After Year-Long Effort, McDowell County Commission on Aging Employees Free Themselves From SEIU Union Bosses
Majority of employees signed petition demanding Commission stop bargaining with SEIU; success follows months of union stonewalling
Welch, WV (November 14, 2025) – Following an effort lasting more than a year, employees of senior homecare nonprofit McDowell County Commission on Aging have successfully freed themselves from the control of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 officials. Commission employee John Reeves spearheaded the union removal effort with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The success follows Reeves’ submission of a petition in which the majority of his fellow employees demanded that their employer stop recognizing the SEIU as their exclusive “representative.” Reeves submitted the petition to Commission management in late October. Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), an employer may not engage in bargaining with union officials that lack majority support in a workplace. Commission management announced on November 4 that they had withdrawn recognition from the SEIU union.
West Virginia is a Right to Work state, meaning that union officials cannot enforce contracts that require workers to pay dues or be fired. In contrast, in states like neighboring Pennsylvania and Ohio that lack Right to Work protections, union officials can mandate dues or fees as a condition of getting or keeping a job. However, in both Right to Work and non-Right to Work states, union bosses have exclusive representation power over every worker in a unionized workplace, even those who voted against or otherwise oppose the union.
SEIU Officials Used Litigation to Block Workers From Voting
The effort by Commission employees to oust SEIU union bosses started back in June 2024, when Reeves submitted a union decertification petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering votes to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions.
Commission management and SEIU chiefs agreed to the terms of a union decertification vote, which Reeves and his coworkers participated in on July 9, 2024. However, NLRB officials held up the ballot count, claiming that SEIU officials had unfair labor practice charges pending against Commission management.
After six months of delays, Commission officials and SEIU union bosses announced they had reached a settlement in the unfair labor practice case – but a provision of that settlement stipulated that they would “not entertain a new decertification for a…period of four months.” A regional NLRB official approved this settlement in its entirety, effectively tossing out Reeves’ and his coworkers’ ballots. Reeves urged the NLRB in Washington, DC, to reverse this decision, as the regional NLRB had never proven the alleged unfair labor practices, nor had the Commission admitted to them in the settlement.
As of November 2025, Reeves’ appeal was still pending, but he and his coworkers have now successfully removed the union through a different process.
“Mr. Reeves’ and his coworkers’ situation shows that, in practice, NLRB bureaucrats will frequently stifle workers’ rights simply to advance the interests of union officials or management,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “That is antithetical to the overarching purpose of federal labor law, which is to protect workers’ free choice, not protect incumbent union bosses’ power.
“Currently, the union decertification process is overly complex and prone to legal manipulation, delays, and derailment,” Mix added. “It is in dire need of reform, and both the NLRB and federal legislators have a role to play to prevent workers from being trapped under union so-called ‘representation’ opposed by a majority of employees.”
Legal Notice Informs AA Flight Attendants of Rights Regarding APFA Union Dues Increase & Termination Threats Over Dues
Special Legal Notice informs American Airlines flight attendants of their legal rights, offers legal aid to those threatened by APFA union officials over dues
Dallas, TX (November 13, 2025) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has released a special legal notice to tens of thousands of American Airlines flight attendants. The notice comes as officials of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) have reportedly increased dues by nearly 50% while also having multiple American Airlines flight attendants terminated for non-payment, and threatened others with termination if they didn’t pay thousands in union dues.
The full notice is available here: https://www.nrtw.org/AAunion/.
The Foundation’s legal notice informs flights attendants of their rights, including that union membership is not compulsory and that flight attendants have a right to pay reduced fees to the union. The notice suggests American Airlines employees who have been terminated for not paying union dues, or who are being threatened with such termination, reach out to the Foundation so that a Foundation attorney can evaluate their situation and advise them of their rights and options.
“The situation raises real concerns for employees who have had or could have their livelihoods upended solely for failing to bankroll APFA union bosses’ increasingly costly expenditures,” the legal notice reads. “That is why workers faced with threats for not paying union dues frequently contact the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to learn how to defend their rights and their livelihoods.”
The Foundation’s special legal notice highlights flight attendants’ right to resign their union membership, and provides guidance on best practices for doing so. Because flight attendants are subject to the Railway Labor Act, the notice also highlights their right to pay reduced union dues.
Finally, the notice provides helpful information for removing the union by using a decertification petition to obtain a National Mediation Board-administered secret ballot election.
