National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Deauthorization Archives - National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

27 Jan 2026

College Park MOM’s Organic Employees Slam Union Officials with Charges for Election Interference

Posted in News Releases

New filings detail that UFCW bosses cornered employee in bathroom and engaged in other intimidation tactics ahead of vote on forced-dues requirements

Washington, DC (January 27, 2026) – Nora Ricse, an employee of MOM’s Organic Market in College Park, MD, is asking a federal labor board to rerun a “deauthorization election” she and her colleagues requested to strip United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union bosses of their power to force workers to pay dues. In a brief filed with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, she charges that union officials interfered with the vote by subjecting MOM’s employees to intimidation and coercion to join the union in the lead-up to the election.

Although MOM’s employees voted nearly 5-to-1 to block the UFCW union from having forced-dues power, this was insufficient for Ricse’s effort to prevail because federal law provides that a majority of an entire work unit must vote to deauthorize a union. In contrast, only a majority of those participating in a vote are needed to bring a union into a workplace.

Ricse’s objections, filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), detail the same conduct that MOM’s employee J-quan Tingling is charging UFCW union officials with in unfair labor practice charges before the NLRB. Tingling, who is also receiving free Foundation legal aid, maintains in his charges that a UFCW union agent cornered him in a bathroom to coerce him into signing a union membership card. He also reports that UFCW operatives falsely told him that union membership is a condition of employment, and rebuffed his multiple requests to be left alone or to take the union documents home so he could at least read them. His charges state that he discussed with his coworkers the confrontations he had with union bosses.

“The concern that the Union official’s conduct compromised laboratory conditions and the ultimate integrity of the election is also heightened where, as here, there is a possibility that other employees” acted on the belief that union officials could carry out their threats, Ricse’s objections brief says.

Ricse’s filing cites other NLRB cases in which election results were set aside because union officials threatened workers into signing union cards, and exhorts the Board to administer a rerun election. “The Board would seriously prejudice [Ricse] and her colleagues by denying them access to a free and fair election within this context,” the brief says.

UFCW Officials Imposed Contract Over Workers’ Objections

MOM’s Organic employees pushed for a deauthorization vote after UFCW Local 400 union officials ratified a contract that binds all employees at MOM’s Organic – even though a majority of the employees voted to reject that contract. In doing this, union officials cited the UFCW’s constitution, which apparently requires union chiefs to ratify a contract over workers’ objections if less than two-thirds of the workers authorize a strike.

Maryland lacks Right to Work protections for employees, meaning union officials can impose contracts that require workers to pay dues or be fired. While UFCW officials claim that they won’t enforce their forced-dues privileges, the union’s contract contains a clause that makes paying union dues a condition of employment.

“I and many of my colleagues at MOM’s don’t support UFCW union officials, but we are compelled by law to deal with them,” commented Ricse ahead of the vote. “We are requesting this vote so we can ensure our hard-earned money doesn’t flow into union bosses’ pockets, regardless of what they’ve told us is going to happen.”

Workers’ Opposition to UFCW Actions Continues

Ricse’s and Tingling’s actions concerning the deauthorization election are just the latest skirmish in an ongoing conflict between UFCW union officials and MOM’s Organic employees. In November 2024, College Park MOM’s employees requested a vote to remove the union entirely (also known as a “decertification vote”).

“If MOM’s Organic employees needed any reason to believe that UFCW officials won’t honor their promise to refrain from imposing forced dues on the whole workplace, the intimidation tactics detailed in these employee charges more than fit the bill,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It’s now clearer than ever that if MOM’s Organic employees want any chance to escape from being forced to pay dues to the UFCW hierarchy, they need to be able to vote in a free and fair deauthorization election.

“If UFCW union officials really wanted workers to have a free choice on whether to pay dues, they should have supported – not opposed – the workers’ effort to have a deauthorization vote,” Mix added. “But the UFCW’s priorities appear to be power and control, as shown by these new charges and the UFCW’s constitution, which requires union bosses to ratify forced-dues contracts over the objections of workers.”

