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.”

23 Sep 2024

Michigan Security Guards Overwhelmingly Vote to End Union Bosses’ Power to Force Workers to Pay Up or Be Fired

Posted in News Releases

In rebuke to partisan Right to Work repeal, majority of guards vote against union officials’ ability to require union dues payments

Grand Rapids, MI (September 23, 2024) – A group of Michigan security guards, have voted to strip United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) union officials of their power to force the guards to pay union dues as a condition of keeping their jobs. A majority of the guards employed by Triple Canopy, Inc. voted overwhelmingly to remove union bosses’ forced-dues powers in the “deauthorization” election. Following months of delays, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently released the full vote count from the election that took place by mail in April and May.

Guard James Reamsma submitted the “deauthorization petition” in February on behalf of his Triple Canopy Inc. coworkers, who guard federal facilities across Michigan and who wanted to revoke forced-dues privileges from UGSOA union officials. Reamsma is receiving free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

Reamsma’s request for a deauthorization election was necessary because Michigan’s popular decade-old Right to Work law was repealed in February. Under Right to Work, union financial support is strictly voluntary. Without Right to Work, union officials have the power to demand workers pay up or be fired. Michigan’s non-Right to Work environment forces workers to either deauthorize a union or vote it out of a workplace completely (via a similar process known as “decertification”) if they want to end union officials’ forced-dues power.

In response to Reamsma’s petition, the NLRB scheduled the mail vote with ballots due in mid-May. However, rather than promptly counting the ballots and certifying the results, the results were delayed for months, with the full NLRB tally of ballots only recently being released.

Once the results are certified, union officials will no longer have the legal power to coerce Reamsma and his colleagues to pay dues or fees as a condition of employment.

UGSOA Union Bosses Still Face Federal Charges For Illegal Dues Deductions

In addition to his deauthorization petition, Reamsma filed NLRB Unfair Labor Practice charges in May against UGSOA for seizing dues money from his paycheck without providing required disclosures on how the union spends worker cash. That charge, which was also filed with legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, is still being investigated by Region 7 of the NLRB based in Detroit.

According to Reamsma’s charge, he submitted a notice to UGSOA union agents in March that requested the union reduce his dues payments in accordance with Right to Work Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court decision Communications Workers of America v Beck and provide him with the financial information required by law. In response, union officials claimed that the amount of dues chargeable to nonmembers was equal to 100% of full union dues. Reamsma’s charge states that UGSOA “failed to provide the financial disclosures for itself and its affiliated unions, and a chance to object to its alleged reduced fee.”

The charge also notes that, despite Reamsma notifying union officials in April that he prefers to pay union dues by check, UGSOA ignored this request and has continued to take money directly from his paycheck by payroll deduction. Federal labor law forbids union officials from using direct deduction to collect union dues or fees without worker consent.

After Repeal of Right to Work, Employees Across Michigan are Challenging 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 money. The repeal came despite polling showing Michigan voters, including 70% of union households, overwhelmingly wanting Michigan to remain Right to Work.

After the repeal became effective in February, workers from across the Great Lakes State sought help from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in escaping union bosses’ forced dues demand.

“This election was scheduled in May, but NLRB delayed the counting of the votes until now, all while UGSOA continued illegally collecting union dues,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It’s tactics like this that would have been prevented, if Michigan had kept it’s Right to Work law.

“These workers’ vote to end forced dues happened months ago, and we call on the NLRB to promptly make the result official, and order the union to return all monies taken from the employees during the delay to certify the guards’ wishes.

“We 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.”

3 Jul 2024

Michigan Security Guards Fight to End 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, May/June 2024 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.

Worker blasts state Right to Work repeal: ‘Now… [we] must join or lose our jobs’

Freedom Fighter: Security guard James Reamsma is disappointed that the Right to Work repeal re-imposes forced-dues payments, but he and his coworkers still have a shot to restore their liberty.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – In February, Big Labor allies in the Michigan Legislature and union partisan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer saw their plans to enrich union bosses at the expense of workers come to fruition. The repeal of the state’s Right to Work law — which Whitmer and state legislators backed despite polling showing that 70% of Michiganders wanted the law to remain in place — became effective that month.

Michigan’s Right to Work law, which took effect in 2013, was popular for a reason: It protected the state’s private sector workers from being forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment. Michigan then experienced substantial economic gains while the law was effective. Now that union bosses can again force Michigan workers to pay dues or be fired, it’s no surprise that National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys are seeing worker backlash to the change.

Despite Repeal, Western MI Guards Can Still Restore Worker Freedom

In a rebuke to the Right to Work repeal, security guards from government buildings across Western Michigan in February backed a “deauthorization petition” that will kick off a process that could strip union officials of the United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) of their forced-dues powers. In a non-Right to Work state, deauthorization is the only option that workers have to remove union bosses’ forced-dues power apart from voting the union out in a decertification election.

Similar to the decertification process, workers who petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a deauthorization vote must obtain signatures from 30% or more of their colleagues to trigger a vote. James Reamsma, the security guard who submitted the deauthorization petition with free Foundation legal aid, had signatures far beyond this threshold.

“UGSOA union officials have threatened to have everyone who does not join the union fired,” commented Reamsma. “Many of us are retired police officers, or military, working part time, supplementing our income by providing security for government buildings across Michigan.

“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,” decried Reamsma.

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.”

In addition to providing free aid to Wolverine State workers like Reamsma and his colleagues who are taking legal action to counter forced dues, the Foundation also issued a legal notice in February to all Michigan workers explaining the new legal landscape.

In New Anti-Freedom Environment, Foundation Keeps MI Workers Informed

The notice explains that while union bosses again have forced-dues power in the private sector, private sector workers can still object to paying dues for union political purposes as per the Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision, or end forced dues in their workplace entirely by decertifying or deauthorizing the union.

As for public sector workers, the Foundation’s 2018 victory at the Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME ensures that their freedom from forced dues is still protected by the First Amendment despite the cynical Right to Work repeal.

“Within weeks of Michigan’s Right to Work repeal, we see the harm Big Labor’s coercive policy agenda inflicted 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 exercise those rights,” Mix added.

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

Mayo Clinic nurses MNA

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.