Workers Can Receive Free Legal Aid and Avoid Illegal Union Retaliation
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is the nation’s premier organization exclusively dedicated to providing free legal assistance to employees victimized by forced-unionism abuse. The Foundation has a long history of defending workers against unlawful actions by union officials. Foundation staff attorneys have represented airline employees before, challenging union officials’ overreach and violations of workers’ constitutionally protected rights.
“We would like all American Airlines flight attendants to be aware of their federal labor rights and to know that the Foundation is a resource at their disposal to question and challenge the often misleading claims of union bosses who would like to keep workers in the dark,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Forcing employees to pay tribute to a union boss or else be fired is just plain wrong, and the Foundation stands ready to assist those currently being targeted by dues-hungry APFA union bosses.”
WV Millville Quarry Workers File Petition to Oust International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local DNCL Union Bosses
Majority of Harpers Ferry quarry workers support petition seeking end of union monopoly “representation”
Harpers Ferry, WV (November 10, 2025) – With the support of a majority of his coworkers, Holcim Millville Quarry employee Curtis Mills has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking a “decertification” election to end International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) Local DNCL union officials’ monopoly “representation” powers. The petition was filed with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
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.
Mills’ petition, which was signed by a majority of approximately 36 workers in the bargaining unit, is requesting that the NLRB hold a secret ballot election for all the drivers, loaders, maintenance, and laborers at the Millville Quarry Harpers Ferry, WV, facility to oust IBB Local DNCL union officials from their workplace.
“Many of us are not happy with the union and feel it is time for a change to reclaim our voices,” commented Mills. “Though the NLRB is currently closed, we hope they will open soon so we can exercise our right to vote out this unwanted union.”
West Virginia is one of the 26 states with a Right to Work law that guarantees workers cannot be fired for refusing to pay union dues or fees. However, even under Right to Work, union bosses can still impose monopoly bargaining control over all employees in a workplace, even those who are opposed to the union’s representation. A successful decertification would end the union’s monopoly bargaining powers.
The decertification petition is just the latest example in a long history of the Foundation defending the rights of West Virginia workers. For example, Foundation staff attorneys filed 10 briefs in a long-running, but ultimately unsuccessful, union boss lawsuit seeking to overturn West Virginia’s popular Right to Work law.
In the West Virginia Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in the case upholding the Right to Work law, the justices relied heavily upon the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision, which established that all public employees in America enjoy Right to Work protections under the First Amendment.
“Mills and his coworkers have filed a majority-backed petition to free themselves from union officials’ so-called ‘representation,’ but ejecting an unwanted union is often far harder than it should be,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Overly complex rules, including NLRB-invented ‘bars’ to decertification, contribute to the fact that a recent study found that just one in 20 employees has ever voted for the union that purports to represent them.
“The Foundation is proud to assist a growing number of workers seeking to throw off the chains of unions they oppose,” added Mix. “Ultimately, though, full worker freedom will only be accomplished when no worker anywhere can be forced under a union monopoly against their will.”
Breakthru Beverage Workers Across Florida Seek Vote to Oust Teamsters Union
Drivers in work unit spanning six cities sign petition asking federal labor board to hold union removal vote
Florida (November 6, 2025) – Across Florida, drivers for beverage distributor Breakthru Beverages are supporting a petition that asks the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a vote to remove Teamsters union officials from several distribution facilities. Breakthru driver Tim Zulinki submitted the petition to the NLRB with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering votes to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions in workplaces. Zulinki obtained signatures on his decertification petition well exceeding the necessary threshold to trigger a secret ballot election. Breakthru employs drivers at distribution centers in Jacksonville, Midway, Pensacola, Orlando, Fort Myers, and Tampa.
Florida is a Right to Work state, meaning Teamsters union officials cannot demand that Breakthru drivers pay union dues as a condition of getting or keeping a job. In states that lack Right to Work protections, union officials can have workers fired for refusal to pay dues or fees to a union. Though forced dues are prohibited in Florida and other Right to Work states, union officials can still impose their exclusive “representation” powers on every worker in a workplace, including those who oppose the union or voted against it.
Now the NLRB will examine the petition and should schedule an election quickly. If Zulinki and a majority of those participating in the decertification election vote against the Teamsters, hundreds of Breakthru drivers across the Sunshine State will be free from Teamsters union officials’ exclusive representation power.
Drivers Back Union Removal Effort After Months-Long Strike Ordered by Teamsters Bosses
In June, Teamsters union bosses ordered Breakthru drivers on strike. The strike order ended at the close of October, as union officials announced that they and Breakthru management had finalized a new contract. Zulinki submitted his decertification petition just before the contract became effective – which is crucial timing considering the NLRB’s non-statutory “contract bar” policy normally blocks workers from filing decertification petitions for up to three years after a contract is approved. The contract bar appears nowhere in the text of federal labor law, but is the invention of union boss-friendly NLRB decisions.
Teamsters union officials have a track record of supporting agendas that are opposed by the workers they claim to represent. During the 2024 election cycle, the union’s upper echelon chose not to endorse Donald Trump because he would not commit to eliminating Right to Work and granting forced dues power to union bosses nationwide. Nearly 80% of American union members back Right to Work.
National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have also seen a marked rise in requests from workers seeking legal assistance in Teamsters decertification cases.
“Sean O’Brien & Co.’s propaganda about the Teamsters union’s supposed ‘victory’ across Florida after the Breakthru strike is being contradicted by rank-and-file workers in real time,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Mr. Zulinki and his coworkers want freedom from the Teamsters hierarchy, which is increasingly proving to be radical and out-of-touch with what workers want.
“While Florida provides important protections for independent-minded workers through its Right to Work law, ultimately no worker should be subject to union monopoly bargaining control they disagree with,” Mix added.
National Right to Work Foundation Issues Notice to VW Chattanooga Employees Impacted By UAW Boss-Ordered Strike
Notice informs VW Team Members of their rights in light of a potential strike at Tennessee production plant
Chattanooga, TN (November 4, 2025) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has released a special legal notice to thousands of autoworkers at Volkswagen’s production plant in Chattanooga, TN. The notice comes as officials of the United Auto Workers (UAW) have just announced that they could order a strike at the facility at any time.
The full notice is available at https://www.nrtw.org/vw/.
The Foundation’s legal notice informs autoworkers of their rights that union officials often hide, including the right to continue working to support their families. The notice gives workers who want to return to work information on how to avoid fines and punishment that could be imposed by union officials. When union bosses call strikes, they will often fine workers who don’t abide by the strike. In many cases, the fines far exceed a day’s wage. The most foolproof way for workers to avoid union discipline is to resign their union membership before returning to work.
“The situation presents serious concerns for employees who believe there is much to lose from a union-ordered strike,” the legal notice reads. “That is why workers confronted with strike demands frequently contact the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to learn how they can avoid fines and union discipline for continuing to work during a strike to support themselves and their families.”
The Foundation’s special legal notice highlights workers’ right to resign union membership, and provides guidance on best practices for doing so. Because Tennessee enjoys right-to-work protections, the notice also highlights employees’ right to not pay union dues.
Finally, the notice provides helpful information for removing the union by using a decertification petition to obtain a secret ballot election. Such an NLRB-supervised election would be like ones previously held in 2014, 2019, and 2024 at the facility, and would give workers the opportunity to vote in private on UAW affiliation.
Workers Can Receive Free Legal Aid and Avoid Illegal Union Retaliation
The National Right to Work Foundation is the nation’s premier organization exclusively dedicated to providing free legal assistance to employees victimized by forced-unionism abuses. The full notice can be found at https://www.nrtw.org/vw/.
The Foundation has a long history of assisting workers in cases against the UAW. In fact, Foundation staff attorneys have helped workers at the VW production plant in Chattanooga before, challenging union organizers’ attempts to bypass a secret ballot election and impose the union through an unreliable and abuse-prone Card Check. Recently, Foundation attorneys successfully defended auto accessory manufacturing employees against illegal strike fine threats by UAW officials in Pennsylvania.
“Despite fearmongering, pressure tactics, and misleading statements from union officials, workers always have the right to continue to work during a strike, providing for their families,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “This legal notice reflects the Foundation’s longstanding commitment to helping independent-minded workers who want to exercise their rights, protecting them from union bosses’ coercive tactics that regularly go hand-in-hand with strike demands from union officials.”
CalPortland Fresno Ready Mix Drivers File Petition to End Teamsters Local 431 Union Boss “Representation”
Majority of workers back petition seeking to free themselves of Teamsters union officials
Fresno, CA (October 31, 2025) – Drivers of building materials company CalPortland’s Fresno Ready Mix Plant have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) requesting that the NLRB hold a “decertification” election to remove Teamsters Local 431 from their workplace. The drivers’ efforts are spearheaded by Darrell Dunlap Sr., who filed the petition with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act and adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual employees.
Dunlap Sr.’s petition is supported by the majority of his coworkers, who also seek a secret ballot election from the NLRB to vote out the Teamsters as the drivers’ monopoly bargaining “representative.”
“This workplace has been under Teamster union control for over 20 years, so we’ve seen union officials’ actions up close for many years,” commented Dunlap Sr. “As our majority-backed petition shows, based on our extensive experience with the Teamsters, we are confident we’ll be better off without a union.”
California is one of the 24 states that lack Right to Work protections, which allows Teamsters union bosses to impose union monopoly bargaining contracts that force employees to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. By contrast, in neighboring Right to Work states like Arizona and Nevada, union membership and union financial support are strictly voluntary.
Independent-minded workers across the United States have been leading efforts to decertify Teamsters union bosses. The Foundation has seen a marked rise in requests from workers seeking legal assistance in Teamsters decertification cases.
“The rank-and-file are the most familiar with the union officials in their workplaces, and this is just the latest of a growing number of employees who have decided to exercise their right to free themselves of unwanted so-called ‘representation,’” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Given Teamsters’ bosses’ intimidation tactics or worse, it is not surprising that the Teamsters are regularly the union that faces the most worker decertification drives.”
Puerto Rico Public Workers Defend First Amendment Right to Stop Union Dues Payments in Federal Court Arguments
Two arguments held this week at First Circuit Court of Appeals involve rights under landmark Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision
San Juan, PR (October 30, 2025) – Oral arguments for two lawsuits in which Puerto Rico public employees are defending their First Amendment rights under the Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision are taking place before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in San Juan this week. Both sets of workers are receiving free legal representation from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The Supreme Court recognized in the landmark Janus decision that all public sector workers have a First Amendment right to cut off dues payments to union officials. The Janus ruling further clarified that union officials cannot deduct union dues from any public sector worker’s paycheck unless he has affirmatively waived his First Amendment right not to pay. Foundation staff attorneys argued and won Janus in 2018.
Despite Janus’ clear standards, union officials have attempted to circumvent the decision in a number of ways, necessitating further Foundation legal action.
PRASA Employee Fights Blatantly Illegal Forced-Dues Statute
The first Foundation case, Cruz v. UIA, which the First Circuit heard Wednesday, involves Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) employee Reynaldo Cruz’s attempt to reclaim union dues money that officials of the Authentic Independent Union of Water and Sewer Authority Employees (UIA) took in violation of the First Amendment. Cruz’s lawsuit challenged both union bosses’ demands that he pay union dues or lose his job, as well as the Puerto Rico territorial laws that greenlight such unconstitutional demands.
As opposed to resolving the legal claims in his case, the Puerto Rico District Court confusingly ruled Cruz’s case “moot” after UIA union officials remitted his illegally-seized dues money to the Clerk of the District Court. Cruz has still not received his money, and argues that his Janus rights will not be vindicated until a judgment is entered in his favor.
UPR Workers Seek to Vindicate Years of Illegal Dues Deductions
The second Foundation case, which the First Circuit is slated to hear Friday (Ramos v. Delgado), is a challenge from University of Puerto Rico (UPR) maintenance employees Jose Ramos, Antonio Mendez, Jose Cotto, and Igneris Perez. They argue that union officials seized union dues from their paychecks for years both in violation of Janus and other legal protections that predate Janus.
Ramos and the other plaintiffs contend that union officials never sought their consent properly for dues deductions both before and after the Janus decision, and that they should receive refunds of all dues taken unlawfully within the 15-year statute of limitations.
“Janus laid out the very simple principle that public sector workers – not union bosses – should be in charge of deciding whether a union has earned their financial support,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Despite Janus’ clear constitutional command, union bosses and legislators still try to skirt it, and courts still allow obvious violations to go unpunished. In Mr. Cruz’s case, the District Court refused to even examine a Puerto Rico statute that authorizes illegal forced-dues language in public sector union contracts.
“All public sector workers deserve the free choice that Janus secures, and Foundation attorneys will continue to back them in their court battles for freedom,” Mix added.
Johns Hopkins Ph.D. Student Slams UE Union With Federal Charges for Demanding She Divulge Private Info
Union demanded student be discharged even though nothing in union contract or federal law requires students to give up such info
Baltimore, MD (October 24, 2025) – Andrea Ori, a molecular biophysics Ph.D. candidate at Johns Hopkins, has filed federal charges against United Electrical (UE) union officials at the university. She maintains that UE union bosses demanded her ouster from the academic program because she refused to turn over confidential financial records protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Ori filed her charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and adjudicating disputes between union officials, employers, and employees that arise under the statute. Even though the NLRA doesn’t include graduate students in its definition of “employees,” Obama NLRB appointees ruled in the controversial 2016 Columbia University decision that the NLRA allows union officials to gain monopoly bargaining power over graduate students at private universities, like Johns Hopkins.
Furthermore, Maryland is a state that lacks Right to Work protections, meaning union officials have the government-granted power to force those under their bargaining control to pay union dues or fees as a condition of getting or keeping a job.
At private universities in non-Right to Work states, union bosses can effectively end the graduate programs of students who refuse to pay union dues.
However, graduate students can opt out of dues payment for union political activities by invoking their rights under the Foundation-won Communications Workers of America vs. Beck SCOTUS decision. Federal antidiscrimination law also requires that union officials and university administrators provide religious accommodations for students who oppose union financial support on religious grounds.
Charges: Threatening Student With Termination for Guarding Confidential Financial Info is Illegal “Industrial Capital Punishment” Under Federal Law
Ori, who had successfully obtained a religious accommodation to union dues payment in 2024, now maintains in her charge that UE union officials ordered her for months to turn over pay stubs and other documents that contain private information. Her charges argue that union officials made these demands arbitrarily and in bad faith.
“Nothing in the [union contract], the Charging Party’s religious accommodation, or the NLRA required Charging Party to disclose this private financial information, which was also protected by FERPA,” Ori’s charges say. FERPA generally requires student or parental consent before educational institutions can disclose identifying information to third parties, like unions. Union officials have no right to receive students’ private information.
Even though these demands have no basis, the charges say, UE union bosses are still trying to upend Ori’s academic career. “After months of threatening Charging Party and harassing her to produce these unnecessary and private financial documents containing personal information, the [UE] formally demanded that the University discharge Charging Party,” the charges say. Ori’s attorneys are arguing that the NLRB should consider the union’s wrongful discharge request a form of industrial capital punishment.
“Ms. Ori’s case is just the latest Foundation legal action to show why giving union bosses power over graduate students was never a good idea,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Union officials, who are often radical political operatives, have threatened academic freedom from coast-to-coast with their federally-enforced clout over university administrations. But, as Ms. Ori’s case shows, they are also threatening graduate students’ careers by acting as if they have a right to send them packing for not divulging their private information.
“Foundation attorneys stand ready to defend graduate students anywhere from these and other rights violations by union officials,” Mix added. “The obvious conflict between these union boss power grabs over graduate students and students’ statutory privacy rights under FERPA is yet another reminder that Congress never intended for such students to be subjected to monopoly unionism under the National Labor Relations Act.”
Heavy Equipment Operators File Federal Charges Against Operating Engineers Union for Illegal Retaliation
IUOE union officials unlawfully threatened “internal discipline” fines against workers who continued employment with nonunion contractor
Lawrenceville, GA (October 21, 2025) – A group of construction industry employees of Dennis Taylor & Co. have filed federal charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 926 alleging IUOE union officials subjected them to illegal post-resignation discipline after the employees legally resigned their union memberships.
The workers’ charges were filed at the NLRB with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act and adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual employees.
The employees, Michael Mitchem, Billy Johnson, David Johnson, and Chris Oaks resigned their IUOE memberships months or years ago. Despite this, union officials are threatening the workers with fines, apparently for working at Dennis Taylor & Co., which once was part of a “hiring hall” arrangement with IUOE, but no longer is.
The resignations came after Dennis Taylor & Co. removed itself from an arrangement to hire employees through an IUOE union boss-controlled hiring hall. In theory, both union members and nonmembers can utilize union-run hiring halls to find employment with employers that have decided to utilize the hiring hall to fill openings. However there is a long history of union officials using hiring halls to discriminate against nonmembers and coerce workers into formal union membership in order to attain employment.
The charges filed by Michael Mitchem, Billy Johnson, and Chris Oaks each state that even before formally resigning from the union, the employees were never voluntary union members, as they had been misled into believing that union membership was mandatory. Though union officials frequently mislead workers into believing that formal union membership is required, the problem is especially prevalent when employment involves union hiring halls.
Under longstanding law, only fully voluntary union members can be subjected to internal union discipline, which often involves fines levied against workers at odds with union boss demands. Workers cannot face discipline for actions that occur after a worker has resigned from such voluntary union membership.
“Contrary to the apparent wishes of IUOE Local 926 union bosses, formal union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment, a precedent in place since the early 1960s,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It is outrageous that IUOE union officials are attempting to barge back into the lives of these workers years after they’ve legally exercised their rights, and are now illegally threatening them with fines simply for working to provide for themselves and their families.”
Starbucks Baristas File Brief Urging Supreme Court to Allow President to Remove Rogue Agency Officers
National Right to Work Foundation-backed federal case for Starbucks employees was first federal case to argue that NLRB officials can’t be shielded from the President’s oversight
Washington, DC (October 20, 2025) – Two Starbucks employees represented by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation have filed an amicus brief at the United States Supreme Court in the case Trump v. Slaughter. The brief argues that restrictions on the President’s authority to fire members of executive bodies, such as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), are unconstitutional, violating the separation of powers.
The amicus brief was filed on behalf of Ariana Cortes and Logan Karam, two New York Starbucks employees who challenged the constitutionality of the structure of the NLRB in a separate federal court case with the assistance of Foundation staff attorneys.
Since 2023, Foundation staff attorneys have pioneered the legal argument that the NLRB’s structure is unconstitutional because it places restrictions on the President’s authority to fire the NLRB’s members, despite it being part of the executive branch of government. This disconnect exemplifies the problem of federal bureaucrats operating as an unaccountable, “headless fourth branch,” something clearly at odds with the government’s constitutional structure.
Now, the Trump Administration is using this same argument as a justification to fire members of the FTC. Rebecca Slaughter, a Biden appointee to the FTC, has sued to be reinstated, and the case is now before the Supreme Court. The Foundation-backed amicus brief argues that as the Court considers the FTC, it must keep in mind that other so-called “independent agencies” that wield executive power, such as the NLRB, must be subject to Presidential control and removal.
Supreme Court May Reverse Humphrey’s, Must Recognize Its Limitations
Trump v. Slaughter provides the Supreme Court an opportunity to reverse its decision in the 1935 case Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, in which the Court crafted an exception to the general rule that the President can remove principal officers at will under Article II of the U.S. Constitution. In theory, Humphrey’s exempted agencies that exercised “quasi-judicial” or “quasi-legislative” power, but not those that exercise executive power.
But regardless of the Court’s reevaluation of the case, “the NLRB fails the Humphrey’s Executor test,” the brief argues.
“The NLRB is a policymaking body that enforces the [National Labor Relations Act] based on its legal conclusions, not scientific or technical judgments,” write Foundation staff attorneys. “[T]he Board does not exercise quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial authority. It exercises executive power in everything it does.”
The brief concludes with the Foundation’s legal argument that Humphrey’s “cannot neuter the President’s ability to supervise those who exercise substantial parts of [executive] power.” Therefore, the Supreme Court “should make clear that the President’s removal power applies to every agency that exercises executive power, including the NLRB.”
Clear Separation of Powers Would Support Workers’ Individual Rights
A proper understanding of the limitations of Humphrey’s when it comes to executive bodies like the NLRB would support workers like Cortes and Karam as they exercise their individual rights. Cortes and Karam are trying to exercise their right to remove local union bosses from their respective workplaces. But non-statutory policies enforced by the pro-Big Labor Biden NLRB have stymied their efforts. Success in this case could help ensure that Cortes and Karam receive a fair judgment from the NLRB in their cases.
“Unaccountable and biased NLRB bureaucrats have caused direct harm to independent-minded workers and their individual rights, and the Supreme Court should rightfully restore the proper separation of powers, including at the NLRB,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “We are proud that the very legal arguments made by Foundation attorneys are now being utilized by this administration to dismantle the unaccountable fourth branch of government and restore proper constitutional structure.”
