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.

In North Carolina, it is a serious offense for a business or nonprofit organization to publicly reveal someone’s name in combination with his or her social security number. Per the North Carolina Identity Theft Protection Act (ITPA), exposing any person to identity theft in this way carries a fine of up to $5,000 per violation.

In June 2008, AT&T employee Jason Fisher and 15 other employees, represented by Foundation attorneys, filed a lawsuit against Local 3602 and its parent unions in state court.

In an unprecedented decision, both the trial court and the state court of appeals went out of their way to exempt union bosses from North Carolina’s identity theft law. Both courts adopted an argument that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) preempts the ITPA, and consequently union bosses may not be punished by state authorities for exposing the workers’ private information to the public.

The case has now been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where Foundation staff attorneys argue that the NLRA does not preempt the ITPA.

“If the U.S. Supreme Court does not overturn the lower courts’ rulings, workers in North Carolina who exercise their right to refrain from union affiliation will be susceptible to this ugly type of union boss retaliation,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “The Court’s inaction would also make a mockery of federal labor law, which purports to ‘protect’ workers but really protects union boss intimidation, and could be used to overturn state laws protecting workers across the country.”

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).

Foundation attorneys disassemble the union lawyers’ arguments for new precedent that would establish teaching assistants and other graduate students as employees of a university, because grades are the central form of compensation for graduate students who are paid to teach, research, or perform temporary work. Foundation attorneys further question whether grades would ultimately become a mandatory subject of monopoly bargaining if paid graduate students were treated as employees for purposes of unionization.

“While the UAW may have Marxist dreams that students are ‘workers’ (as opposed to students), who will be in the vanguard of an economic revolution when the workers of the world unite, the fact remains that graduate students are students and not employees, and have little commonality of interest with most employees,” the Foundation pointed out in its brief.

Foundation attorneys also argue that allowing union officials monopoly bargaining power over all teaching assistants would violate the First Amendment freedom of association rights of dissenting teaching assistants, thereby undermining academic freedom.

Earlier this month, Foundation staff attorneys filed a similar 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.

“Union officials’ repeated ham-handed attempts to corral graduate students and university professors into unwanted union affiliation and force them to pay dues for unwanted ‘representation’ can only be explained as that Big Labor sees the Board’s current makeup favorable to forced unionism,” stated Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This case shows that union officials will stop at nothing to collect forced dues from anyone possible, even unsuspecting graduate students.”

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.

The hearing is focused on the recent actions of President Barack Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which has issued many decisions undermining worker protections.

For example, in 2011, the Board struck down Foundation-won precedent giving workers a chance to request a secret-ballot election after their workplace is unionized by a coercive “card check” organizing campaign. The Board also recently has issued several decisions making it easier for unions to push employees into unionization.

Committee members have sponsored legislation such as the Secret Ballot Protection Act and the RAISE Act to roll back some of the Board’s destructive decisions.

“Because the Obama Board’s current makeup is favorable to forced unionism, Big Labor is having a field day,” stated Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The National Right to Work Foundation stands poised to help America’s workers in the face of this out of control federal agency.”

Update: A transcript of Messenger’s testimony can be viewed here (pdf).

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.

Because Oregon does not have Right to Work protections making union affiliation completely voluntary, Harmon is still forced to pay part of forced union dues to keep his job.

Despite Harmon’s resignation, Local 206 union officials continued to confiscate full union dues from his paychecks, failed to inform workers of their right to refrain from formal union membership, and failed to provide a legally-required independently-audited breakdown of union expenditures informing workers of what union dues and fees they can be forced to pay.

In September 2011, Harmon forced a settlement of his unfair labor practice charge with Local 206 union officials. However, union officials continued to refuse to provide an adequate audited breakdown of local and other affiliate union expenditures. Harmon filed another charge in late December.

A hearing is scheduled for October 2.

“For years, Teamster union officials have been keeping workers in the dark about their rights in order to keep their forced dues gravy train going,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Local 206 union officials’ actions have made a mockery of federal labor law and once again underscore the need for Oregon to pass state Right to Work protections for its workers.”

Chicago, Illinois (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.

The workers’ two cases, Richards, Yost, & Echegaray v. Steelworkers and Lugo v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, were consolidated for hearing before the appeals court. The NLRB found in both cases that union bosses illegally forced workers who exercise their right to refrain from formal union membership to "annually renew" their objections to paying full union dues.

But in both cases, the NLRB – filled with President Barack Obama’s legally-suspect appointments – only applied their ruling prospectively to the workers involved in the cases and not retroactively to all workers who have objected in the past to paying full union dues to the respective unions.

Foundation staff attorneys appealed the Board’s decisions to apply its remedy only prospectively, and also challenged Obama’s unprecedented move to install three members on the NLRB as "recess appointees" in January despite the fact that the U.S. Senate was not then in recess.

Foundation staff attorneys argue that the appointments are unconstitutional and, therefore, the Board lacks the quorum necessary to hear any cases. If Obama’s NLRB appointments are unconstitutional, then the Board has only two valid members and lacks a quorum to enact rules or enforce federal labor law under a U.S. Supreme Court precedent established in 2010.

The worker’s cases are among the first in the nation to reach the appellate courts with this issue, and will help set the standard for all further challenges.

"Barack Obama’s so-called recess appointments to the Labor Board clearly violate the U.S. Constitution," said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. "Because the Board does not have a legitimate quorum, it must cease handing down rulings in Foundation-supported cases until a legitimate quorum is established."

