Right to Work Foundation Brief: 2018 Janus Decision Means Union “Release Time” Violates AZ Constitution’s Gift Clause
Brief supports challenge pending at Arizona Supreme Court against Phoenix’s scheme to subsidize inherently political union activities with tax dollars
Phoenix, AZ (December 14, 2023) – The National Right to Work Foundation has just filed an amicus brief in Mark Gilmore v. Kate Gallego, a case currently pending before the Arizona Supreme Court. In the case, Phoenix city employees Mark Gilmore and Mark Harder are suing Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego for engaging in a scheme that redirects taxpayer funds intended for public employees’ compensation toward political advocacy conducted by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Field II agents on so-called “release time.”
Specifically, the plaintiffs’ lawsuit argues the Arizona Constitution prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to fund four full-time positions for union officials for the purpose of conducting union business, in addition to a bank of over 3,000 paid hours to be used by other union officials for union purposes, and multiple other perks for union agents.
The Foundation’s brief argues that the release time scheme violates Arizona’s Gift Clause, which forbids government transactions that bestow benefits on private entities while serving no public purpose. The brief points out that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME case demonstrates that, under the First Amendment, all government union activities are a form of lobbying designed to influence public policy for the benefit of the union. That means taxpayer subsidies of such activities inherently violate the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause.
Brief: “Release Time” Funnels Tax Dollars Unconstitutionally to Union Bosses
The policies unions lobby for “often are matters of substantial public concern, such as how much money the government expends on wages and benefits,” the brief reads. “With its release time policy, the City is effectively paying individuals to lobby the City for a private advocacy organization and its members. The notion that this political advocacy serves a public purpose is untenable.”
In the Janus decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that forcing public sector workers to fund any union activities as a condition of employment constitutes forced political speech barred by the First Amendment.
The Foundation’s brief also deconstructs a proposition that the City of Phoenix’s ability to impose one-size-fits-all union contracts on entire swaths of employees somehow counts as a “public benefit” that the City receives in exchange for enforcing the release time scheme. Foundation attorneys instead argue that the municipal labor code already imposes this obligation on both the union and the City, and thus isn’t a benefit that union bosses are giving the City.
“Given the code already requires the City and AFSCME to impose uniform terms of employment on unit employees, union member and nonmember alike, it necessarily follows that the City did not need to provide AFSCME agents with release time to comply with its pre-existing legal obligations,” the brief contends.
“Union bosses, who will often screech about ‘corporate welfare,’ are more than happy to arrange so-called ‘release time’ schemes in which taxpayer dollars are funneled toward supporting their massive lobbying efforts,” stated National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Janus made it plain and simple that compelling public sector employees to fund union activities constitutes forced political speech, and the Arizona Supreme Court has an obligation to declare unlawful compulsion foisted on taxpayers.”
Brooklyn Electrical Workers Win Year-Long Legal Battle to Remove Unwanted Union from Workplace
After Horsepower Electric employees voted to remove IUJAT union, Labor Board refused to count ballots for months based on empty union charges of misconduct
New York, NY (January 10, 2024) – Following a year-long legal battle, Brooklyn-based Horsepower Electric employee Shloime Spira and his colleagues are finally free of unwanted IUJAT (International Union of Journeymen and Allied Trades) representation. IUJAT union officials worked with the NLRB to manipulate the legal process with unproven claims against Horsepower Electric management to avoid the results of the workers’ union decertification vote. However, union officials have now chosen to renounce their so-called “representation” of the unit instead of facing a likely losing vote tally.
Spira received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in defending his coworkers’ right under federal law to remove the union, both before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York. On December 31, 2023, IUJAT union officials’ “disclaimer of interest” became effective, and the union is no longer in the workplace. As a result, a federal case to demand the NLRB stop delaying the decertification effort has been voluntarily dismissed as moot.
“While my colleagues and I are pleased with this result, it’s simply ridiculous that the NLRB sat on our ballots for so long over union charges that were apparently meritless,” Spira commented. “The NLRB is supposed to protect employees’ right to choose whether or not they want a union, not delay that process indefinitely to maintain union officials’ power.”
