Disney Worker Hits UNITE HERE Union with Federal Charge for Illegal Dues Seizures
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, May/June 2023 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Union officials ignoring worker’s right under Florida Right to Work law to stop dues payments
Not so magical: Lurking behind Disney World’s cheery exterior are UNITE HERE union officials who apparently don’t respect employees who exercise their right to free themselves from unwanted union membership and dues deductions.
ORLANDO, FL – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Disney Parks and Resorts employee in Orlando, Florida, has filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the UNITE HERE Local 362 union, stating that union officials ignored his resignation and dues checkoff revocation letter.
Since 1943, Florida’s Right to Work protections have made union membership and financial support strictly voluntary. However, when Jose Class filed his unfair labor practice charge, UNITE HERE union officials had not acknowledged his unequivocal exercise of his rights to abstain from both.
According to the charge filed in December 2022, Class resigned his union membership and revoked the union’s authorization to deduct dues from his paycheck. That December letter also requested, if union officials did not immediately accept his dues checkoff revocation, that the union, within 14 days of receipt, provide him with a copy of any checkoff he may have signed.
As of the filing of the charge, union officials had not stopped collecting dues from his wages, nor had they provided him with the requested copy of a signed checkoff authorization, which might specify when revocation is allowed.
Long History of Union Bosses Violating Disney World Workers’ Rights
UNITE HERE is not the only union that has violated Disney World workers’ right to stop all dues payments as guaranteed by Florida’s longstanding Right to Work law. In a series of cases brought against Florida-based Teamsters Local 385, Foundation attorneys ultimately won an NLRB decision that Teamsters officials violated workers’ rights by “repeatedly and deliberately” failing to honor the workers’ requests that deduction of union dues from their wages stop.
“In what is an unfortunately familiar story, union officials ignored Mr. Class’ resignation letter and his dues deduction revocation,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President and Legal Director Raymond LaJeunesse.
“No American worker should ever be forced to subsidize union activities, which is why a longstanding priority of the National Right to Work Foundation is assisting workers in exercising their right to cut off financial support for union officials they oppose.
Foundation Slams Biden Labor Board’s Biased Ruling in Federal Appeals Court
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, May/June 2023 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Brief contends NLRB distorted precedent to trap workers in union they oppose
A majority of J.G. Kern employees petitioned to oust the UAW, which has seen two of its former presidents (Gary Jones, right, and Dennis Williams, left) go to jail for corruption. But a biased NLRB ruling trapped the workers in UAW ranks anyway.
WASHINGTON, DC – Foundation staff attorneys recently filed an amicus brief with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case challenging a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision reversing workers’ attempt to remove union “representation” they oppose.
In the case, J.G. Kern employees, frustrated with the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 228 union, decided to petition to decertify, or formally remove, the union from their workplace. The workers presented this majority petition to their employer, leading to the company removing its recognition of the union.
The petition contained overwhelming support from workers in favor of removing the union. Yet, after the company withdrew recognition from the union, UAW officials ran to the Biden Labor Board in an attempt to remain in power. The Biden-appointed NLRB majority sided with the union officials by re-imposing the unpopular union over the workers’ objections.
With the case now in the federal court of appeals, the Foundation filed an amicus brief arguing the NLRB’s April 2022 ruling ignores precedent and misapplies longstanding law in siding with union officials.
Decertification Rules Already Rigged Against Workers Opposed to Union Affiliation
As the brief points out, workers looking to file a petition to remove a union they oppose already face numerous hurdles due to NLRB rules, most of which are contained nowhere in the federal statute the NLRB is charged with enforcing.
For example, a petition must be gathered outside of work hours, and outside of work-related areas. Also, unless employees use certain Board-specified language in their petition, the petition is invalid. Furthermore, employees cannot ask their employer for further information regarding the decertification process or the petition will be invalid.
The Foundation’s brief observes how workers must operate “in the dark, without help from their employer, and even if they do everything right, their efforts might come to naught through no fault of their own.” It also shows how the Biden Board has made it more difficult for individual workers to express their right to decertify unwanted, unpopular unions.
Biden NLRB Aims to Force Union on Workers Who Overwhelmingly Object
Under the Board’s “certification bar” doctrine, a union that wins a secret ballot election cannot be challenged for one year after its victory is certified by the NLRB. In this case, the UAW’s certification bar ended on October 3, 2019. In November 2019, J.G. Kern employees delivered a majority-backed petition to their employer.
The Biden Board claimed, however, that because J.G. Kern did not bargain in good faith during a three-month period at the beginning of the certification year, the employees’ majority petition was invalid. According to the Biden Board, the employer’s alleged unfair labor practices prospectively “extended” the certification year beyond its normal 12-month period.
The brief highlights the disingenuousness of the Board, pointing out that “the employees would have to divine the future to know they were collecting a petition during the ‘extended certification year.’” The Foundation urges the D.C. Circuit to command the Board to follow precedent that requires the Board to determine whether there was a “nexus” between the employer’s unfair labor practices and the decertification petition.
NLRB’s Power Grab Takes Away Workers’ Rights
The Foundation’s brief emphasizes how the Board’s decision can abolish employees’ rights guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act. An example of that is the J.G. Kern workers’ petition, where it was only after the petition was gathered that the Board extended the union’s certification bar period.
The brief notes that usually “an employee’s decertification petition is presumptively valid unless there is a causal nexus between the unfair labor practice and the petition.” However, this is not the case under the J.G. Kern ruling.
Should the NLRB’s ruling be upheld, it “will further incentivize incumbent unions to file unfair labor practice charges to chill employees’ Section 7 ability to collect petitions,” the brief concludes.
“The NLRB’s blatant disregard for the rights of workers who don’t want anything to do with coercive unionism is on full display in this case,” commented Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The arbitrary cherry-picking of legal precedents to fit the Board’s agenda is outrageous, while expected, given the Biden Administration’s all-out effort to expand Big Labor’s coercive ranks.
UPS Seasonal Worker Receives $0 Paycheck After Company Illegally Seizes Dues for Teamster Union
Stockton, CA (February 4, 2015) – A former seasonal United Parcel Service (UPS) employee has filed a federal charge against the company after it illegally confiscated Teamster union dues from his salary, leaving him with a paycheck of $0.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Santiago Olmos filed the unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Shortly after Olmos was hired as a seasonal employee for the Christmas delivery rush, he attended UPS training on December 8, 2014. At the meeting, a UPS manager told all of the employees in attendance that they were required to join the Teamster Local 439 union and pay union dues.
Under federal labor law, workers have the right to refrain from formal union membership and full union dues payments. Because California does not have Right to Work protections for workers, nonmember workers can be forced to pay a part of union dues and fees or be fired from their job.
However, under federal labor law, a worker may only be compelled to pay union dues or fees after 30 days of actual employment, a so-called “grace period.” Moreover, union dues and fees may only be deducted from wages after a worker has filled out a union dues deduction authorization – a form union officials use to authorize employers to automatically withhold union dues from employee paychecks.
Olmos only worked for UPS from December 8 to December 24, did not join the union, and did not sign a dues deduction authorization. UPS nonetheless deducted full union dues from his wages. As a result, Olmos’ first paycheck was for $0.
“UPS forced this worker to work effectively for free just before the Christmas holiday,” said Mark Mix, president of National Right to Work. “This case demonstrates that California desperately needs a Right to Work law, which would make union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary.”
“Only then will California’s workers truly get to work to be paid and not have to pay in order to work,” added Mix.
Twenty-four states have Right to Work protections for employees. Public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans and union members support the Right to Work principle of voluntary unionism.
Special Legal Notice for Employees of Wabtec Impacted by UE Union Boss Strike Order
News reports suggest that union officials of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) union have ordered employees of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (Wabtec) to abandon their jobs and go on strike. This situation raises serious concerns for employees who believe there is much to lose from a union-ordered strike.
All employees have the legal right to rebuff union officials’ strike demands, but it is important that employees know their rights before they do so. If you would like to work during a strike, read all of this special notice before returning to work – it might save you thousands of dollars.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation believes you should learn about your legal rights from independent sources. You should not rely on what self-interested union officials tell you. Workers frequently contact the Foundation to learn how to avoid fines and other union discipline for continuing to report to work during a union ordered strike to support themselves and their families. For over five decades, Foundation attorneys have worked to protect and expand the rights of individual employees to reject unwanted union control. It is the nation’s premier organization exclusively dedicated to providing free legal assistance to employee who are victims of forced unionism abuse.
Wabtec employees should know they have the following legal rights:
1) You have the right to resign your membership in the union at any time. If you don’t support this union, you can send the union a letter resigning your membership.
2) You have the right to go to work even if the union bosses ordered a strike. Union officials can (and often do) fine actual union members who work during a strike. If you want to work during a union strike, you should seriously consider resigning before working. This is the principal way to put yourself beyond the reach of internal union discipline, and avoid these union fines.
3) You also have the right to revoke your dues check-off authorization and stop allowing the union hierarchy to collect money from your paycheck every week. You can send letters to the union and your employer revoking your authorization to have union dues deducted from your paycheck during periods when there is no collective bargaining agreement in effect.
4) If you wish to eject an unaccountable union hierarchy from your workplace, you have the right to circulate and sign a decertification petition to obtain a secret ballot election to do so. All Wabtec employees should know they have the right to petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a secret ballot election to remove a union. However, the NLRB process is complex and open to manipulation from union officials, so we strongly recommend you reach out to Foundation attorneys, who regularly provide free legal advice and representation to workers interested in decertifying a union.
A sample letter for employees who wish to resign their union membership and revoke their dues check-off is here.
We know you are busy, and we know that unionization can create tension within a workplace and a lot of confusion regarding your legal rights. If you have any questions about the rights listed above or any of your other rights, do not hesitate to contact Foundation staff attorneys for free legal help at 1-800-336-3600 or at https://www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid/.
National Right to Work Foundation Issues Legal Notice to Wabtec Locomotive Manufactures Facing Union-Ordered Strike
Workers have legal protections if they choose to work to support their families during union-ordered strikes
Erie, PA (June 29, 2023) – Today, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation issued a special legal notice to locomotive manufacturing employees at Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (Wabtec). The notice informs Wabtec employees of their individual rights during the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) union-ordered strike currently taking place.
The legal notice is available at the Foundation’s website: https://www.nrtw.org/wabtec
The National Right to Work Foundation is the nation’s premier organization dedicated to defending workers whose rights have been violated by forced unionism abuses. “The Foundation wants you to learn about your legal rights from independent sources,” the notice says. “You should not rely on what self-interested union officials tell you.”
The Foundation’s notice informs workers who are union members of their right to resign from union membership at any time. The notice also suggests, if employees who are currently union members wish to work during the strike and avoid union discipline such as fines, they should resign their union membership before returning to work.
The legal notice informs Wabtec employees they “have the right to revoke [their] dues check-off authorization and stop allowing the union hierarchy to collect money from [their] paycheck every week. [They] can send letters to the union and [their] employer revoking [their] authorization to have union dues deducted from [their] paycheck during periods when there is no collective bargaining agreement in effect.”
“Decades of experience assisting workers has shown us that all too often strikes are about protecting the power of union bosses and not what is really best for rank-and-file workers,” commented National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Unfortunately union misinformation and intimidation tactics are all too common during union boss-ordered strikes, which is why Wabtec employees must be on alert and should immediately contact the Foundation for free legal aid if they believe union officials may be violating their legal rights.”
National Right to Work Foundation Attorney Testifies Before Congress, Spotlighting NLRB Push for Coercive ‘Card Check’
Experienced worker attorney blasts NLRB effort to rewrite the law to eliminate secret ballot votes & trap workers in unions they oppose
Washington, D.C. (May 23, 2023) – Today, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorney Aaron Solem will testify in front of the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions chaired by Representative Bob Good. Solem’s testimony will highlight the growing issues with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and how the current NLRB and NLRB General Counsel are undermining the rights of workers in order to grant union bosses more coercive power.
Solem’s testimony emphasizes a growing number of NLRB failures to protect employees’ rights in the workplace, including General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s plan to eliminate secret ballot elections and mandate unionization based on coercive “card check.” Solem’s testimony also blasts the NLRB for attempting to repeal restrictions which make it easier for union officials to file “blocking charges,” which can delay or block decertification elections no matter how many workers have signed a petition requesting a vote and opposes the union’s so-called “representation”:
“NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo, the Biden-appointed majority on the NLRB, and even some in this Congress are attempting to undermine employee free choice by ending or limiting the secret ballot. General Counsel Abruzzo is seeking to virtually end secret ballot elections and mandate unreliable, undemocratic union card checks as the primary method of union selection. The Board is also making it harder to oust a minority union by bringing back the disreputed and heavily criticized ‘blocking charge’ policy. This policy will make it harder for individual employees to decertify unwanted unions through secret ballot elections, even if 100% of the employees no longer wish to be represented.”
After highlighting the egregious dissolution of employee rights happening under Abruzzo and the Biden Administration, Solem suggested some reforms Congress could make to strengthen the freedoms of rank-and-file workers, including those he represents in cases before the NLRB:
“Rather than ratify the Board and General Counsel’s attempts to undermine secret ballot elections and entrench unpopular unions, this Committee should look to other solutions. Those solutions should grant employees more choices—ideally, the choice not to be forced to pay dues to a union. At the very least, the solution should guarantee employees a right to vote in a secret ballot election. These are far better solutions than the divisive policies being pursued by the Biden Administration and its politically-motivated appointees to the Board.”
Solem testified alongside former NLRB Member Phil Miscimarra, small business owner Cecil Leedy, and forced union dues-funded CWA lawyer Angela Thompson.
“Union bosses should not be given the power to force workers under their so-called ‘representation’ without even a secret ballot election,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “More scrutiny is needed of the Biden NLRB, which time after time seems to be acting like taxpayer-funded organizing for Big Labor, rather than a neutral arbiter of a law that is supposed to protect the legal rights of workers who are opposed to unionization.”
Video: The Anniversary of the Janus Supreme Court Victory and the Ongoing Fight for Worker Freedom
On the 5th Anniversary of the landmark First Amendment decision, Foundation President discusses Janus, the cases that led to the decision, and the path forward
Springfield, VA (June 27, 2023) – National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix released a video statement on the 5-year anniversary of the landmark Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision. The case, which affirmed the First Amendment right of all public employees to get or keep a job without being forced to pay union dues or fees, was successfully argued at the Supreme Court by National Right to Work Foundation Legal Director William Messenger.
The Janus anniversary video is available here.
In the video, Mix discusses the cases that led to Janus, the importance of the 2018 decision, and next steps for the Foundation regarding workers’ freedom from coercive unionism. Mix notes in the statement that “while the Janus ruling is clear, unfortunately, though predictably, we’ve seen widespread attempts by government union bosses to subvert the ruling and implement schemes to block government employees from exercising their First Amendment rights. In response, Foundation staff attorneys have already filed over 50 cases to enforce the Janus decision, directly helping over 70,000 workers so far.”
He also looks at how Foundation is building on the 2018 Supreme Court victory: “Janus introduced a new wave of Foundation litigation enforcing the decision against union bosses who refuse to accept its limits, and launching new cases, like the Goldstein case, seeking to expand the First Amendment rights of workers opposed to forced unionization.”
Mix concludes by noting that Public employees or any worker who needs legal assistance in enforcing their rights against coercive unionism can contact the Foundation to request free legal aid: https://www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid/.
Majority of Miami XPO Logistics Employees Vote to Oust Teamsters Union
Miami employees’ union decertification vote follows several other recent votes by XPO Logistics employees across country to remove Teamsters union officials
Miami, FL (June 27, 2023) – Martin Garcia and his coworkers at XPO Logistics’ Hialeah, FL, location have voted to remove Teamsters Local 769 union officials from their workplace. Garcia and his colleagues received free legal assistance in their effort from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
Garcia filed a union decertification petition at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 12 on May 19, which contained the signatures of enough of his colleagues to prompt the NLRB to hold a union decertification vote. The NLRB held the vote among Garcia and his colleagues on June 21, in which a majority voted to end Teamsters officials’ monopoly bargaining control over the facility.
Workers often turn to the National Right to Work Foundation for free legal aid in exercising their right to vote out an unpopular union because the NLRB’s process for doing so is convoluted and prone to union boss gamesmanship. Because Garcia and his colleagues work in the Right to Work state of Florida, they had the freedom to refuse to pay dues or fees to the Teamsters union while it was imposing its one-size-fits-all “representation” over all workers. In non-Right to Work states, in contrast, workers can be forced to pay dues or fees to a union they oppose as a condition of getting or keeping a job, and a decertification vote is the only way to end both forced dues and union monopoly representation.
“Teamsters officials didn’t listen to us and didn’t represent our interests in the workplace,” Garcia said. “My coworkers and I decided that the best way forward was to vote them out, and we’re glad we could get legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation in exercising our rights.”
XPO Logistics Workers Increasingly Seek to Escape Union Ranks with Foundation Aid
Garcia’s effort is just the most recent in a string of successful Foundation-backed union decertification efforts by XPO Logistics employees against Teamsters union officials. Recent victories include Teamsters decertifications in Cinnaminson, NJ, Los Angeles, CA, Albany, NY, and other XPO Logistics locations.
Most recently, Albany-based XPO Logistics truck driver William Chard submitted a union decertification petition backed by his coworkers in December 2022, seeking a vote to remove Teamsters Local 294 union officials. As opposed to sticking around and witnessing what would have likely been an embarrassing election loss, Local 294 officials filed paperwork ending their control over Chard and his coworkers just days after the petition’s filing.
Similarly, in October 2021, Teamsters Local 87 union officials avoided facing rejection from Juan Rivera and his coworkers at a Bakersfield, CA, XPO Logistics facility by disclaiming interest in the work unit shortly after Rivera filed a decertification petition. Because both Chard and Rivera hail from the non-Right to Work states of New York and California, decertification was the only way workers could remove both unwanted union “representation” and end union officials’ forced-dues demands.
“Teamsters officials have a well-earned reputation for seeking power, money, and political clout over looking out for employee interests, so it’s unsurprising to see so many workers seeking to exercise their rights to vote them out,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “But this trend goes even beyond the Teamsters, as employee attempts to decertify unions are spiking across the country.”
“Unfortunately, even as employees increasingly realize that their interests diverge from union boss agendas, Big Labor allies in the Biden Administration are seeking to make it harder than ever for workers to exercise their right to oust an unpopular union,” Mix added. “Foundation attorneys will continue to aid American workers in defending their individual rights, and will oppose attempts by Big Labor to rig the legal landscape against workers.”
NLRB Certifies Mankato Mayo Clinic Nurses’ Vote to Oust MNA Union Officials, Rejects Union Boss Attempt to Overturn Vote
Nurses now free of both unwanted union monopoly ‘representation’ and forced union fee demands
Mankato, MN (August 18, 2022) – Mayo Clinic nurses’ vote to oust unwanted Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) union officials from their workplace has been certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in a decision that also rejected two union objections to the election. The nurses voted 213-181 in July to remove the MNA as their monopoly “representative.” Union officials attempted to not only overturn the result, but to prohibit the workers from even holding another decertificiation vote.
Nurse Brittany Burgess filed a petition in June with Region 18 of the NLRB for more than 200 of her coworkers requesting the election. She did so with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Minnesota is not a Right to Work state, meaning Burgess and the nurses voting in the election at Mayo Clinic had been forced to pay fees to MNA union bosses they opposed just to keep their jobs. Now that the NLRB has certified the “decertification election” results, the nurses are free of both union officials’ forced-fee demands and the union’s control over their terms and conditions of employment.
NLRB Ruling Rejects Union Boss Objections to Election Entirely
NLRB Region 18’s decision and order certifying the vote rejected both arguments from MNA union officials that the vote should be overturned. Union officials claimed a sample ballot circulated by workers opposed to the union didn’t contain legally-required disclaimers about the neutrality of the NLRB. The officials also made vague allegations that other conduct somehow improperly swayed the employees’ choice.
The NLRB election certification order explains that a reviewed photo of the sample ballot “clearly contains the disclaimer language.” The order also declares that the union’s objection to other conduct is not only too “nonspecific” to be meet the NLRB’s standards, but further states that the conduct it alludes to would not rise to the level of invalidating an employee vote anyway.
Though MNA union officials’ attempt to upend the Mayo Clinic vote was particularly vacuous, Burgess and her coworkers were guarded from even more arbitrary union delays thanks to Foundation-advocated reforms to union decertification rules adopted by the NLRB in 2020. Before the reforms, union officials could file “blocking charges” to stop a vote to oust a union from even commencing. Such charges often contained allegations of employer conduct that were both unproven and unrelated to the employees’ desire to get rid of the union.
Unfortunately, the Biden NLRB announced in June it was initiating rulemaking to overturn those reforms and make it easier for union officials to block decertification votes, no matter how many rank-and-file workers request a vote.
Foundation Assisting Nurses at Other MN Medical Facilities to Exercise Right to Vote Out Unions
National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have recently assisted other workers in numerous successful decertification efforts. Just this month, Foundation-backed workers at Mayo Clinic’s location in St. James, MN, removed American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 65 from their hospital.
Foundation staff attorneys are also assisting nurses at four Cuyuna Regional Medical Center locations with obtaining a vote to remove Service Employees International Union (SEIU) bosses from their facilities. Because the NLRB has made the decertification process unnecessarily complicated, workers often need to turn to Foundation attorneys for free legal aid in navigating the process.
“These nurses worked hard to exercise their right to remove a union they didn’t feel represented their interests, and Foundation staff attorneys were happy to help them,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “MNA union officials’ arbitrary attempt to block the certification of the nurses’ will demonstrates the ridiculous charades union officials often pull just to keep siphoning money from workers who don’t want them anymore.”
“The situation also puts into stark relief the risk the Biden NLRB is putting independent-minded workers in by attempting to reverse the recent Election Protection reforms. Eliminating the reforms will make it easier for union bosses to trap workers in forced-dues union ranks, even when a majority of workers oppose the union’s so-called ‘representation,’” Mix added.
Anaheim Assa Abloy Worker Seeks Federal Court Order Against IBEW Union for Instigating Illegal Termination
Federal law prohibits conditioning employment on union membership, yet IBEW bosses demanded firing after worker refrained from joining union
Los Angeles, CA (June 16, 2023) – An Anaheim-based employee of automated door manufacturer Assa Abloy is hitting the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441 union and his employer with federal charges, maintaining that union officials unlawfully instigated his firing because he abstained from union membership. The worker, Jaime Zambrano, filed his charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 21 in Los Angeles with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
California’s lack of Right to Work protections grants union officials the power to get workers fired for refusing to pay dues or fees to the union. However, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) forbids union officials from conditioning employment on formal union membership, even in non-Right to Work states. Zambrano maintains that, despite his paying the required amount of union dues to stay employed, Assa Abloy management terminated him at union officials’ behest after he didn’t fill out a union membership form.
Zambrano’s charge also seeks his immediate reinstatement via a 10(j) injunction against both his employer and the union. Under Section 10(j) of the NLRA, the NLRB General Counsel can seek a federal court order immediately stopping particularly egregious violations of federal law.
IBEW Union Officials Made Illegal Membership Demand, Gave Worker No Timeline
Zambrano began paying union dues to the IBEW union in September of 2022. In the spring of 2023, union officials sent him paperwork, including a union membership form. No indication was given of when union officials expected the paperwork to be completed and returned.
Zambrano discovered in late May that Assa Abloy officials were terminating him at IBEW bosses’ request because they had not received the membership form from him. While firing a worker for refraining from union membership is a clear infringement of federal labor law, Zambrano’s charge also says that union officials’ not providing him a timeline of when the paperwork should be completed is a “fail[ure] to comply with the requirements of Philadelphia Sheraton,” an NLRB case that requires union officials to inform workers of exactly what their obligations are.
“Because of these egregious and bad-faith acts, the Charging Party demands that the General Counsel seek 10(j) relief seeking his reinstatement,” reads Zambrano’s charge.
“IBEW union officials are playing outrageous games with Mr. Zambrano’s livelihood and potentially the livelihoods of many other workers who simply don’t want to affiliate with the IBEW,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Getting a worker thrown off a job merely for refusal to join a union is a violation of black letter federal labor law – union officials who can’t get workers to join voluntarily certainly shouldn’t be able to compel such membership by threatening to upend the careers of those who dissent from the union.”
“But even if IBEW officials were acting fully within the bounds of California and federal labor law, Mr. Zambrano would still be forced to pay dues to the union just to keep his job because of California’s lack of a Right to Work law,” Mix added. “This kind of forced association has no place in America, and all American workers deserve Right to Work protections that ensure that union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.”
