National Right to Work Foundation Issues Legal Notice to Detroit-Area Corewell Nurses Subject to Teamsters Strike Order
Notice reminds nurses wishing to return to work that they must resign their union memberships to avoid potentially ruinous strike fines
Detroit, MI (March 6, 2026) – Today, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation issued a special legal notice for Detroit-area nurses subject to Teamsters Local 2024 union bosses’ potential strike order. The strike order is projected to cover roughly 10,000 nurses across nine different Corewell medical facilities.
The legal notice informs these workers of rights that union officials often do not want them to know. First and foremost, nurses have the right to resign their union memberships and keep working to support their families, thereby avoiding union fines and internal discipline.
“The situation presents serious concerns for nurses who believe there is much to lose from a union-ordered strike and may not want to abandon their patients,” the legal notice reads. “That is why employees confronted with strike demands frequently contact staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to learn how they can avoid fines for continuing to work during a strike to support themselves and their families.”
According to reports, one major sticking point during contract talks has been Teamsters officials’ demands that Corewell management impose a forced-dues clause (often misleadingly referred to as a “union security” clause) over the roughly 10,000 nurses in the work unit, and collect dues for the union. Such a clause would require Corewell to fire nurses who refuse to financially support the union. The Foundation’s notice also contains information about what rights nurses have to rebuff union officials’ forced-dues demands, if the contract ends up allowing them to make such demands.
The notice is available at: https://www.nrtw.org/corewell/.
Foundation: Resign Union Membership Before Returning to Work to Avoid Fines and Discipline
Most importantly, the notice informs nurses who want to keep working that the safest way to avoid strike fines and other punishment by union bosses is to resign their union memberships before returning to work. “If an employee is not a union member, union officials have no power to fine or otherwise discipline him or her,” the notice says. “Employees who are union members, or are unsure as to what they might have signed, have a legal right to resign their membership at any time.”
The Foundation’s special legal notice provides nurses sample union resignation letters, as well as information on how to exercise their right under the CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision to opt out of paying dues for union politics, if union officials succeed in their push to impose a forced-dues contract. “Due to the recent repeal of Right to Work [in Michigan], Teamsters union officials may try to threaten that they can get workers fired for refusal to pay full union dues,” the notice reads. “This is false…workers even in non-Right to Work states can’t be forced to pay dues for anything unrelated to the union’s bargaining functions.”
The notice also gives workers information on the process to submit a “decertification petition,” in which employees request a workplace election to remove the union.
“Since Michigan legislators foolishly repealed the state’s Right to Work law, union officials across the state have engaged in increasingly aggressive tactics to control workers,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Teamsters union officials’ potential strike order against Corewell medical facilities is no exception, and many nurses may rightly think that an order taking thousands of nurses away from their jobs is a bad move for themselves, their families, their patients, and the Detroit community as a whole.
“Corewell nurses should know – regardless of what Teamsters officials may tell them – that they have the right to resign their union memberships and rebuff the union strike order, as well as the right to refrain from paying any dues to support the union’s political activities,” Mix added.
Hydra-Lock Employees Win Decertification Vote, Oust UAW Union
After corruption scandal and Right to Work Repeal, Michigan workers win their freedom from UAW bosses and forced union dues
Detroit, MI (October 29, 2024) – Production and maintenance employees at Hydra-Lock Corp. a hydraulic tooling company based in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, have voted to remove United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 155 union officials from their workplace. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) conducted the vote following Hydra-Lock employee Keith Woody’s submission of a petition in which his colleagues requested an election to “decertify,” or remove, the union. Woody received free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, which includes administering elections to install and remove unions. Woody’s petition contained signatures from the majority of his colleagues in support of having a decertification election, well over the threshold of employee signatures needed to trigger such a vote under NLRB rules.
Michigan legislators’ 2023 repeal of the state’s Right to Work protections went into effect this February, meaning UAW union officials had the legal power to enforce job conditions that required Woody and his coworkers to pay dues or fees just to keep their jobs. In Right to Work states, in contrast, union membership and financial support are strictly voluntary.
The decertification win means Woody and his coworkers are no longer obligated to pay union dues as a condition of employment, and are officially free from UAW union officials’ one-size-fits-all monopoly “representation.”
Michigan Legislators Repealed Right to Work Despite Massive UAW Scandal
In March 2023, a bare majority of Michigan legislators voted along partisan lines to repeal 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. The imposition of union bosses’ power to force employees to “pay up or be fired” came despite polling showing Michiganders, including those in union households, overwhelmingly opposed the elimination of workers’ Right to Work protections.
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. The total cases that Foundation attorneys have filed for Michigan workers in 2024 is already well more than double the number for all of 2023. Foundation-backed workers from across the state have recounted a wide variety of union boss misdeeds since the repeal, including forcing workers with religious objections to join and pay dues, taking dues money directly from workers’ paychecks without their permission, coercing workers into contributing to union Political Action Committees (PACs), and more.
The Michigan Right to Work repeal also came after a years-long federal probe revealed massive corruption within the UAW hierarchy. Over a dozen UAW officials received jail sentences for embezzling and spending millions in workers’ dues money on luxury goods, vacations, and other personal items. A federal monitor is still overseeing the Detroit-based union, and reportedly are investigating current UAW President Shawn Fain for misappropriating union funds and abusing his power.
“Michigan’s repeal of Right to Work left many workers forced to fund union bosses that were ineffective, divisive, or outright corrupt, which is outrageous considering Michigan legislators had just witnessed the implosion of the Detroit-based UAW over corruption and embezzlement,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Hydra-Lock employees, like many others across the state, are nonetheless fighting to regain control of their workplaces from unwanted union hierarchies. We are proud to support their efforts to stand up against union coercion
“Michigan workers should not hesitate to contact National Right to Work Foundation attorneys for free assistance in standing up for what rights they still have in this new legal environment,” Mix added.
Majority of Workers at Detroit-Area Hydraulic Tooling Firm Seek Vote to Oust UAW Union Bosses
Michigan workers continue to seek freedom from union bosses, fight back against union boss malfeasance in wake of Right to Work repeal
Detroit, MI (September 12, 2024) – Production and maintenance employees at Hydra-Lock Corp. a hydraulic tooling company based in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, have just submitted a petition seeking a vote to remove United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 155 union officials from power at their workplace. Hydra-Lock employee Keith Woody submitted the petition to National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 7 in Detroit with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
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. Woody’s petition contains signatures from the majority of his colleagues in support of having a decertification election, well over the 30% threshold of employee signatures needed to trigger such a vote under NLRB rules.
Michigan legislators’ 2023 repeal of the state’s Right to Work protections went into effect this February, meaning UAW union officials have the legal power to enforce contracts that require Woody and his coworkers to pay dues or fees as a condition of getting or keeping a job. In Right to Work states, in contrast, union membership and financial support are strictly voluntary.
If Woody and his coworkers’ decertification effort succeeds, they will be free from both the UAW’s power to speak and contract for all workers in the facility (including the majority that oppose the union), and the obligation to pay dues as a condition of employment.
Michigan Legislators Repealed Right to Work Despite Massive UAW Scandal
In March 2023, a bare majority of Michigan legislators voted along partisan lines to repeal 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. The imposition of union bosses’ power to force employees to “pay up or be fired” came despite polling showing Michiganders, including those in union households, overwhelmingly opposed the elimination of workers’ Right to Work protections.
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. The total cases that Foundation attorneys have filed for Michigan workers in 2024 is already well more than double the number for all of 2023. Foundation-backed workers from across the state have recounted a wide variety of union boss misdeeds since the repeal, including forcing workers with religious objections to join and pay dues, taking dues money directly from workers’ paychecks without their permission, coercing workers into contributing to union Political Action Committees (PACs), and more.