NLRB Bureaucrats Sat On Case to Delay Counting Worker Votes, Necessitating Lawsuit
Spira first submitted a petition to the NLRB seeking an employee vote to remove the union in December 2022. Under NLRB rules, a petition requesting a union decertification vote must contain the signatures of at least 30 percent of the employees in a work unit to trigger a vote, a threshold which Spira’s petition met. The election took place in March 2023, but the NLRB ruled that the ballots could not be tallied because it had issued a complaint against Horsepower Electric based on allegations of employer misconduct (or “blocking charges”) filed by IUJAT union officials.
Union “blocking charges” contain claims of employer misconduct that are usually unverified and often have no connection to employees’ desire to vote out the union. NLRB officials inexplicably refused to hold a hearing or otherwise advance the “blocking charge” case for months, effectively using it as a pretense for delaying the vote count.
This delay meant Spira and his colleagues were trapped under the power of IUJAT union bosses without knowing the results of their vote. Because New York lacks Right to Work protections that make union affiliation and financial support strictly voluntary, IUJAT union bosses continued to collect forced dues from the workers, paid under threat of termination, while the vote count was indefinitely delayed.
No Witnesses Could Back Up Union’s Allegations Meant to Stymie Election
Pressure increased on the NLRB after the agency faced a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York alleging due process violations. To defend his and his coworkers’ right to have their votes counted, Spira joined Horsepower Electric’s suit in the District Court and also intervened in the NLRB case to challenge the “blocking charges.”
Faced with this threat of federal litigation, including a “show cause” order from the judge in the federal case against the NLRB, Board officials finally moved forward on the NLRB “blocking charge” case and scheduled a hearing to take place on December 5, 2023. This was nearly a year after Spira had requested the vote to remove the union.
Spira’s legal team traveled to New York to defend his rights against the union’s allegations in the NLRB case. Minutes before the hearing was scheduled to begin before an NLRB Administrative Law Judge, NLRB lawyers conceded they could produce no witnesses to testify in favor of the union’s charges against Horsepower Electric. Soon after, the NLRB formally dropped its complaint against Horsepower Electric, thus clearing the way for the ballots to be counted.
Finally, on December 12, 2023, IUJAT union officials issued a disclaimer of interest effectively announcing they were departing the workplace. This was presumably done to avoid a vote count the union figured it would lose. The NLRB case ended on January 2, 2024, and the District Court declared the federal case dismissed on January 5, 2024.
“That union officials were so easily able to manipulate NLRB processes to block Mr. Spira and his colleagues from exercising their basic right to choose whether they want union representation shows that the agency is desperately in need of reform,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It is outrageous that it took a federal court case to force the NLRB to admit that it had no evidence to back up union officials’ allegations that were being used to trap workers in a union they opposed.”
“Worker free choice is supposed to be the center of the National Labor Relations Act, but as this case shows, too often the Board has contorted the law into a shield to insulate union bosses from workers’ choices,” added Mix. “The Biden Labor Board is taking this bias to more and more extreme levels every day, granting union officials sweeping new powers to coerce workers into union ranks, while systematically undermining the rights of workers opposed to union affiliation.”
Support Staff at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children Vote to Eject AFSCME Union Officials
Large unit of over 270 medical assistants, office coordinators, and others will now be free of union control
Philadelphia, PA (December 20, 2023) – Support staff at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia have successfully voted American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union officials out of power at their facility. The victory follows hospital employee Shidiah Jackson’s submission of a petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which contained signatures from enough of her coworkers to trigger a union decertification vote under NLRB rules.
National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys provided Jackson with free legal advice during the decertification process. The approximately 277-person work unit contains medical assistants, office coordinators, medical secretaries, and many other support employees, and the tally of ballots showed nearly 60% of those participating in favor of ousting AFSCME. The vote occurred on November 30, and the NLRB certified the results of the election earlier this month.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, which includes administering elections to install or remove unions. Under NLRB rules, a union decertification petition must contain the signatures of at least 30% of the employees at a workplace to trigger a decertification election.
If a majority of workers vote against a union in a decertification vote, the union is removed from the workplace and loses its monopoly bargaining power. Such power permits union officials to dictate the contract provisions of all employees in a unit, even those who oppose or voted against the union.
