Public Employee Union Faces Federal Lawsuit for Illegal Forced Dues Scheme

Right to Work Foundation attorneys challenge union hierarchy for violating employee’s constitutional rights

San Francisco, CA (March 6, 2012) – An Alameda County East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) employee has filed a federal lawsuit against a local union and the public agency for violating his rights.

James C. Hankins filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.

Hankins resigned formal union membership from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 444 more than ten years ago.

However, in April 2011, AFSCME Local 444 and EBMUD officials began to deduct full union dues from Hawkins’s paycheck as if he was a full union member.

Read the entire press release here.

Alaska State Troopers Seek to Handcuff Government Union Forced-Dues Scheme

Right to Work Foundation attorneys challenge union hierarchy for violating employees’ constitutional rights

Anchorage, AK (March 8, 2012) – Two Alaska State Troopers have filed a federal lawsuit against a local union and the Department of Public Safety for violating their rights. Patrick Johnson and Robin Benning filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in Anchorage with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.

Both Johnson and Benning resigned from formal union membership in the Public Safety Employees Association (PSEA) union, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 803, in August 2011, and invoked their right to refrain from paying full union dues.

Read the entire release here.

SEIU Hit with Federal Charge for Sweeping Hospital Housekeeper’s Rights Under the Rug

Union officials ignore member’s repeated requests to resign

Kissimmee, FL (March 8, 2012) – An Osceola Regional Medical Center housekeeper has filed federal charges against a major healthcare union for repeatedly violating federal law by refusing to allow her to exercise her 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, Imaculada Camara of St. Cloud filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

On December 8, 2011, Camara 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 sent via registered mail. On December 28, Camara sent a second letter, which SEIU officials again rejected, this time for not being timely.

In both instances, the SEIU officials’ refusal to allow Camara to exercise her right to refrain from union membership clearly violates federal law because any worker has the right to resign from full-dues-paying union membership at any time and is not required to notify the union she is resigning via certified mail.

Read the entire release here.

Union Officials Challenging Indiana Right to Work Law Forced to Settle Union Dues Case

Refund of twelve hundred dollars highlights why Indiana needed Right to Work law that ends union boss forced dues powers

Indianapolis, IN (March 9, 2012) – The union headquartered in suburban Chicago, Illinois challenging Indiana’s newly-enacted Right to Work law in federal court has been forced to refund money illegally taken from workers’ paychecks as part of a settlement.

The National Right to Work Foundation provided free legal assistance to Valparaiso-area Minteq International employees Joel Tibbetts and Adam Hill in the prolonged legal battle dating back to 2007.

The Minteq employees’ workplace is unionized by the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 union hierarchy. Both workers have refrained from union membership but still must accept IUOE Local 150 union officials’ so-called “representation” and are required to pay dues to the union to keep their jobs, until their current contract expires, after which they will be freed from that requirement by Indiana’s new Right to Work law.

Read the entire release here.

Employee from Non-Profit Public Defense Firm Defends Her Rights from SEIU Union Hierarchy

Seattle-area case highlights need for state Right to Work law

Seattle, WA (March 20, 2012) – An employee at a private, non-profit public defense law firm has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against a Seattle-area union for violating her rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, Society of Counsel Representing Accused Persons employee Stephanie Kalfayan filed the charges Friday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Seattle.

Kalfayan resigned from formal union membership in Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 925 and invoked her right to refrain from paying full union dues. However, because SEIU Local 925 officials enjoy monopoly bargaining privileges over her workplace, and because Washington does not have state Right to Work protections for its workers, Kalfayan is forced to accept SEIU officials’ “representation” and pay union fees as a condition of employment.

Read the entire release here.

Hospital Union Officials Face Federal Charges for Disclosure Malpractice

Union officials take over a hundred dollars in forced union fees from nurse’s paycheck without proper disclosure

Pleasanton, California (March 23, 2012) – A Kaiser Pleasanton Clinic nurse has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against a local union for violating her rights.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Donna Von der Lieth of San Ramon filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Von der Lieth sent a letter to California Nurses Association (CNA) union officials resigning from formal union membership and invoked her right to refrain from paying full union dues in September 2011. However, because CNA union officials enjoy monopoly bargaining privileges over her workplace, and because California does not have state Right to Work protections for its workers, Von der Lieth is forced to accept CNA union officials’ “representation” and pay union fees as a condition of employment.

Read the entire release here.

IUOE Union Bosses Face Federal Charges for Nixing Union Financial Disclosure

Repeat union offender highlights why Indiana needed Right to Work law that ends forced dues powers

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.

Read the entire release here.

Hammond, IN (March 2, 2012) – In response to union bosses’ federal lawsuit against Indiana’s popular Right to Work law, a group of Indiana workers from across the state are filing an amicus brief 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.

Union officials publicly floated the idea of challenging Indiana’s Right to Work law before it was enacted. International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 headquartered in suburban Chicago, Illinois filed a federal lawsuit late last month 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 but are still forced to accept IUOE Local 150 union officials’ so-called “representation” and were required to pay dues to the union as a condition of employment before Indiana’s Right to Work law was enacted.

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.

Foundation attorneys have successfully defended state Right to Work laws in the past, including Oklahoma’s. The Foundation’s legal task force dedicated to defending Indiana’s Right to Work law has already examined the union lawyers’ lines of attack against the law and determined that the law is on sound legal ground. A Foundation attorney will attend the injunction hearing on Monday in Hammond.

“Union bosses want to undo what thousands of Hoosier citizens have worked hard to achieve over the past decade,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Because union partisans cannot win the hearts and minds of Indiana’s workers and voters, they seek to have the courts strike down Indiana’s popular Right to Work law for them.”

In addition to defending the Right to Work law from spurious union legal challenges, Foundation staff attorneys are giving free legal aid to employees seeking to exercise their newfound Right to Work. Information about Indiana’s Right to Work law, including how Indiana employees can exercise their Right to Work can be found on the Foundation’s website: www.nrtw.org.

Madison, WI (March 6, 2012) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a Wisconsin public school teacher filed an amicus curiae brief in state court yesterday supporting Governor Walker’s public sector union reform bill. The recently-enacted legislation ensures that most Wisconsin public employees do not have to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment and bans automatic union dues deductions from public employees’ paychecks.

Eli Grajkowski, a veteran Wisconsin educator, filed the brief today in Dane County Circuit Court in response to a union legal challenge by the Public Employees Local 61 union and Madison Teachers, Inc., a local affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA) union.

In the brief, Grajkowski asks the judge to uphold the legislation as constitutional and deny the unions’ request to suspend the law. Grajkowski’s arguments rely on the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Davenport v. WEA, in which the Court unanimously held that union bosses enjoy an “extraordinary power” to force workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment, but have no constitutional right to use government resources to deduct union dues or fees from workers’ paychecks.

Meanwhile, three additional Wisconsin civil servants –Kristi Lacroix, Nathan Berish, and Ricardo Cruz – continue to defend Walker’s reforms from a federal court challenge to the recently-enacted legislation. Two other public servants – Christopher King and Carie Kendrick – have also filed an amicus brief opposing a third union legal challenge to the legislation in another federal court.

“Once again, courageous Wisconsin public servants who want nothing to do with union bosses’ so-called ‘representation’ have stepped forward to protect these vital reforms,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “No worker should be forced to pay union dues just to get or keep a job, which is why Wisconsin should pass full Right to Work law, ensuring that all Badger State employees are free of forced unionism.”

San Francisco, CA (March 6, 2012) – An Alameda County East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) employee has filed a federal lawsuit against a local union and the public agency for violating his rights.

James C. Hankins filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.

Hankins resigned formal union membership from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 444 more than ten years ago.

However, in April 2011, AFSCME Local 444 and EBMUD officials began to deduct full union dues from Hawkins’s paycheck as if he was a full union member.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Foundation’s Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson (1986) case that union officials can collect some union fees as a condition of employment, but they must first provide public workers with an independently-audited financial breakdown of all forced-dues union expenditures and the opportunity to object to and challenge the amount of forced union dues or fees before an impartial decision maker. This minimal safeguard at least ensures that workers have an opportunity to refrain from paying for union boss political activities and union member-only events.

AFSCME Local 444 union officials have refused to provide such a breakdown and have not given workers an opportunity to opt out of paying full union dues. The EBMUD is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit for its complicity in the confiscation of full forced dues from Hankins’s paycheck.

Hankins seeks refunds of the amount of forced union dues payments illegally taken from his paychecks and to enjoin future collection until AFSCME union officials comply with Hudson.

"AFSCME Local 444 union bosses are deliberately keeping rank-and-file workers in the dark to keep their forced-dues gravy train going," said Patrick Semmens, National Right to Work Foundation legal information director. "To prevent these types of forced unionism abuses, California needs a Right to Work law making union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary."