Windham Community Memorial Hospital Employees Vote Overwhelmingly to Remove AFT Union ‘Representation’
Despite last-ditch effort by teacher union lawyers to overturn vote, over 300 hospital employees are officially union free
Willimantic, CT (April 7, 2026) – Employees at Windham Community Memorial Hospital are officially free from the unwanted “representation” of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 5099 union officials. Following an initial delay, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certified the result, after an overwhelming majority of the Hospital’s workers voted to “decertify” the union in a February secret ballot vote.
The decertification effort was spearheaded by Windham Hospital employee Sara Doner, who received free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys during the decertification process.
NLRB Region 1 certified the election results, officially ending AFT union bosses’ exclusive monopoly representation of the Windham Community Memorial Hospital employees. The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act, a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions.
Days after the landslide 168-70 vote to remove the union, AFT filed objections with the NLRB, seeking to overturn the workers’ election result. However, AFT union officials soon reversed course and dropped their objections, perhaps recognizing the futility of their efforts to maintain monopoly control of the employees after the overwhelming statement sent by the one-sided result.
Connecticut is one of 24 states that lack Right to Work protections for workers, which means that prior to the decertification, AFT union bosses were empowered to impose monopoly bargaining contracts that force employees to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. By contrast, in Right to Work states, union membership and union financial support are strictly voluntary.
“Headed by longtime top boss Randi Weingarten, the AFT is best known for the divisive role union officials have played undermining student and taxpayer interests in the classrooms of public schools nationwide,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “While lesser known, the targets of AFT union boss coercion also includes thousands of healthcare providers.
“We are pleased to have been able to assist this group of hundreds of Windham Community Memorial employees as they exercise their legal right to send AFT union bosses packing, and we encourage anyone else – whether educator or healthcare worker – trapped under AFT control they oppose to reach out for legal aid,” Mix added.
Ventura County Professor Files Class Action Lawsuit Challenging Union “Window Period” Scheme to Unlawfully Seize Dues
Union officials violate hundreds of public workers’ constitutional rights under the Supreme Court’s Janus decision by deducting unauthorized forced dues
Los Angeles, CA (January 15, 2019) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a math professor from Ventura Country, California, is challenging an illegal “window period” scheme to forcibly seize union membership dues from his paycheck without his consent and in violation of his constitutional rights.
Plaintiff Michael McCain filed a class action lawsuit on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Ventura County Federation of College Teachers, AFT Local 1828, AFL-CIO; and Ventura County Community College School District.
A public employee who works for the Ventura County Community College School District, plaintiff Michael McCain attempted to exercise his First Amendment rights by resigning his union membership following the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME, a case Foundation attorneys argued and won.
The High Court ruled on June 27, 2018, that union bosses may not forcibly seize dues from public sector workers. Instead, government employees must knowingly waive their First Amendment right not to subsidize a union and affirmatively authorize deductions before union officials can collect membership dues or fees.
However, AFT union officials never informed McCain of his First Amendment rights, making it impossible for him to have waived them. Union officials continue seizing membership dues from McCain’s hard-earned wages, even after McCain resigned his union membership and made it clear in a letter sent to the union just weeks after the Janus decision that he does not consent to dues deductions. Union officials claim that McCain can only cut off dues deductions during a union-created 15-day “window period” each year.
McCain’s class action lawsuit asks the court to strike down this unlawful “window period” scheme and order union officials to stop deducting unauthorized dues. His complaint also seeks a refund of membership dues that were wrongfully taken from him and hundreds, if not thousands, of other public employees.
“Union officials have a long history of manipulating ‘window period’ schemes, arbitrary union-enacted limitations trapping workers into forced dues, and other obstacles designed to block individuals from exercising their constitutional rights,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Despite what union bosses say, First Amendments rights cannot be limited to just 15 days out of the year.”
“The Supreme Court affirmed the rights of public workers in the Foundation’s victory in Janus, but Michael’s case shows union bosses are determined to defy the High Court and continue their abusive practices,” Mix added.