Because Pennsylvania lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, AFSCME union bosses had the power to enter into contracts with hospital management that forced Jackson and her coworkers to pay union dues or fees just to keep their jobs. In contrast, in Right to Work states, union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.
Healthcare Employees Across the U.S. Reject Union Control
“AFSCME union officials were taking money from many employees’ paychecks but didn’t advocate effectively for me or my colleagues,” Jackson commented. “I’m glad that we were able to exercise our right to remove the AFSCME, and I think we will be able to serve the hospital’s medical staff and patients better with the union gone.”
In Minnesota, support staff at Mayo Clinic in Austin are currently seeking to boot Steelworkers union officials from their facility as well. Foundation staff attorneys earlier this month filed an NLRB union decertification petition for patient care specialist Erin Krulish, which contains signatures from a majority of other support staff at the clinic. Krulish’s effort is the latest in a string of Foundation-backed union decertification efforts in the Gopher State, with nurses and support staff at Mankato’s Mayo Clinic and St. James Mayo Clinic nurses all voting successfully to remove unions in 2022 alone.
“It seems that American medical employees are discovering that union officials’ one-size-fits-all ‘representation’ doesn’t always work to their benefit, nor does it help them take better care of their patients,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It’s easy to see why healthcare workers would want to avoid compulsory dues payments, or being ordered to strike and abandon their patients during a busy time.”
“Those in the healthcare industry should know that they have a right to petition the NLRB for a vote to remove a union, and that National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys can assist them through this daunting process,” Mix added.
Philadelphia Ultimo Coffee Workers Win Bid to Remove So-Called “Workers United” Union
Ultimo employees are third recent group of coffee shop workers in Philly to kick out an unwanted union, as Center City Starbucks workers await vote to remove SBWU
Philadelphia, PA (January 8, 2024) – Following Ultimo Coffee employee Samuel Tarasenko’s submission of a petition seeking an employee vote to remove the union, “Workers United” (WU) union officials filed paperwork announcing they will give up control of the Germantown-area coffee shop. Pending certification of the union’s disclaimer of interest, Tarasenko and his fellow Ultimo employees will be free of the control of the WU union.
Tarasenko’s petition, which he filed with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, contained signatures from a majority of employees at his workplace, more than enough to trigger a vote under NLRB rules. Because Pennsylvania lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, SBWU union bosses can compel Tarasenko and his coworkers to pay union dues as a condition of keeping their jobs. In Right to Work states, in contrast, union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.
However, in both Right to Work and non-Right to Work states, union officials in a unionized workplace are empowered by federal law to impose a union contract on all employees in a work unit, including those who oppose the union. A successful decertification vote strips union officials of that power. However, WU union officials, likely fearing a losing vote tally, disclaimed interest in the unit of Ultimo employees before a vote could occur.
Coffee Employees Across Philly and U.S. Seeking Freedom from Union Control
Tarasenko and his colleagues join Starbucks workers and other coffee employees across the country in banding together to vote out WU union officials, who have targeted coffee shops nationwide for unionization. This year, Starbucks employees in Manhattan, NY; two Buffalo, NY locations; Pittsburgh, PA; Bloomington, MN; Salt Lake City, UT; Greenville, SC; Oklahoma City, OK; and San Antonio, TX, have all sought free Foundation legal aid in filing or defending decertification petitions at the NLRB.
In Philadelphia, workers at Guava and Java’s location at Philadelphia International Airport successfully voted in May 2023 to oust UNITE HERE union officials, and a few months later Good Karma Café employees voted out WU union officials. Tarasenko and his colleagues are now the third recent group of Philadelphia coffee employees to successfully remove union representation with Foundation aid. Currently, workers from a Center City Starbucks are pursuing a decertification petition with Foundation legal assistance, also against the Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) union.
This growing wave of decertification attempts is occurring after WU union agents engaged in a multi-year, aggressive unionization campaign against Starbucks employees. As part of the campaign, WU (an affiliate of the large Service Employees International Union) spent over $2 million to target the coffee chain with paid union agents – including “salts” who obtained jobs at Starbucks locations with the covert mission of installing union power. After achieving this goal, many “salts” abandoned the stores.
