Special Legal Notice for Employees of Wabtec Impacted by UE Union Boss Strike Order
News reports suggest that union officials of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) union have ordered employees of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (Wabtec) to abandon their jobs and go on strike. This situation raises serious concerns for employees who believe there is much to lose from a union-ordered strike.
All employees have the legal right to rebuff union officials’ strike demands, but it is important that employees know their rights before they do so. If you would like to work during a strike, read all of this special notice before returning to work – it might save you thousands of dollars.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation believes you should learn about your legal rights from independent sources. You should not rely on what self-interested union officials tell you. Workers frequently contact the Foundation to learn how to avoid fines and other union discipline for continuing to report to work during a union ordered strike to support themselves and their families. For over five decades, Foundation attorneys have worked to protect and expand the rights of individual employees to reject unwanted union control. It is the nation’s premier organization exclusively dedicated to providing free legal assistance to employee who are victims of forced unionism abuse.
Wabtec employees should know they have the following legal rights:
1) You have the right to resign your membership in the union at any time. If you don’t support this union, you can send the union a letter resigning your membership.
2) You have the right to go to work even if the union bosses ordered a strike. Union officials can (and often do) fine actual union members who work during a strike. If you want to work during a union strike, you should seriously consider resigning before working. This is the principal way to put yourself beyond the reach of internal union discipline, and avoid these union fines.
3) You also have the right to revoke your dues check-off authorization and stop allowing the union hierarchy to collect money from your paycheck every week. You can send letters to the union and your employer revoking your authorization to have union dues deducted from your paycheck during periods when there is no collective bargaining agreement in effect.
4) If you wish to eject an unaccountable union hierarchy from your workplace, you have the right to circulate and sign a decertification petition to obtain a secret ballot election to do so. All Wabtec employees should know they have the right to petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a secret ballot election to remove a union. However, the NLRB process is complex and open to manipulation from union officials, so we strongly recommend you reach out to Foundation attorneys, who regularly provide free legal advice and representation to workers interested in decertifying a union.
A sample letter for employees who wish to resign their union membership and revoke their dues check-off is here.
We know you are busy, and we know that unionization can create tension within a workplace and a lot of confusion regarding your legal rights. If you have any questions about the rights listed above or any of your other rights, do not hesitate to contact Foundation staff attorneys for free legal help at 1-800-336-3600 or at https://www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid/.
Special Legal Notice for Employees Affected by Rutgers Strike Order
Media reports show that union officials with three unions – Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union (RAFU); Rutgers American Association of University Professors, American Federation of Teachers (AAUP-AFT); and Rutgers American Association of University Professors, Biomedical and Health Sciences of New Jersey (AAUP-BHSNJ) – have initiated a strike this week at Rutgers University.
This situation raises serious concerns for professors and other university employees who believe they have much to lose from a union boss-ordered strike and want to continue working to not abandon their students, and to support themselves and their families.
All employees have the legal right to rebuff union officials’ strike demands, but it is important for them to be informed before they do so.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK DURING A STRIKE, READ ALL OF THIS SPECIAL NOTICE BEFORE RETURNING TO WORK – IT MIGHT SAVE YOU THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!
The Foundation wants you to learn about your legal rights from independent sources. You should not rely on what self-interested union officials tell you. For more than five decades, Foundation attorneys have worked in the courts and labor agencies to protect and expand the rights of individual employees in situations such as strikes. It is the nation’s premier organization exclusively dedicated to providing free legal assistance to employee victims of forced unionism abuse.
Rutgers Employees under AAUP-AFT, AAUP-BHSNJ, or RAFU monopoly representation should know they have the following rights:
1) A union has no disciplinary power over nonmembers and cannot discipline them for crossing a picket line and working during a strike. If you are currently not a member of an AAUP-AFT, AAUP-BHSNJ, RAFU, or any affiliated union, you have the right to go to work even when the union bosses have ordered a strike.
2) If you are currently a union member, you have the right to resign your union membership. Union officials can (and often do) levy large fines against union members who work during a strike. If you are now a union member and want to work during the strike, you should seriously consider resigning your union membership at least one day, if not more, BEFORE you return to work during the strike. That is the only way to avoid possible ruinous union fines and other discipline. To have the best legal defense possible against fines the union may try to impose anyway, you should give the union notice of your resignation a day or two BEFORE you cross the picket line so that when you return to work during the strike you are not a member of the union.
The decisions whether to resign your union membership and/or cross the picket line are wholly yours. The Foundation is simply providing this information so that your decisions are informed. If you are a member and decide to resign your union membership, please follow this link, https://myjanusrights.org/, for a sample letter resigning your membership in the union and revoking any authorization for the union and employer to collect any fees or dues from your pay. While you have the right to revoke any dues authorization at any time, state law may affect the date the revocation becomes effective. If you encounter any difficulties in exercising your right to resign union membership and revoke union dues deductions, you can contact the Foundation to request free legal aid at www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid/.
NOTE: Although not legally required, the best practice to send your union resignation and dues revocation letters to the union and employer by certified mail, return receipt requested, and save copies of your letters and return receipts to prove delivery. If you hand deliver a letter, make sure that you have a reliable witness to the date and means of delivery. In our experience, angry and dishonest union officials often pretend they did not actually receive resignations and initiate discipline against non-striking workers anyway. If you encounter any difficulties in exercising your right to work during a strike, you can contact the Foundation to request free legal aid at www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid/.
3) It is Foundation attorneys’ best legal opinion that public sector employees have the right to resign their membership in a union at any time. At least two federal district courts have reached that conclusion. See McCahon v. Pa. Turnpike Comm’n, 491 F. Supp. 2d 522 (M.D. Pa. 2007); Debont v. City of Poway, No. 98CV0502-K, 1998 WL 415844 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 14, 1998). If you encounter any difficulties in resigning your union membership, you can contact the Foundation to request free legal aid at www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid/.
4) The United States Supreme Court has held that nonmembers of a public-sector union have a First Amendment right not to pay any union fees or dues, unless they have freely waived their First Amendment rights. See Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448, 2486 (2018). A union has the burden of proving employees waived their First Amendment rights by “clear and compelling” evidence. Some unions have claimed that employees who authorized their employer to deduct union dues and fees in the past have waived their First Amendment rights. Whether a dues deduction authorization is an effective waiver depends on when it was signed and how it was worded. New Jersey law may also affect the date the dues deduction revocation becomes effective. You can contact the Foundation to request free legal aid at www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid/ if you encounter any difficulties in getting the union and employer to stop collecting union fees or dues from you.
5) If you wish to eject an unwanted union hierarchy from your workplace, you may have the right to petition for a secret ballot decertification election to do so. More information about New Jersey laws on decertification is available here: https://www.state.nj.us/perc/documents/NJ_PERC_Representation_Petition_Form.pdf. If you have questions about how to proceed with decertification, need assistance getting through the NJ PERB process, or encounter legal difficulties interfering with your efforts, you can contact the Foundation to request free legal aid at www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid/.
Special Legal Notice to Rhode Island Public Employees: Supreme Court’s Janus Ruling Means You Can Resign from Union & Cut off Dues at Any Time
Legal group that won Janus case denounces Rhode Island union bosses and public officials who are misleading workers about their rights
RHODE ISLAND (October 11, 2018) – In response to reports that the Rhode Island Attorney General and Ocean State union officials are misinforming teachers and other public employees of their legal protections under the Foundation-won Janus decision, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys have issued a Special Legal Notice for all Rhode Island teachers who wish to exercise their right to stop financially supporting a union.
The notice can be found here: Setting the Record Straight on Teacher Rights in Rhode Island after Janus v. AFSCME Council 31.
The notice comes after Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin – who signed onto an anti-Janus brief at the Supreme Court and received major support from union officials in his runs for public office – made the false claim that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling “only affects non-union members” and does not apply to union members.
The Attorney General is wrong. Under Janus all government employees have the right to resign their union membership and immediately stop any financial payments to union officials. Because the Supreme Court decision made it clear that public workers must opt-in to any union payments and explicitly waive their constitutional rights, union members cannot be restricted if they seek to resign from the union and stop the payment of any union dues or fees.
The Bristol-Warren Education Association (BWEA) and the National Education Association of Rhode Island (NEARI) also issued a letter blatantly misleading teachers about their Janus rights. The letter claims that union nonmembers must pay a NEARI attorney to file a grievance against the union. However, as the Foundation’s notice states, unions are legally obligated to provide grievance service to both members and nonmembers as part of its exclusive monopoly bargaining status.
The BWEA and NEARI union officials’ letter also incorrectly claims that nonmembers are unable to request days from the Sick Leave Bank, even though the BWEA’s monopoly bargaining agreement establishes the Sick Leave Bank for all teachers, including nonmembers, covered by the agreement.
Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, released the following statement regarding the notice:
“It’s shameful that the Attorney General of Rhode Island and union officials in the state are attempting to mislead public employees about their legal protections. Under Janus, any public sector employee can at any time exercise the First Amendment right to stop paying union dues and fees to a union they do not wish to support. Any suggestion to the contrary is false and is simply a cynical union boss money grab.
“Union officials ought to focus on earning the trust and support of the workers they claim to represent. Instead, they and their political allies are attempting to wield their unique monopoly bargaining privileges to discriminate against workers who seek to exercise their Janus rights. Any Rhode Island public teacher or other public employee who has been blocked from stopping union payments as is their right under Janus can turn to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation for free legal assistance.”