7 Jan 2026

College Park MOM’s Organic Employees Will Soon Vote on Whether to Block UFCW Union Officials From Collecting Forced Dues

Posted in News Releases

UFCW bosses ratified union monopoly bargaining contract over the objections of MOM’s employees; vote to take place January 13

College Park, MD (January 7, 2026) – Employees at the College Park branch of MOM’s Organic Market will soon vote on whether to strip United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 union bosses of the ability to force workers to pay union dues to keep their jobs. The election will take place on January 13, 2026, and will be administered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

MOM’s Organic employee Nora Ricse successfully obtained the vote by submitting a petition to the NLRB in which a sufficient number of her colleagues requested that such a vote (also known as a “deauthorization vote”) be held. Ricse received free legal aid in filing the petition from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing private sector labor law. Maryland lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector employees, so union officials can impose contracts that require workers to pay dues or be fired. Short of voting out the union entirely, the only way Maryland employees can escape forced-dues demands from union chiefs is by voting to revoke forced-dues privileges in a deauthorization election. Obtaining either kind of vote is a procedurally difficult process that is often subject to union boss interference.

Unpopular Union Contract Contains Forced-Dues Clause

Ricse’s effort comes after UFCW Local 400 union officials ratified a contract that binds all employees at MOM’s Organic – even though a majority of the employees voted to reject that contract. In doing this, union officials cited the UFCW’s constitution, which apparently requires union chiefs to ratify a contract over workers’ objections if less than two-thirds of the workers authorize a strike.

Despite UFCW officials’ claims that they will not enforce their forced-dues privileges, NLRB documents reveal that the contract contains a clause authorizing the union to require dues payment as a condition of employment.

“I and many of my colleagues at MOM’s don’t support UFCW union officials, but we are compelled by law to deal with them,” commented Ricse. “We are requesting this vote so we can ensure our hard-earned money doesn’t flow into union bosses’ pockets, regardless of what they’ve told us is going to happen.”

This isn’t the first time that MOM’s Organic workers have obtained Foundation legal aid in dealing with UFCW union officials. In November 2024, College Park MOM’s employees requested a vote to remove the union entirely (also known as a “decertification” vote). The same year, employees of another DC-area grocery chain, Union Kitchen, voted 24-1 to remove UFCW Local 400 after National Right to Work Foundation attorneys helped them obtain a decertification vote.

“If UFCW union officials are telling the truth about not requiring employees to pay dues as required by the unpopular contract the union imposed on them, they should support this effort to remove the forced-dues requirement from the union contact,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix.

“The very fact that UFCW’s constitution dictates that UFCW officials are mandated to impose forced-dues contracts over the objections of a majority of workers is further evidence that union boss power and money are the union’s priorities, not what is best for rank-and-file workers,” added Mix. “That’s why all workers in Maryland and across America deserve the protection of Right to Work, which lets each worker decide for him or herself whether a union has earned their dues payments.”

24 Oct 2024

Post-Right to Work Repeal, MI Workers Vote to Cancel Union Bosses’ Forced-Dues Power

Posted in Newsletter Articles

The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, September/October 2024 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.

With Foundation aid, workers are fighting forced unionism through “deauthorization votes”

From Forced Dues to Freedom: Robert Gray and his coworkers at MV Transportation are part of a growing movement by Michigan workers to attack union boss privileges in the wake of the repeal of Right to Work.

MICHIGAN – MICHIGAN – As Big Labor’s pet politicians in the Michigan legislature prepared to repeal the state’s Right to Work law in 2023, Michiganders spoke out: Polling data revealed that a majority of Great Lakes State voters — including over 70% of those from union households — wanted to leave the law in place. Because Michigan’s Right to Work law protected workers’ right to freely choose whether union bosses had earned their dues money and served as a boon to Michigan’s economy, such broad support was unsurprising.

Since the party-line vote repealing the popular law took effect this February, Michigan workers are speaking out again.

So far in 2024, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have already filed double the amount of cases than the prior year for Michigan workers, many of whom are pushing back against union officials’ new powers to force workers to pay dues as a condition of keeping a job. And this July, two sets of workers from across the state successfully voted to strip union bosses of their forced-dues powers in a process known as a “deauthorization election.”

Workers Across Industries Band Together Against Pay-Up-or-Be-Fired Demands

Mechanics from Brown Motors (a Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep dealer) in Petoskey and drivers from MV Transportation (a transportation contractor) in Ypsilanti voted by well over 70% to strip forced-dues powers from Teamsters and Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) bosses respectively after successfully petitioning for such votes with Foundation aid.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rules require that at least 30% of a work unit sign onto an employee petition to trigger a deauthorization election. The only ways that workers in non-Right to Work states can end union bosses’ forced-dues powers are by either voting as a majority against forced dues in such an election (as the Brown Motors and MV Transportation employees have done), or by voting to remove the union entirely in a “decertification election.”

MI Workers Catch Union Bosses Red-Handed Violating Federal Law

Despite these encouraging efforts, it’s clear that the Right to Work repeal has emboldened Michigan union officials to play fast and loose with workers’ rights. But workers across the Great Lakes State are stepping up to defend their freedom with the benefit of Foundation legal expertise.

Other ongoing Foundation cases for Michigan workers include an NLRB case for Detroit-area Kroger employee Roger Cornett. Cornett faced post-repeal threats from his employer that he would be terminated if he did not sign a United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) membership form that included a page authorizing payments to the union’s Political Action Committee (PAC). Similarly, Foundation attorneys filed multiple federal charges for Grand Rapids-area General Electric (GE) worker Richard Howard, whom United Auto Workers (UAW) bosses had fired after he refused to join and pay full union dues, including dues for political expenses.

Both forced union membership and forced contributions to a union’s political activities are illegal even in a non-Right to Work environment under longstanding federal law and the Foundation-won Communications Workers of America v. Beck Supreme Court decision.

Foundation attorneys also recently filed federal charges for Madrina Wells and Lynette Doyle, two nurses at Ascension Genesys Hospital near Flint, MI. The charges maintain that Teamsters union officials threatened to fire them and other nurses if they didn’t sign forms authorizing union officials to deduct dues straight out of their paychecks. Requiring workers to give union bosses direct access to their paychecks is another common union boss scheme forbidden by federal law.

“Despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of Michiganders wanted Right to Work to remain in place, Michigan politicians repealed it on a party-line vote to appease the union boss puppeteers that fund their campaigns,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President and Legal Director William Messenger. “Within just months of the repeal becoming effective, workers from all corners of the state are fighting — and winning — battles to limit union bosses’ power, showing that Michigan workers are not going to take this attack on their individual rights sitting down.”

18 Jul 2024

Workers in Ypsilanti and Petoskey Successfully End Union Bosses’ Power to Demand Dues as Similar Efforts Rise Across MI

Posted in News Releases

In rebuke to Right to Work repeal, workers strip Teamsters and ATU of ability to require dues as condition of employment

Michigan (July 18, 2024) – Two sets of workers from across the state of Michigan have successfully voted to strip union officials of their powers to force them to pay union dues as a condition of keeping their jobs. Mechanics from Brown Motors (a Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep dealer) in Petoskey and drivers from MV Transportation in Ypsilanti have voted by 75% and 78% respectively to remove union bosses’ forced-dues powers in a process known as a “deauthorization vote”. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, certified the results of both elections earlier this week.

Both sets of workers received free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in obtaining the elections. Joseph Illes submitted a “deauthorization petition” in May on behalf of his Brown Motors coworkers, who wanted to revoke forced-dues privileges from Teamsters union officials. Robert Gray handled a similar petition for his colleagues at MV Transportation, who sought to deauthorize the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). NLRB rules require that at least 30% of a work unit sign onto a deauthorization petition to trigger a deauthorization election.

Because Michigan lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, union bosses that gain power in a workplace have the legal power to demand that workers pay dues or fees as a condition of employment. These demands apply even to workers who voted against the union or otherwise oppose its presence. In Right to Work states, in contrast, union membership and union financial support are strictly the choice of each individual worker.

The only ways that workers in non-Right to Work states can end union bosses’ forced-dues powers are by either voting as a majority against forced dues in a deauthorization election (as the Brown Motors and MV Transportation employees have done), or by voting to remove the union entirely in a “decertification election”. Decertification elections can be petitioned for in a way similar to a deauthorization election. A decertification also terminates union bosses’ monopoly bargaining power over workers.

After Legislature Nixes Right to Work, Employees Across MI Seek to Stop Forced Dues

In a party-line 2023 vote, Michigan legislators repealed Right to Work at the behest of union special interests, ending workers’ ability to decide for themselves whether or not union officials deserve their dues money. After the repeal became effective this February, workers from across the Great Lakes State sought help from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in escaping union bosses’ forced-dues demands.

In addition to the now-successful efforts in Petoskey and Ypsilanti, Foundation attorneys are aiding Grand Rapids-based security guard James Reamsma and his coworkers with a deauthorization vote against United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) union officials. Reamsma’s fellow guards work at government buildings across Western Michigan. Reamsma expressed that, in the wake of the Right to Work repeal, “UGSOA union officials have threatened to have everyone who does not join the union fired.”

Foundation attorneys also represent Roger Cornett, a Detroit-area Kroger employee who faced post-repeal threats from his employer that he would be terminated if he did not join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union at the store and fund the union’s Political Action Committee (PAC). Both demands are forbidden by federal law (even in a non-Right to Work environment) and Foundation attorneys argue in Cornett’s case that the union’s contract fails the legal standard to compel dues payments from any worker.

“Despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of Michiganders wanted Right to Work to remain in place, Michigan legislators repealed it on a narrow party-line vote as a giveaway to the union boss puppeteers that fund their campaigns,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Within just months of the repeal becoming effective, workers from all corners of the state are requesting – and winning – votes to stop union bosses from forcing them to pay dues, showing that Michigan workers are not going to take this attack on their individual rights sitting down.

“We at the Foundation are proud to help Michigan workers reclaim their freedom, but no worker should have to navigate the NLRB’s bureaucratic deauthorization process simply to ensure their hard-earned money isn’t going to union boss activities they may staunchly disagree with,” Mix added.

26 Jun 2024

Security Guards at Federal Buildings Across Delaware Voting Soon on Whether to End SPFPA Union’s Forced-Dues Power

Posted in News Releases

SPFPA union officials trapped workers in union ranks, but workers still have chance to stop mandatory dues payments

Delaware (June 26, 2024) – Security guards posted at federal buildings across the state of Delaware will soon cast ballots in a “deauthorization election” that may strip officials of the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) union of their power to force guards to pay union dues as a condition of employment. Newark, DE-based security guard Steven Bowden requested the vote by submitting a deauthorization petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which a majority of his fellow guards employed by GXC Inc. backed. Bowden is receiving free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law in the private sector. Following an election agreement, the NLRB has announced that the guards can begin casting ballots in the deauthorization election on July 2.

Because Delaware is one of the minority of states still lacking Right to Work protections, union bosses have the legal privilege to force private sector workers like the GXC Inc. security guards to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. For that reason, workers opposed to funding union activities can only end the union’s forced-dues power by voting against it in a deauthorization election, or by requesting a “decertification vote” that terminates a union’s bargaining power in a workplace completely.

Gathering employee signatures to petition for a deauthorization or decertification vote can be difficult and time-consuming, especially in a situation like Bowden’s where the members of his work unit come from across the state. In contrast, in Right to Work states, deauthorization votes are unnecessary because union membership and financial support are the voluntary choice of each individual worker.

Union Officials Manipulated Carve-Outs in Federal Labor Law to Stay in Power

SPFPA union officials drew the ire of Bowden and his colleagues by signing a contract with GXC Inc. management without the workers’ knowledge or consent. While voting the union out of the workplace would be their next logical step, the NLRB’s so-called “contract bar” allows union officials to immunize themselves from worker-backed decertification attempts for up to three years after a union contract has been finalized. The “contract bar” appears nowhere in the text of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the federal law the NLRB is charged with enforcing, but is the product of union boss-friendly decisions made by partisan NLRB members over the years.

“SPFPA union officials sprung this contract on me and my colleagues, which is hardly what we would consider ‘representing’ us fairly,” commented Bowden. “It’s disappointing that NLRB rules prevent us from kicking SPFPA bosses out, but stopping them from forcing us to fund union activities is definitely a step in the right direction, and we’re confident we’ll win this vote.”

Union officials regularly exploit the “contract bar” to remain in power, even when workers have clearly expressed their opposition to the union’s performance. In 2022, Foundation attorneys successfully defended Kerry Hunsberger and her coworkers at Latrobe (PA) Specialty Metals from a scheme by United Steelworkers (USW) to use a contract that workers had overwhelmingly voted against as a reason to block a decertification vote. In 2020 and 2021, Foundation attorneys also aided an 800-employee unit of Mountaire Farms poultry workers in Delaware in a similar situation.

This also isn’t the first time that Foundation attorneys have provided free legal aid to security employees seeking freedom from SPFPA union dues schemes. In 2020, Las Vegas-based security guard Justin Stephens and his coworkers scored a settlement returning thousands of dollars in illegally-seized union dues to North American Security staff after SPFPA officials failed to acknowledge many employees’ attempts to revoke their union memberships and cut off dues deductions.

“SPFPA union bosses betrayed the trust of Delaware GXC security guards by finalizing a new contract behind their backs, and these guards certainly deserve a chance to exercise their right to vote the union out,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Despite that, the ‘contract bar’ lets union officials unilaterally block workers from voting a union out of power, demonstrating how stacked federal labor law is against basic worker freedom.

“Federal labor law’s bias toward keeping union bosses in power even over workers’ objections again shows why Right to Work laws are needed nationwide,” Mix added. “If union officials can legally trap workers under a union’s so-called ‘representation,’ the least states can do is provide workers a way to protect their hard-earned cash from going toward union activities that go against their interests.”

7 May 2024

Service Employees at Brown Motors in Petoskey, MI, Petition for Vote to Stop Paying Union Forced Fees

Posted in News Releases

Follows string of other legal actions by workers opposing forced payments to union bosses in wake of party-line Right to Work law repeal

Petoskey, MI (May 7, 2024) – Mechanics, parts department workers, and other auto service-related employees at Brown Motors, a Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep dealer, are seeking a vote to end Teamsters union officials’ ability to demand payment of dues or fees as a condition of employment. Joseph Illes, a mechanic at Brown Motors, submitted a “deauthorization petition” to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for administering and enforcing federal labor law. Under NLRB rules, upon receiving a petition from employees, the agency will hold a vote at a workplace on whether to remove the contract provision allowing a union to require dues or fees as a condition of employment.

According to the deauthorization petition, the requested election is sought for all “regular full and part-time parts department employees, mechanics, lubemen, porters and wash rack employees” at Brown Motors.

MI Legislators’ Repeal of Right to Work Continues to Receive Backlash from Workers

Michigan legislators’ party-line repeal of Michigan’s popular Right to Work law became effective in February. This change permits union officials to and enforce requirements that force workers to pay dues or fees to the union. In a non-Right to Work state, employees’ only options to prevent their money from going toward a union agenda they oppose is to petition for a deauthorization vote (as Illes and his coworkers have), or to kick the union out of their workplace completely through a decertification vote, which involves a similar process to deauthorization.

Michigan’s Right to Work law, which took effect in 2013, made union dues payment strictly voluntary for all Michigan workers. Those employees who wished to support the union at their workplace were free to join and pay union dues. Employees who chose to not join the union were not required to pay the union anything to keep their jobs.

The Michigan Legislature voted to repeal the Right to Work Law in March 2023, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed it that same month, despite polling showing that 70% of Michigan voters wanted the law to remain in place.

Since the repeal, Foundation staff attorneys have aided several Great Lakes State workers who are seeking freedom from union dues demands, including security guard James Reamsma and his coworkers who are posted at government buildings across Western Michigan. Reamsma and his colleagues also petitioned for a “deauthorization vote” to stop forced-dues demands from United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) union officials, with Reamsma expressing that in the wake of the Right to Work repeal “UGSOA union officials have threatened to have everyone who does not join the union fired.”

“Mr. Illes and his coworkers at Brown Motors in Petoskey are just the latest example that Michigan’s Right to Work repeal does real harm to the freedom of workers across the state,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Workers shouldn’t have to slog through the NLRB’s deauthorization process simply to stop paying fees to a union they don’t support.”

28 Feb 2024

Michigan Security Guards Across Western Michigan File Petition for Vote to Undo Union Bosses’ Forced Dues Powers

Posted in News Releases

Worker effort prompted by Michigan Legislature’s Right to Work repeal, which subjects workers to pay-up-or-be-fired union threats

Grand Rapids, MI (February 28, 2024) – Security guards from government buildings across Western Michigan are backing a petition to stop union officials of the United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) from demanding dues from them as a condition of employment. James Reamsma, a security guard whose posts include The Law Building and the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building in Grand Rapids, submitted the petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.

Reamsma and his colleagues work for Triple Canopy, Inc. The worker-backed petition asks the NLRB to hold a “deauthorization vote,” in which a majority of employees in a work unit can cast ballots to nullify clauses in union contracts that require employees to pay union dues or fees to keep their jobs. Reamsma’s petition contains signatures well in excess of the threshold required to trigger such a vote.

According to the petition, the requested deauthorization vote will take place among “all full-time and regular part-time security guards…performing services for the Company…in and around the cities of Alena, Cadillac, Petoskey, Traverse City, West Branch, Flint, Bay [C]ity, [Big] Rapids, Ludington, Mount Pleasant, Owosso, Saginaw, Escanaba, Houghton, Ironwood, Marquette, Sault Ste Marie, Grand Rapids, Holland and Muskegon Michigan.”

Security Guards’ Anti-Forced Dues Effort Follows MI Legislators’ Repeal of Right to Work Law

“UGSOA union officials have threatened to have everyone who does not join the union fired. Many of us are retired police officers, or military, working part time, supplementing our income by providing security for government buildings across Michigan,” Reamsma commented. “When Right to Work was in place, guards were never forced to join the union. Now part time guards are expected to pay the same high dues as full time guards and all guards must join or lose our jobs. We are thankful for the help of the National Right to Work Foundation for their assistance in navigating this complex process.”

This month Michigan legislators’ repeal of Michigan’s popular Right to Work law became effective. This permits union officials to enact and enforce requirements that force workers to pay dues or fees to the union. In a non-Right to Work state, employees’ only options to prevent their money from going toward a union agenda they oppose is to petition for a deauthorization vote (as Reamsma and his coworkers have), or to kick the union out of their workplace completely through a “decertification vote,” which involves a similar process to deauthorization.

Michigan’s Right to Work law, which took effect in 2013, made union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary for all Michigan workers. The Michigan Legislature voted in favor of the repeal in March 2023, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed it that same month, despite polling showing that 70% of Michigan voters wanted the law to remain in place. The National Right to Work Foundation issued a legal notice this month to public and private sector Michigan workers explaining the new legal landscape.

“Within weeks of Michigan’s Right to Work repeal, we are already seeing the harm Big Labor’s coercive policy agenda inflicts on rank-and-file workers,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Mr. Reamsma and his colleagues, who will be providing security to Western Michigan’s government buildings during what is likely to be another turbulent election year, don’t deserve to be forced into financially supporting a union they disapprove of, nor does any Michigan private sector employee.

“While union boss powers have greatly expanded since the Right to Work repeal, workers still have some rights to resist union boss coercion, and Foundation attorneys stand ready to help them learn about and defend their rights,” Mix added.

12 Dec 2023

Majority of Austin, MN, Mayo Clinic Medical Assistants, Care Specialists Request Vote to Remove Steelworkers Union

Posted in News Releases

Last December, a majority of workers successfully voted to strip union officials of power to compel dues payments

Austin, MN (December 12, 2023) – A patient care specialist at the Mayo Clinic location in Austin, MN, has just submitted to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) a petition backed by her colleagues seeking a vote to remove United Steelworkers (USW) Local 11-005 union officials from power at their facility. The patient care specialist, Erin Krulish, filed the petition with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, which includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) 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. Krulish’s petition contains signatures from a majority of her work unit, which includes licensed practical nurses (LPNs), medical assistants, and patient care specialists.

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.

Workers’ Petition Follows Successful Vote to Strip Union of Forced-Dues Power

Because Minnesota lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, Steelworkers union bosses have the power to enter into contracts with Mayo Clinic management that force Krulish and her coworkers to pay union dues or fees just to keep their jobs. In contrast, in Right to Work states like neighboring Wisconsin and Iowa, union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.

Last December, however, Krulish and her fellow employees voted 49-17 to revoke the union’s power to compel them to pay dues. Such an election, called a “deauthorization vote,” is the only way in non-Right to Work states to stop a union from seizing dues from workers as a condition of employment, outside of completely decertifying the union.

Pro-Union Boss NLRB Policy Forced Workers to Wait to Remove Union

Even after a deauthorization vote, union bosses still retain their monopoly bargaining powers, which can only be eliminated by decertifying a union. Krulish and her fellow employees desired to do this from the outset, but were unfortunately limited by a non-statutory NLRB policy known as the “contract bar,” which immunizes unions from all worker attempts to vote the union out for up to three years while a union monopoly bargaining contract is in place.

Last December, with one year still left on the union contract, Krulish expressed her and her coworkers’ eagerness to decertify the union once the contract expired: “We plan to decertify come next December when our contract is up and we are ready for another fight!”

“Employees at Mayo Clinic Austin clearly don’t wish to associate with Steelworkers union officials, and twice now Ms. Krulish and her coworkers have mustered the majority showing necessary to revoke coercive powers from the union,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “While we’re proud to support her and her dedicated colleagues, the situation shows the kind of pro-union boss restraints that workers are under not just in non-Right to Work states, but across the country.”

“Workers should not be arbitrarily blocked for years from exercising their right to vote out unwanted union officials, nor should they need to seek a workplace-wide vote just to ensure their hard-earned money isn’t going to an organization they don’t approve of,” Mix added.

10 Jul 2023

UPDATE: Federal Charges Against URSO Union and MTAC, Inc. for Termination of D.C. Security Guard Still Pending After Deauthorization Vote

Posted in News Releases

New NLRB filing details numerous issues with workers’ election to strip union officials of forced dues powers

Washington, D.C. (September 15, 2023) – A pair of federal unfair labor practice charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by MTAC security guard Benson Sebuabe remain pending with the NLRB. According to the charges, Benson was illegally terminated from MTAC at the behest of union officials in violation of his rights.

The July charges against MTAC and the self-described “Union Rights for Security Officers” (URSO) union are part of a legal dispute over forced union dues at Sebuabe’s workplace. As part of that dispute, on June 5, 2023, Sebuabe filed a deauthorization petition that contained more than enough signatures from his coworkers to trigger an employee vote.

In the petition, MTAC employees seek to strip union officials of their authority to have workers fired for refusing to pay union dues or fees. The vote was conducted via mail ballot over several weeks in August and September. However, when the NLRB announced the results of the vote, it claimed no ballots were received.

That “0-0” vote tally outcome would, if certified, leave URSO officials with the legal authority to force workers to pay up or be fired. In response to the NLRB’s vote tally announcement, Sebuabe’s attorneys have filed objections to the election results citing numerous issues.

The September 13, 2023, filing questions how no ballots were received from workers in light of Sebuabe returning his ballot well ahead of the deadline. The objections also claim union and employer actions violated NLRB standards during the critical period around the vote. Among other things, Sebuabe’s objections note the failure of the employer to provide proper voter lists on time as required by NLRB procedures.

Other objections include the impact created by MTAC’s termination of two supporters of the deauthorization effort. This includes not only the termination of Sebuabe, which is the subject of pending NLRB unfair labor practice charges against both URSO and MTAC, but also the termination of another supporter of the deauthorization petition.

Sebuabe is receiving free legal representation from Foundation staff attorneys both with the exercise of his rights to petition for a vote to “deauthorize” the union officials’ power to require workers to pay dues or be fired, and his unfair labor practice charges against the URSO union and MTAC.

URSO had demanded that MTAC discharge Sebuabe for not paying dues or fees under a forced fee clause. USRO threatened Sebuabe with discharge for not paying compulsory dues and fees before Sebuabe filed his deauthorization petition and demanded his discharge for not making those compulsory payments after he filed the petition.

Sebuabe’s charges allege, among other things, that MTAC and URSO failed to honor Sebuabe’s rights under the U.S. Supreme Court’s CWA v. Beck precedent regarding procedural requirements that union officials must follow if they seek to enforce a mandatory dues requirement. The ULP charges remain pending with the NLRB.

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NOTE: This article updates and replaces a version that first appeared in July reporting on the initial filing of Sebuabe’s NLRB unfair labor practice charges. This article clarifies that Sebuabe’s charge against the URSO union not only alleges his termination was retaliation for supporting the deauthorization effort, but also alleges that his termination was illegal because URSO failed to follow the necessary procedural requirements under the Supreme Court’s CWA v. Beck decision.

21 Apr 2023

With Foundation Aid, Mayo Clinic Nurses Defeat Forced Union Dues Requirement

Posted in Newsletter Articles

The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, March/April 2023 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.

Nurses’ ultimate goal is to end Steelworkers union bosses’ so-called ‘representation’ completely

Austin, MN, Mayo nurse Erin Krulish and her coworkers hope to soon join Mankato, MN, Mayo nurses (above) in removing unwanted union “representation” from their facility.

AUSTIN, MN – Nurses at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin, Minnesota, recently voted overwhelmingly in a deauthorization election to end the power of United Steelworkers (USW) union officials to require nurses to pay up or be fired. The workers filed the deauthorization petition with National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 18 with free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

“We are so happy with the way the election turned out,” Mayo Clinic Austin nurse 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.”

Krulish filed the deauthorization petition for her coworkers seeking to end the so-called “union security clause” that authorizes USW union bosses to have nurses 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 number required to trigger the NLRB-supervised election.

Ending Forced Dues Comes as Nurses Wait for Vote to Formally Remove Union

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, federal law does allow workers to hold deauthorization votes to end union officials’ legal authority to force workers to “pay up or be fired,” although winning such a vote can often be an uphill battle as independent workers have to take on professional forced-dues-funded union organizers.

The overwhelming 49-17 vote against mandatory union payments came as the nurses 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 nurses’ only option. If the nurses at the Austin Mayo Clinic do decertify as they plan, they will join Minnesota nurses at Mayo Clinic Mankato and Mayo Clinic St. James who voted to oust union officials from their hospitals in the last six months.

“No worker anywhere should be forced under so-called union ‘representation’ they oppose,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “So while we’re pleased Ms. Krulish and her coworkers were victorious against the Steelworkers union, this case also shows why it is past time to end the NLRB-sanctioned ‘contract bar’ which traps workers in union ranks they oppose for years at a time.”

“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,” added Mix.