Many workers targeted by this campaign are demanding decertification votes roughly one year after a WU union was installed at their store, which is the earliest possible opportunity afforded by federal law to do so.
WU Officials Using Legal Maneuvers to Stop Coffee Employees from Removing Union
Unfortunately, union officials have many ways to manipulate federal labor law to prevent workers from voting them out, including by filing unverified charges. Currently, WU union officials are attempting to block Starbucks workers nationwide (including at the Center City Starbucks in Philadelphia) from exercising their right to decertify the union by filing charges against company management.
“While we’re happy that Mr. Tarasenko and his coworkers successfully sent the WU union packing, it’s unfortunate that many others in Philadelphia and across the country are unable to exercise this right due to union legal tactics,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “That WU union officials spent millions to extend their power over Starbucks and other coffee employees and are now stopping those same employees from exercising their rights indicates their campaign is about union power, not workers’ concerns.”
“Workers who encounter coercive maneuvers from WU union officials should contact Foundation attorneys for free legal aid in defending their free choice rights,” Mix added.
Austin Minnesota Mayo Clinic Support Staff Vote Overwhelmingly to End Forced Union Dues Requirement
49-17 Labor Board deauthorization vote comes as employees wait for window to hold vote to finally remove unwanted Steelworkers union boss “representation”
Austin, MN (December 19, 2022) – “We are so happy with the way the election turned out,” Mayo Clinic Austin patient care specialist Erin Krulish commented. “I think it really shows that all of us came together to show the union that we don’t want to keep paying them when they are doing nothing for us.”
A group of support employees at Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin, Minnesota, overwhelmingly voted to “deauthorize” United Steelworkers (USW) Local 11-00578 union in their workplace. The workers filed the deauthorization petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 18 with free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
Krulish filed the deauthorization petition for her coworkers who wanted to get rid of the so-called “union security clause” that authorizes USW union bosses to have clinic employees fired for refusing to financially support union activities. The request seeking the vote to end United Steelworkers union officials’ forced dues powers at Mayo Clinic Austin was signed by 49 of the 66 workers, well over the 30% required to trigger the NLRB-supervised election.
Minnesota is not a Right to Work state, meaning all workers in a unionized workplace can be required to pay dues or fees to a union as a condition of keeping their jobs. However, although winning such a vote can often be an uphill battle as independent workers have to take on professional forced-dues-funded union organizers, federal law does allow workers to hold deauthorization votes to end union officials’ legal authority to force workers to “pay up or be fired.”
The successful deauthorization vote at Mayo Clinic Austin comes as the workers wait for the opportunity to end USW officials so-called “representation” at the facility completely, a process known as decertification. “We plan to decertify come next December when our contract is up and we are ready for another fight!” Krulish said following the deauthorization victory.
Currently the non-statutory NLRB-invented “contract bar” doctrine blocks workers from holding a decertification vote to remove a union’s monopoly representation powers for up to three years when a union boss-imposed contract is in effect, consequently, a deauthorization vote, which isn’t limited by the contract bar was the employees’ only option. If the support staff at the Austin Mayo Clinic do decertify as they plan, they will join Minnesota nurses at Mayo Clinic Mankato and Mayo Clinic St. James in voting to oust union officials from their hospitals in just the six months.
Worker interest in removing unwanted unions is up nationwide. The NLRB’s own data show that, currently, a unionized private sector worker is more than twice as likely to be involved in a decertification effort as a nonunion worker is to be involved in a unionization campaign, with one analysis finding decertification petitions up 42% this year.
“We’re pleased Ms. Krulish and her coworkers are victorious in their effort to strip Steelworkers union bosses of their power to force workers to pay union dues or else be fired,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Ultimately, Minnesota needs a state Right to Work law to ensure that every individual worker has the freedom to decide whether or not to financially support a union, even those who can’t overcome the hurdles required to successfully navigate the complicated deauthorization process.”
“This case also shows why it is time to end the NLRB-concocted ‘contract bar’ that traps workers in union ranks they oppose for years at a time,” added Mix. “No worker anywhere should be forced under so-called union ‘representation’ they oppose.”
Penske Truck Leasing Workers Free of Unwelcome Union after Teamsters Sped Off to Avoid Vote
Employees who sought to end union ‘representation’ win a swift victory
BLOOMINGTON, IN (March 9, 2022) – Mechanics and customer service employees at Penske Truck Leasing in Bloomington, Indiana have won their effort to end Teamsters union control at their workplace. Rather than contest the workers’ decertification request in a secret ballot vote, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 135 officials have filed documents with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ending their monopoly bargaining power over all workers at the Penske Truck Leasing facility in Bloomington.
Penske Truck Leasing employee Steven Stuttle and his colleagues received free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in filing a petition for a vote to oust union officials. All but one Penske Truck Leasing employees in the bargaining unit signed the decertification petition, which was filed with the NLRB in February 2022.
“I never felt properly represented by our union. I prefer to have the ability to negotiate the value of my skills as an individual,” Stuttle remarked about the effort. “I very much appreciate the work done by National Right to Work, I could not have done it without them.”
Before an NLRB-supervised decertification election was scheduled, Teamsters officials issued a statement, disclaiming representation in an apparent attempt to spare themselves the embarrassment of an overwhelming vote by workers to reject the union’s so-called “representation.”
This is the latest in a recent series of successful worker efforts aided by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys. In just the past few weeks, Foundation staff attorneys aided Atlantic Aviation PNE, Inc. employees with filing their decertification petition and successfully defended Kansas City, Missouri hospital workers against an SEIU union attempt to overturn their vote to remove the union.
The Foundation has also fought to break down union boss-created legal barriers to unseating unwanted union officials. In 2020, following detailed formal comments submitted by Foundation attorneys, the NLRB adopted rules eviscerating union bosses’ ability to stop a decertification effort with “blocking charges,” i.e., accusations made against an employer that are often unverified and have no connection to workers’ desire to kick out unwanted union officials.
“Workers across the country are exercising their rights to remove unwanted unions and throwing off the yoke of coercive monopoly unionism,” remarked National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “No worker anywhere should be forced under the so-called ‘representation’ of a union they oppose, and Foundation staff attorneys stand ready to assist workers wanting to hold a decertification election to oust a union they oppose and believe they would be better off without.”
NJ, NY Sanitation Workers Vote Overwhelmingly to Flush Unwanted Teamsters Union
Mr. John Operations employees voted 30-10 to oust union officials from workplace in Labor Board decertification election
Newark, NJ (March 22, 2022) – Mr. John Operations employee David Keen and his coworkers have overwhelmingly voted to free themselves from unwanted union monopoly “representation.” After the employees filed a request for a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decertification election to end the union’s monopoly bargaining powers over workers at three locations of Mr. John Operations, a division of Russell Reid Waste Hauling and Disposal, the workers voted 30-10 to remove Teamsters Local 560.
Mr. Keen received free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys in filing the workers’ petition on January 14th for a vote to oust union officials. The petition was signed by a majority of employees who work for Mr. John Operations, which triggered an NLRB-supervised mail-ballot “decertification” election for workers at the company’s locations in Jackson, New Jersey, Depford, New Jersey and Lindenhurst, New York.
Ballots were sent to workers on February 15, with ballots due back to the NLRB Region 22 based in Newark by March 8. The NLRB tallied the votes on March 21 and determined that a strong majority opposed Teamsters union officials’ so-called “representation.”
Three ballots were challenged during the NLRB count. However, those are not enough to impact the result. When the results are officially certified, Teamsters union officials will formally be stripped of their power to impose monopoly union “representation” on workers in the three workplaces.
“We had our fingers crossed and are finally glad to be free from Teamsters union,” Mr. Keen said. “This victory couldn’t have been done without the support of our attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation.”
This is the latest in a series of successful worker efforts to oust unwanted union officials aided by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys. In just the past few weeks, Foundation staff attorneys aided Penske Truck Leasing employees in Bloomington, Indiana, with filing their decertification petition, after which the union walked away; and they successfully defended Kansas City, Missouri hospital workers against an SEIU union attempt to overturn their vote to remove the union in their hospital.
The Foundation has also fought to break down union boss-created legal barriers to unseating unwanted union officials. In 2020, following detailed formal comments submitted by Foundation attorneys, the NLRB adopted rules eviscerating union bosses’ ability to stop a decertification effort with “blocking charges,” i.e., accusations made against an employer that are often unverified and have no connection to workers’ desire to kick out unwanted union officials.
“The Foundation is pleased to have helped the workers at Mr. John’s exercise their right to dispose of a union they clearly want nothing to do with,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Foundation staff attorneys will continue to assist workers in challenging union boss monopoly power until the day when no worker in America is stuck in union ranks they oppose.”
L’Oréal Employee Hits Union with Federal Charges for Illegal Dues Deductions, Threats for Seeking to Oust Union
According to charge, union agent threatened: “The union is like a big mafia…something bad is going to happen to you”
Piscataway, NJ (December 6, 2023) – Piscataway L’Oréal USA employee Ana Maria Hoyos Lopez has slammed the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU/UFCW) Local 262 with federal charges, which assert that RWDSU made illegal threats against her for opposing the union. She filed the charges at Region 22 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
In September, Hoyos Lopez submitted a petition to the NLRB in which she and her coworkers requested a vote to remove the union (or “decertification vote”). She asserts in her charges that union agents targeted her as she was circulating the petition. In particular, Hoyos Lopez stated that a L’Oréal employee told her on September 6, 2023, that “the union is like a big mafia” and “something bad is going to happen to you if the union leaves.”
Hoyos Lopez’s charges also recount a September 22 union meeting in which union officials, including the RWDSU Local 262 President and shop steward, shouted her and other employees down after they brought up shortcomings in the union’s performance. The union officials demanded the pro-decertification employees leave the union’s meeting.
Even after Hoyos Lopez and other employees voluntarily departed the meeting, the charges state, the union president “chased after” Hoyos Lopez and threatened to call the police on her if she did not completely leave the public park in which the meeting took place. The charges also state that union officials approached pro-decertification L’Oreal employee Jarry Moreno at the same meeting and told him to convince Hoyos Lopez to withdraw the petition.
Hoyos Lopez’s charges indicate that she experienced more illegal activity than just intimidation from union agents. RWDSU union officials also refused to honor or respond to emails she sent resigning her union membership and opting out of dues payments for union political expenses. New Jersey lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector employees, and thus allows union officials and management to enforce contracts in which workers are forced to pay union fees as a condition of getting or keeping a job. However, the Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision guards workers from being forced to pay any dues that go toward union politics or other expenses unrelated to the union’s bargaining functions.
“As such, RWDSU/UFCW Local 262 must honor [Hoyos Lopez’s] resignation request, and given there is no collective bargaining agreement in place, cease all further deductions from [her] paycheck,” the charges state.
Illegal Union Threats Continue After Contested Election
The election to decertify RWDSU, which took place October 19 and 20, is currently the subject of objections from Hoyos Lopez. The objections assert that union officials unlawfully interfered with the election through their intimidating actions during the September 22 meeting, as well as through campaign misrepresentations and racially-charged tactics.
Hoyos Lopez’s federal charges, which she filed after submitting her election objections, state that employees she believed were acting on behalf of the union targeted her after she attempted to defend the integrity of the election. On November 27, “a L’Oréal contractor…intimidated [Hoyos Lopez]” and told her that “people say you have to leave because you have problems with the union.”
The charges argue that all of these actions by RWDSU union officials and alleged union agents are clear violations of Hoyos Lopez’s rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the federal law the NLRB is charged with enforcing. Section 7 protects workers’ right to refrain from union activities.
“It appears abundantly clear that RWDSU union officials at the L’Oréal USA plant leveraged threats, intimidation, and a host of other divisive tactics in order to demonize any worker who went against their agenda,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “The union’s focus was clearly on maintaining their forced-dues power over L’Oréal employees, even at the expense of steamrolling the rights of the workers they claim to ‘represent’ – they were deprived of a fair election, and couldn’t even voice legitimate concerns about the union without fear of retaliation.”
“Foundation staff attorneys will continue to fight for Ms. Hoyos Lopez and her coworkers until they can exercise their right to vote on whether RWDSU bosses deserve to stay in a free and uncoerced environment,” Mix added.