National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys are already representing workers in lawsuits across the country who have been wrongly blocked from exercising their rights under Janus.
Because of the numerous requests from workers for information about their rights under the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME decision, the Foundation established MyJanusRights.org to educate public employees about their protections under Janus.
The site also enables workers to request free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation if their rights are not being respected by union officials.
SPECIAL NOTICE FOR ALL SEASONAL AND TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES
Springfield, VA – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has issued a Special Legal Notice for all temporary workers during the Holiday Season who may be unaware of the rules and laws surrounding forced unionism and forced union dues.
Often times, union officials mislead individuals about their legal rights to refrain from union membership and payment of union dues or fees. This is especially true when it comes to temporary or seasonal employees. Under federal law, workers cannot be forced to pay any money to a union during their first 30 days of employment.
When employees are misinformed about their rights, they can end up paying their entire paycheck to union officials as one National Right to Work Foundation-aided worker found.
National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix issued the following statement regarding this legal notice:
“Each year during the Holiday Season, union bosses play the role of Grinches by seizing the paychecks of temporary workers trying to earn some extra money for themselves and their families around the holidays. ”
“Temporary workers should be wary of deceitful tactics used by union officials, and even some employers, designed to fill union coffers with dues money that workers cannot be required to pay. All temporary workers should read the Foundation’s legal notice to ensure their legal rights are not being violated and contact our Foundation attorneys for free legal aid if they suspect their rights have been infringed upon.”
Please read the Foundation’s Special Legal Notice for temporary workers here.
Legal Notice: Foundation Win Forces Union Officials to Inform Florida Teachers of their Rights
With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Florida teacher won a settlement from the state’s Public Employees Relations Commission that orders United Teachers of Dade (UTD) union officials to stop discriminating against teachers who don’t belong to the union. Miami-Dade schools are also required to post the following notice to inform teachers of their rights:
For more on the Foundation’s efforts to help Florida teachers, see our press release from last September.
West Virginia Resort Worker Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge After Union Officials Illegally Take His Money
Greenbrier employee’s case demonstrates tactics used by union bosses to extort forced dues
White Sulphur Springs, WV- A Greenbrier Hotel employee has filed a federal unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 1182. Reginald Gibbs filed the charge with free legal representation provided by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. The charge states that union officials violated his rights by using mandatory union fees for lobbying efforts and failing to provide necessary disclosures of spending by union affiliates.
Gibbs, a slot machine technician at West Virginia’s historic Greenbrier Hotel & Resort, previously turned to National Right to Work Foundation attorneys for help in filing a motion to intervene in a court case defending West Virginia’s Right to Work law. That law ensures that union membership and financial support are completely voluntary. In that lawsuit, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the law should go into effect, with the Chief Justice calling a lower court’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction against the Right to Work law a “monumental failure of legal reasoning.”
Although the state Supreme Court’s ruling means that the Right to Work law is currently in effect, forced dues contracts entered into before the law’s enactment, such as that at the Greenbrier, are exempted from the law. Thus, Local 1182 officials can have Gibbs fired for not paying union fees. However, even absent full Right to Work protections, workers are entitled to certain protections under the National Labor Relations Act as interpreted in the 1988 Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court case Communications Workers v. Beck.
After receiving his Beck-mandated notice and audit that should explain in detail how forced union dues were being spent, Gibbs noticed several discrepancies that violate his rights. Specifically, as his NLRB charge notes, union officials improperly used dues for political lobbying efforts and failed to adequately disclose how the dues were spent by union affiliates. The NLRB will now investigate the charge.
“Despite U.S. Supreme Court precedent that has been the law for almost 30 years, union officials routinely violate the rights of the workers they claim to represent, to extract extra money from their paychecks,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Fortunately, due to West Virginia’s new Right to Work law, once the current union contract expires, union bosses will no longer be able to play games with the union audit process, because Mr. Gibbs can finally stop all union payments.”
“This case provides another vivid example of why West Virginia workers need the protections provided by the Mountain State’s Right to Work law,” added Mix.
Special Legal Notice to Disney World Employees: How to Resign from Teamsters Local 385 & End Dues Payments
Orlando, FL – In response to multiple inquiries from Disney World employees regarding their legal rights, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys have issued a Special Legal Notice for all Disney World employees who wish to resign their membership in Teamsters Local 385 and exercise their right to end payment of union dues.
In recent years, numerous workers have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against Teamsters Union Local 385 with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in response to union officials’ refusal to accept their membership resignations and/or dues checkoff revocations.
The National Right to Work Foundation Special Legal Notice for Disney employees can be found here.
To learn more about your legal rights in general, go to the Foundation’s “Know Your Rights” page. To request free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation call toll free at 1-800-336-3600, or use our legal aid request form.
Special Legal Notice for West Virginia Employees of AHF Products Issues by National Right to Work Foundation Staff Attorneys
Beverly, WV (March 16, 2020) – Amid reports of a strike called by Teamsters union officials, and due to requests for legal assistance that often accompany such union-instigated work stoppages, National Right to Work Legal Foundation staff attorneys have issued a special legal notice to workers at the AHF Products plant in Beverly, West Virginia.
The special legal notice outlines workers’ rights that union officials won’t share with them, and specifies what steps workers should take if they wish to exercise their right to work during the strike:
Teamster union officials have ordered AHF Products workers at the company’s Beverly, West Virginia plant to abandon their jobs and go on strike.
The situation raises serious concerns for workers who believe there is much to lose from engaging in a union-ordered strike.
Employees have the right under federal labor law to rebuff union officials’ strike demands, but it is important for you to be informed before you do so.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE WORKING OR RETURN TO WORK DURING A STRIKE READ ALL OF THIS SPECIAL NOTICE BEFORE CROSSING A PICKET LINE TO WORK – IT MIGHT SAVE YOU THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!
Read the complete legal notice here.
National Right to Work Foundation Publishes Special Legal Notice for Workers at St. Vincent Hospital
In response to inquiries from impacted employees, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has published a special legal notice for nurses and support staff ordered by United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials to go on strike at St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo, Ohio.
Workers interested in returning to work should read the notice before doing so to learn their their rights and protect themselves against attempts by union officials to levy punitive fines against workers who return to work.
St. Vincent’s nurses and support personnel should know they have the following rights:
1) You have the right to resign your membership in the union. If you don’t support this union, you can send the union a letter resigning your membership. A sample letter can be found HERE.
2) You have the right to go to work even if the union bosses order a strike. Union officials can (and often do) levy onerous monetary fines against union members who work during a strike. So, you should seriously consider resigning your union membership BEFORE you return to work during a strike, which is the only way to avoid these ruinous union fines and discipline. See Union Discipline and Employee Rights.
Your resignation letter must be postmarked THE DAY BEFORE you return to work, or hand delivered BEFORE you actually return to work. A sample letter is HERE.
3) You have the right to revoke your dues checkoff and stop paying dues during the period when there is no collective bargaining agreement in effect. You must send a letter to St. Vincents and the UAW to accomplish this. A sample letter is HERE.
4) You have the right to sign and circulate decertification petitions to change your bargaining representative. Information on this option can be found here.
5) If the UAW union officials ever sign a new contract with St. Vincent, you have the right to become a “Beck objector” and pay only reduced financial core fees instead of full membership dues. If you become a Beck objector, you will not be forced to pay for the UAW unions’ far left political and social agenda. Information about this option is found here.
According to the latest disclosure, the UAW admits that approximately 25% of its dues are spent on often controversial politics that you cannot legally be forced to pay.
Read the complete legal notice for St. Vincent Hospital nurses and support staff here.
The notice is note the only special legal notice recently issued in response workers needing to protect themselves from UAW officials’ actions.
The Foundation also recently published a special legal notice for autoworkers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant informing them about their legal rights as UAW officials attempt to impose monopoly unionism on workers there. The special legal notice to Volkswagen employees, available in full here, summarizes these rights and notes that “workers not only have a right to learn information about the downsides of union affiliation, but also to share that information with their fellow team members”:
For example, UAW officials won’t want workers to learn about the many times UAW officials violated workers’ rights while enriching themselves, including in an ongoing federal corruption case that has already resulted in multiple top union officials going to jail. In fact, it the last ten years there have been 82 criminal enforcement actions against UAW officials by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Justice for conspiracy to defraud, embezzlement, theft, knowledge of a conspiracy, and/or receiving prohibited payments.
Partially as a result of those violations, over the last 10 years the UAW’s reported total liabilities have increased to $115,925,262 as of 2018. Such financial desperation has led the UAW to violate federal labor law and Michigan’s Right to Work law, such as when it was caught red-handed forcing represented employees in Michigan, a Right to Work state like Tennessee, to pay dues against their will.
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Get the facts before you sign your name on any UAW petition or decide to vote for the UAW officials in an election. Union officials cannot legally infringe on your rights to hear and disseminate information critical of the union and union officials.
You have the legal right to refrain from signing a union authorization card or voting for the UAW. You also have the legal right to rescind a union authorization card after it has been signed. Whether you wish to sign a union authorization card or vote for the UAW is completely up to you. It is unlawful for an employer or a union to threaten or coerce any employee in the exercise of these rights.
Workers can learn about their specific legal rights during a strike based on their industry by visiting the Foundation’s webpage: “What if I want to continue working during a strike?”
Call the National Right to Work Foundation at 800-336-3600 if you want to discuss your legal rights, or to request legal assistance. You can also use our free legal request form: https://www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid
