Worker Slaps Construction Union Bosses with Federal Charge for Job Discrimination
Worker Slaps Construction Union Bosses with Federal Charge for Job Discrimination
Electrical worker union officials obstruct worker from getting work
Chicago, IL (July 19, 2012) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a nonunion Chicago-area construction worker has filed a federal charge against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and two of its local affiliate unions for discriminating against him on account of his union membership status.
Construction worker John Lugo filed the charge against the IBEW Local 697 and IBEW Local 601 unions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Monday.
Because IBEW union bosses claim monopoly bargaining privileges over all the workers in his workplaces, Lugo, who refrains from formal union membership, is still forced to accept union officials’ so-called “representation” and go through the union’s hiring halls to find employment.
Federal labor law provides that union bosses must “fairly represent” workers, including those who have exercised their right to refrain from union membership, if union bosses claim exclusive representational powers over the workers.
AT&T Workers Petition U.S. Supreme Court to Overturn Union Exemption from Identity Theft Laws
AT&T Workers Petition U.S. Supreme Court to Overturn Union Exemption from Identity Theft Laws
Judge ruled that North Carolina identity protections don’t apply to union bosses who retaliated against nonmembers by publicly posting social security numbers
Washington, DC (July 19, 2012) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a group of 13 North Carolina-based AT&T (NYSE: T) employees is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review an identity theft case involving federal preemption.
In the fall of 2007, Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3602 union president John Glenn maliciously posted the names and social security numbers of 33 AT&T employees on a publicly accessible bulletin board at the company’s facility in Burlington, N.C.
All the employees whose names and personal information were posted in a hallway close to the building entrance, accessible to employees and nonemployees alike, had exercised their freedom under the state’s Right to Work law to resign from CWA union membership and cease paying union dues.
Worker Advocate Asks Federal Labor Board to Uphold Precedent Disallowing Forced Unionization of Grad Students
Worker Advocate Asks Federal Labor Board to Uphold Precedent Disallowing Forced Unionization of Grad Students
Foundation files brief supporting university teaching assistants’ and graduate students’ First Amendment freedom of association
Washington, DC (July 24, 2012) – The National Right to Work Foundation has filed a brief with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) asking the Board to uphold its own precedent that disallows union officials from corralling university graduate students into unwanted union affiliation.
Foundation staff attorneys filed the amicus curiae brief with the NLRB in a case involving United Autoworkers (UAW) union organizers’ attempts to unionize graduate students at New York University and the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and ultimately force them to pay union dues.
Foundation attorneys argue that universities do not fit the self-styled industrial model of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) – the federal law governing private-sector labor relations for non-managerial workers – a conclusion of the U.S. Supreme Court in NLRB v. Yeshiva University (1980).
Worker Advocate Testifies Before Congress Regarding Obama Big Labor Paybacks
Worker Advocate Testifies Before Congress Regarding Obama Big Labor Paybacks
Foundation staff attorney helps expose out of control Obama Labor Board
Washington, DC (July 25, 2012) – This morning, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorney William Messenger is testifying before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
The subcommittee, which is chaired by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), is holding the hearing entitled “Examining Proposals to Strengthen the National Labor Relations Act.” The hearing is located in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building and is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. EDT.
Update: A transcript of Messenger’s testimony can be viewed here (pdf).
Local Scofflaw Teamster Union Bosses Violate Federal Settlement, Worker’s Rights
Local Scofflaw Teamster Union Bosses Violate Federal Settlement, Worker’s Rights
Union bosses continually keep workers in dark about expenditures
Seattle, WA (July 26, 2012) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Sandy, Oregon, bus driver’s case before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken yet another dramatic turn.
On Monday, a NLRB Regional Director revoked a federal settlement reached between the agency and Teamsters Local 206 union officials after union officials made a mockery of federal labor law and repeatedly violated the settlement.
The legal challenge is part of an ongoing legal controversy involving the union and First Student bus driver Richard Harmon, who resigned from formal union membership in Teamsters Local 206 in January 2011.
Workers Challenge Obama NLRB “Recess Appointments” in Federal Appeals Court
Workers Challenge Obama NLRB “Recess Appointments” in Federal Appeals Court
Worker advocate argues Labor Board does not have legitimate quorum to hear pending cases because Congress was not in actual recess
Chicago, IL (July 30, 2012) – Four workers filed a brief today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago challenging President Barack Obama’s recent purported recess appointees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
David Yost and Ronald Echegaray of Morgantown, West Virginia, Doug Richards of Ligonier, Indiana, and John Lugo of Chicago, Illinois filed the brief with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
State Trooper Files Charge Against Connecticut State Police Union
State Trooper Files Charge Against Connecticut State Police Union
Union bosses violate Connecticut state police trooper’s rights
Hartford, CT (August 2, 2012) – A Connecticut state trooper has filed a state charge against a local union for violating his rights.
With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, state police trooper Marc Lamberty of Hartford County filed the charge with the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations.
In June 2011, Lamberty resigned from formal union membership in the Connecticut State Police Union and invoked his right to refrain from paying full union dues.