Chicago, IL (August 1, 2012) – A State Street Macy’s Walnut Room restaurant worker has filed a federal charge against a local union for intimidating her and violating her rights.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Kathi Szkolny filed the federal charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board, Workers United Local 2745 union on Monday.

Workers United Local 2745 union officials illegally misinformed workers that they must pay full union dues to keep their jobs. Union officials refused to inform workers of their right under Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck to refrain from full dues paying union membership.

In Beck, the Court held that workers who refrain from union membership cannot be forced to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as politics and political lobbying. Additionally, union officials are required to provide audited financial disclosure of union expenditures to inform workers who refrain from union membership of how their forced dues are being spent.

Despite the union bosses’ misinformation, Szkolny exercised her right to refrain from formal union membership. However, because Illinois does not have Right to Work protections making union affiliation completely voluntary, she is still forced to pay part of forced union dues to keep her job.

Union officials have refused to provide the adequate disclosure to ensure that nonmember restaurant workers are fully aware of the amount of forced union fees the union hierarchy can legally confiscate from their paychecks.

Instead, union officials are demanding that Szkolny pay nearly $1,000 in full union dues by August 1 or be fired from her job.

“Workers United Local 2745 union officials are intimidating workers and keeping workers in the dark about their rights in order to keep their forced-dues gravy train going,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Illinois desperately needs a Right to Work law to protect workers from unscrupulous union bosses.”

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.

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

Union officials continue to deduct full union dues from the officer’s paychecks as if he is a union member. After Lamberty sent a letter requesting that union officials acknowledge his rights and provide him with the financial breakdown of the union’s expenditures, union bosses refunded only three months of the illegally-taken money and promised to provide the required disclosure documents.

To date, union officials refuse to return the rest of the illegally-taken union dues to the trooper, provide him with a breakdown of union expenditures and give him an opportunity to challenge the forced union fees before an independent third party.

Lamberty seeks refunds of the amount of forced union dues payments illegally taken from his paychecks and to enjoin future collection of any dues until union officials comply with the requirements the Supreme Court established in Hudson.

“Again and again union officials keep rank-and-file workers in the dark to keep their forced-dues gravy train going,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “To prevent these types of forced unionism abuses in the future, Connecticut needs to pass a Right to Work law making union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary for all of its workers.”

Twenty-three states have Right to Work protections for workers. Recent public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans and union members support the Right to Work principle of voluntary unionism.

Orange, CA (August 3, 2012) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Chapman Medical Center workers have won federal settlements that will remove unwanted Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers West officials’ representation from their workplace.

Chapman management and SEIU officials have signed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) settlements after Marlene Felter of Costa Mesa filed charges with the agency in response to SEIU organizers colluding with Chapman management to illegally rig a union organizing “vote” to pave the way for the union to claim to “represent” the workers. Under the settlements, SEIU must give up its “exclusive representation” and Chapman will publicly withdraw recognition of the union.

SEIU and hospital officials entered into a backroom deal, known as a so-called “neutrality agreement,” in which hospital management granted union operatives access to company facilities to conduct a coercive “card check” organizing campaign, and waived the right to have a federally-supervised secret ballot election to determine whether employees wished to be unionized. Union organizers frequently use “card check” organizing tactics to bribe, browbeat, or cajole workers into union representation and forced-union-dues payments against their will.

In response to the union’s coercive tactics, a majority of hospital workers signed cards, letters, and petitions stating that they did not want the SEIU bosses’ so-called “representation.” Instead of respecting the employees’ wishes, Chapman management accepted SEIU officials as the workers’ monopoly bargaining agents after a rigged “card count” was held. Chapman and SEIU officials were in the process of negotiating a contract which almost certainly would include a provision to force the workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment, because California does not have a Right to Work law that makes union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary.

The NLRB Regional Office subpoenaed records from SEIU and found that SEIU union bosses illegally claimed to represent the Chapman workers without majority support.

“Chapman and SEIU officials colluded to shove SEIU union bosses’ ‘representation’ – and with it forced dues payments – down workers’ throats,” said Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work. “Schemes like this show that the ultimate goal of union officials is more forced dues collected from workers, even when rank-and-file employees want nothing to do with the union. This further makes the case that California desperately needs a Right to Work law on the books making union affiliation completely voluntary.”

Federal Settlement Will Force SEIU to Leave Local Hospital Workers Alone

Union organizers conspired to force healthcare workers into union ranks using coercive “card check” tactics

Orange, CA (August 3, 2012) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Chapman Medical Center workers have won federal settlements that will remove unwanted Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers West officials’ representation from their workplace.

Chapman management and SEIU officials have signed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) settlements after Marlene Felter of Costa Mesa filed charges with the agency in response to SEIU organizers colluding with Chapman management to illegally rig a union organizing “vote” to pave the way for the union to claim to “represent” the workers. Under the settlements, SEIU must give up its “exclusive representation” and Chapman will publicly withdraw recognition of the union.

Click here to read the full release.

Worker Advocate Challenges Obama Recess Appointments in Federal Court

Attorneys argue purported recess appointments are invalid because Senate was not in actual recess

Washington, DC (August 13, 2012) – National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys filed a brief in the high-profile legal battle over President Barack Obama’s recent purported recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Foundation attorneys filed the amicus curiae brief on Monday in the case Center for Social Change, Inc. v. NLRB, pending now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Click here to read the full release.