the unions’ freedom of association rights, the Utah AFL-CIO and the state’s biggest government unions had filed suit in April to overturn the new law as unconstitutional. The employees filing the countersuit today in the Third District Court in Salt Lake County seek to defend the statute and their constitutional rights.

The employees argue that without rights granted under the Voluntary Contributions Act, employees must give up their workplace voice in order to exercise their political freedom. That’s because state law grants union officials the exclusive right to negotiate contracts on behalf of employees. Only union members are allowed a voice about workplace issues that control the terms of their employment.

Therefore, the employees argue, the court should uphold the Voluntary Contributions Act as constitutional. If it does not, then the court must declare that the state’s monopoly bargaining law is unconstitutional.

“Union officials want it both ways. They jealously guard their many government-granted privileges while opposing all measures to protect individual employees from the adverse consequences,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an organization that provides free legal aid to victims of compulsory unionism abuse.

The individual employees ask the court to declare that the Voluntary Contributions Act is constitutional because they have a constitutional right to withhold dues spent for political and ideological activities. Additionally, they ask the court to declare they have a right to full financial disclosure revealing how the union spends employees’ dues money.

The employees intervening in the case are teachers Christy Morris, John Clark, Wendy Solomon, and Nancy Granducci, firefighter Robert Miles, and school technical advisor Joe Granducci.

STANFORD, Calif. (June 28, 2001) — A Stanford Hospital nurse today filed federal charges against a local nursing union after its officials illegally demanded that she pay a fine for refusing to abandon critically ill patients during a recent strike.

With the help of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, Barbara Williams, a nurse at Stanford Hospital and Clinic, filed the unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA) union.

“This union harassment of a loyal nurse for standing by her patients is outrageous,” said Randy Wanke, Director of Legal Information for the National Right to Work Foundation. “The union must now be held to account.”

In April of this year, union officials imposed an illegal fine of $2,500 on Williams for exercising her Right to Work during a June 2000 strike. Williams, who refused to take part in a walkout which left patients unattended, cannot be subject to union fines or “discipline” because she is not a union member.

Since the strike, Williams has been subject to threats and continual harassment from striking nurses.

The charges also state that union officials have been unlawfully seizing full union dues from Williams since 1988. The union’s dues-collection practices violate the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court decision Communications Workers v. Beck, which held that workers may resign their union memberships and pay a reduced fee representing only the union’s proven collective bargaining costs.

CRONA officials never notified Williams of her Beck rights and continue to demand that she fork over an amount equal to full union dues. CRONA officials have also failed to provide Williams with any breakdown of their fees or an audit of union finances, in violation of disclosure requirements established under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson decision.

Foundation attorneys are demanding that CRONA officials halt their practice of collecting full union dues from nonmembers, provide proper financial disclosure to employees, and rescind the fine illegally imposed on Williams for refusing to walk out on Stanford’s patients.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 28, 2001) — National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys today filed a “Friend of the Court” brief in federal court in response to a lawsuit filed by union lawyers to stop employees from finding out about their right to reclaim their forced union dues spent for politics.

Foundation attorneys filed the Amicus Brief on behalf of union-abused workers after the United Auto Workers (UAW) lawyers filed the lawsuit to stop the Bush Administration from enforcing Executive Order 13201, which simply requires federal contractors to post a standard workplace notice informing employees of their rights under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Communications Workers v. Beck. Beck, a case won by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys in 1988, established that employees cannot be compelled to formally join a union or pay dues spent for politics or any other activities unrelated to collective bargaining.

UAW lawyers ironically complained that President George W. Bush’s executive order imposes “substantial administrative burdens” on businesses.

The UAW union, along with the UAW-Labor Employment and Training Corporation and two affiliates of the Office and Professional Employees International Union, quietly filed the lawsuit last month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and several other high-ranking Administration officials.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (June 27, 2001) — A dozen hospital employees at Youngstown’s St. Elizabeth Health Center today filed federal charges against officials of the Teamsters Local 377 union for refusing to accept their resignations and for failing to properly notify them of their right to pay less than full union dues.

The employees filed the unfair labor practice charges with the assistance of National Right to Work Foundation attorneys on behalf of all bargaining unit employees with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

“Teamsters officers are shaking down these employees simply because they exercised their right not to support the union,” said Randy Wanke, Director of Legal Information for the National Right to Work Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal aid to victims of compulsory unionism abuse.

Officials of the Youngstown-based union refused to accept employees’ written resignations from union membership and told employees that they must pay all “back dues” before the union would even consider their resignations. The charges also state that Local Teamsters union officials used payroll deductions to collect alleged “preexisting debt arrearages” that the union could not lawfully obligate the workers to pay under its forced unionism clause.

Under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision, workers may resign from union membership at any time and pay only for the union’s proven collective bargaining costs.

Foundation attorneys are demanding that all illegally seized forced union dues be returned to the employees and that Teamsters Local 377 officials notify all St. Elizabeth employees of their rights.

New York, N.Y. (June 25, 2001) — Former “Brady Bunch” star Barry Williams today filed federal unfair labor practice charges against Actors Equity Association (AEA) union officials for illegally fining him $52,000 after he resigned from the union to star in a non-Equity production of “The Sound of Music.”

Williams, with the assistance of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in New York because AEA union officials failed to inform him of his right to not join the union and imposed an exorbitant fine.

Last year, union officials launched a nationwide media campaign to smear Williams in each city in which the production appeared. As part of that campaign, union militants picketed outside theaters during the musical, carrying signs and handing out fliers proclaiming “Greg Brady is a Scab” while chanting slogans such as “who let the scabs out.”

“In an attempt to make actors think twice about exercising their rights, AEA union bullies are making an example of Barry Williams,” said Randy Wanke, Director of Legal Information for the National Right to Work Foundation.

AEA union officials illegally enforced so-called union “discipline” against Williams, claiming that he violated AEA union bylaws by appearing in a production that had not agreed to force employees to work under union contract.

Williams cannot be lawfully fined because he resigned his AEA union membership (and thereby was no longer subject to union rules) before signing a contract to work on the production — his right under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Patternmakers v. NLRB. In Patternmakers, the High Court ruled workers may resign their full, formal union membership immediately and without restrictions or retaliation. Once an employee becomes a non-member, union officials have no legal basis for enforcing union “discipline.”

Foundation attorneys are seeking an order that the fine is unenforceable and that the union retract it.

Williams gained fame as Greg Brady, the oldest son on the 70’s television show “The Brady Bunch.” Subsequently he has starred in more than 50 stage productions including “Victor Victoria,” “The Music Man,” “Romance/Romance,” “Man of LaMancha,” “Guys and Dolls,” and “City of Angels.” He wrote the best-selling book “Growing Up Brady,” which he recently produced as a movie for NBC. Additionally, Williams headlines in various venues in Las Vegas, for corporations, and on cruise lines.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (June 11, 2001) — With assistance from a national legal aid foundation, a Culligan Water Conditioning employee today filed federal charges against the Saint Louis-based Teamsters Local 610. The union’s officials have been illegally attempting to have the worker fired from his job for withholding union dues spent on politics and other activities unrelated to collective bargaining.

National Right to Work Foundation attorneys filed the unfair labor practice charges on behalf of Pete Lenhardt with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charging that union officials illegally demanded that Culligan discharge Lenhardt for not paying full union dues, even though he became a nonmember of the union.

The union’s threats and demands violated the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision, which holds that workers may resign from union membership and pay only for the union’s proven collective bargaining costs.

“Teamsters union officials must be held to account for bullying employees who do not support the union,” said Randy Wanke, Director of Legal Information for the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal aid to victims of forced unionism abuse.

Before ordering his termination, Teamsters Local 610 officials had been unlawfully seizing full union dues from Lenhardt and other Culligan employees and demanding so-called “initiation fees” equal to the full amount paid by union members without notifying employees of their right to object to union membership and the payment of full dues.

In response to the Foundation-filed charge, Culligan notified Lenhardt that they would not dismiss him while his charge was before the NLRB. Foundation attorneys are also demanding that the union notify all bargaining unit employees of their rights.

Washington, D.C. (June 5, 2001) — Ironically complaining that President George W. Bush’s executive order imposes “substantial administrative burdens” on businesses, three unions and a federally funded union-established corporation filed suit against the Bush Administration.  The suit seeks to prevent unionized employees of federal contractors from learning about their rights to be nonmembers and reclaim their forced union dues spent for politics.

The suit is likely to raise many eyebrows, as the same unions that have long claimed to be defenders of workplace rights are now suing to prevent employees from learning about workplace rights.

Executive Order 13201 simply requires federal contractors to post a standard workplace notice informing employees of their rights under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Communications Workers v. Beck, a case won by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys in 1988 establishing that employees cannot be compelled to formally join a union or pay dues spent for politics or any other activities unrelated to collective bargaining.  Because of unions’ routine and systematic non-compliance with the law, a vast majority of unionized employees still do not know they have these rights, polls show.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union, along with the UAW-Labor Employment and Training Corporation and two affiliates of the Office and Professional Employees International Union, quietly filed the suit last month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and several other high-ranking Administration officials.

National Right to Work Foundation attorneys are preparing to intervene in defense of the executive order on behalf of workers who have been lied to about their rights or outright threatened by union officials (including UAW officials) when they tried to reclaim their forced dues spent on electioneering and the like.

“Afraid that they would face a grassroots revolt, union bosses don’t want working Americans to find out that they can stop funding Big Labor’s massive political machine,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason.  “This multi-union lawsuit demonstrates the total hypocrisy of union officials’ claims that they are genuinely concerned about employee rights.”

Signed on February 17, 2001, the executive order affects a small segment of the 12 million American employees compelled to pay union dues as a condition of employment, as it only requires companies with federal contracts to inform workers of their Beck rights by posting workplace notices.  Bush’s father issued a similar executive order in April of 1992 that was immediately revoked at the request of union officials as President Clinton took office in 1993.  Additionally, the Clinton National Labor Relations Board stonewalled the enforcement of these precious employee protections, often leaving many cases languishing within the bureaucracy for six or more years.

Brainerd, Minn. (May 31, 2001) — In a 66 to 28 vote, employees at Bang Printing stripped the Graphic Communications International Union Upper Midwest Local 1-M of the power to get employees fired for refusing to financially support the union as non-members.

Carole Kraklau and other employees received free legal advice from attorneys with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) requesting that the deauthorization election be conducted. The results of that vote were announced today.

The decisive vote ends the union’s power to force workers to pay union dues, much of which is spent for politics, lobbying, social activities, and other activities claimed to be related to “representing” the employees. Employees who refused to pay the dues were threatened with discharge.

“This landslide victory shows that when employees are given the opportunity to decide how much power union officials have over them, they choose freedom,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

By deauthorizing the union in the NLRB election, employees are now free to decide for themselves whether to join or financially support the union. The union is now forced to justify to individual employees why it deserves the support of the rank-and-file workers.