Worker Advocate Asks Federal Labor Board to Uphold Precedent Disallowing Forced Unionization of Professors
Washington, DC (July 11, 2012) – The National Right to Work Foundation filed an amicus curiae (‘friend of the court”) brief with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) asking the Board to uphold the U.S. Supreme Court’s long-standing precedent that disallows union officials from corralling most university professors into unwanted union affiliation.
Foundation staff attorneys filed the brief with the NLRB in a case involving Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh/Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 38061 union organizers’ attempt to unionize professors at Point Park University in Pittsburgh and ultimately force the professors to pay union dues.
In their brief, Foundation attorneys argue that universities do not fit the industrial model of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) – the federal law governing private-sector labor relations for non-managerial workers – a conclusion that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in NLRB v. Yeshiva University (1980). In Yeshiva, the Court reasoned that faculty members are endowed with “managerial status” at most universities and removed them from the scope of the NLRA.
In a previous ruling in the Park Point University case, the NLRB ignored the U.S. Supreme Court precedent and rubber-stamped the unionization of the university’s professors. Point Park University has refused to accept the Local 38061 as the professors’ monopoly bargaining agent, and the case is now pending before the Board again.
Foundation staff attorneys also argue in their amicus brief that allowing union officials monopoly bargaining power over all Point Park University professors would violate the freedom of speech rights of dissenting facility members, thereby undermining academic freedom. Forced unionization would also undermine many universities’ own institutional missions.
“Local 38061 officials’ strong-handed attempt to corral college professors into unwanted union affiliation and force them to pay dues for unwanted union ‘representation’ can only be explained as that the union bosses see the Board’s current makeup favorable to forced unionism,” stated Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “If they succeed, university professors nationwide could be susceptible to unwanted unionization and dues payments and forced to subsidize union boss political activity that runs contrary to universities’ and professors’ values.”
First Indiana Worker Invokes New Right to Work Law to Cut Off Dues to Teamster Union Bosses
Noblesville, IN (July 16, 2012) – Robert Symonds, a local trucker, has just become one of the first Indiana citizens to exercise his right to stop paying union dues under the new Indiana Right to Work law. Symonds received free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys while he was attempting to cut off further dues payments.
On May 17, 2012, the contract between Teamsters Local 135 and Symonds’ employer, Indianapolis Haulage, expired and a new contract was agreed to. Under Indiana’s Right to Work law, contracts entered into after the law went into effect on March 15, 2012 must respect employees’ rights to refrain from the payment of any union dues. Despite the fact that Symonds resigned his union membership and revoked his dues check-off, Teamster officials told him he wouldn’t be able to stop paying dues until November 2012.
Upon the advice of a Right to Work Foundation attorney, Symonds responded to this obstructionist tactic by sending a letter to his employer, requesting it comply with Indiana law and immediately stop deducting dues from his paychecks. On June 29, Teamster officials sent Symonds a letter indicating they would back down and honor his request to immediately stop deducting union dues.
Symonds’ experience reflects an opportunity thousands of Indiana workers will have in the coming months. Under Indiana’s Right to Work law, forced-dues contracts between unions and employers entered into prior to the legislation’s effective date are still in place throughout the state. As these contracts expire, Indiana workers who were forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment will now have the option to refrain from paying any dues at all.
“We’re happy to report that Robert Symonds has successfully stopped paying dues to a union he no longer belongs to,” said Patrick Semmens, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “You shouldn’t have to pay union dues to get or keep a job, which is why Indiana’s new Right to Work law is right for Hoosiers everywhere.”
Worker Slaps Construction Union Bosses with Federal Charge for Job Discrimination
Chicago, IL (July 19, 2012) – With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a nonunion Chicago-area construction worker has filed a federal charge against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and two of its local affiliate unions for discriminating against him on account of his union membership status.
Construction worker John Lugo filed the charge against the IBEW Local 697 and IBEW Local 601 unions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Monday.
Because IBEW union bosses claim monopoly bargaining privileges over all the workers in his workplaces, Lugo, who refrains from formal union membership, is still forced to accept union officials’ so-called “representation” and go through the union’s hiring halls to find employment.
Federal labor law provides that union bosses must “fairly represent” workers, including those who have exercised their right to refrain from union membership, if union bosses claim exclusive representational powers over the workers.
However, because Lugo exercised his right to refrain from formal union membership, IBEW union officials require him to jump through extra hoops to obtain employment through the union hiring hall. Even after Lugo completes the extra requirements, IBEW union officials actively obstruct him from obtaining work, making it difficult for Lugo to provide for himself and his family.
“If IBEW union bosses have a problem with treating fairly workers who refrain from union membership, then they should not claim exclusive representation over those workers,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “It is unconscionable that IBEW union officials would stand in the way of independent-minded workers providing for their families – especially in this tough economy.”
Lugo also received free legal assistance from Foundation staff attorneys after IBEW union bosses illegally forced workers to annually renew their objections to paying full union dues. Such schemes, designed to force workers into full-dues-paying union membership, are a clear violation of federal law. The NLRB determined the IBEW union’s annual requirement was unlawful last year.