The Michigan Right to Work repeal also came after a years-long federal probe revealed massive corruption within the UAW hierarchy. At least 13 UAW officials received jail sentences for embezzling and spending millions in workers’ dues money on luxury goods, vacations, and other personal items. Federal agents are still monitoring the Detroit-based union, and have recently investigated reports that current UAW President Shawn Fain is misappropriating union property.
“The UAW’s implosion over the embezzlement scandal should have been more than enough evidence for Michigan legislators that workers deserve the right to withhold their money from union bosses who are corrupt, abrasive, or just flat out ineffective,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Instead, as a purely political favor, Michigan policymakers granted union officials the power to have workers fired for refusing to support union agendas, and we’re now seeing worker backlash throughout the state.
“Michigan workers should not hesitate to contact National Right to Work Foundation attorneys for free assistance in standing up for what rights they still have in this new legal environment,” Mix added.
Medstar EMT Hits United Food & Commercial Workers Union with Federal Charges for Illegal Dues Deductions
Growing list of charges exposes how union bosses are violating workers’ rights following repeal of Michigan Right to Work law
Detroit, MI (September 10, 2024) – Nicholas Lenning, an EMT with Medstar Ambulance in Clinton Township, Michigan, has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union Local 876 for illegally deducting union dues out of his paycheck in violation of federal law. Lennings filed the new unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
Lenning filed the federal unfair labor practice charges against UFCW Local 876 after union officials deducted dues from his paycheck without having a signed dues authorization card, and without providing him with notice regarding his rights under the Supreme Court’s Communication Workers of America v. Beck precedent, which was argued and won by attorneys for the Right to Work Foundation.
Lenning’s charge notes that in nearly three years as an employee of Medstar Ambulance, Lenning was never a union member, never signed a membership card and never signed a dues authorization card. The charge further details how, despite lacking his consent, UFCW officials began deducting dues in March 2024, at times appearing to seize extra funds for back union dues. The deductions started shortly after Michigan’s Right to Work law was formally repealed in early February. Lenning even emailed union stewards requesting information about his rights under Beck, but never received any response from the union. NLRB agents will now investigate Lenning’s charges against UFCW officials.
The charges from Lenning are the most recent in a flurry of Foundation-backed cases for Michigan workers who are seeking to challenge or escape union bosses’ coercive power in the wake of Michigan’s repeal of its Right to Work law. Since the repeal became effective this February, union bosses have had the legal power to require workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. In states with Right to Work protections, union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.
However, even in states like Michigan that lack Right to Work protections and allow for forced-fee requirements, longstanding federal law prohibits union bosses from requiring workers to authorize the direct deduction of union dues from their paychecks. The Communications Workers of America v. Beck Supreme Court decision additionally forbids union bosses in non-Right to Work states from forcing workers to pay money for any activities beyond the union’s bargaining functions, such as political lobbying, and organizing.
Without Right to Work, Michigan Workers Increasingly Taking Legal Action Against Union Boss Forced Dues Abuses
In March 2023, a bare majority of Michigan legislators voted along partisan lines to repeal 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. The imposition of union bosses’ power to force employees to “pay up or be fired” came despite polling showing Michiganders, including those in union households, overwhelmingly opposed the elimination of workers’ Right to Work protections.
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. The total cases that Foundation attorneys have filed for Michigan workers in 2024 is already well more than double the number for all of 2023.
“As this case and others demonstrate, within days of Michigan workers being stripped of their Right to Work protections, union bosses were attempting to use the repeal as cover to justify forced dues collections, even in violation of longstanding federal law,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “The flood of legal aid requests Foundation staff attorneys are fielding from Michigan workers since the repeal of Right to Work shows once again that union bosses’ greed for forced dues will lead them to callously and blatantly violate the rights of the very workers they claim to ‘represent.’”
“Without the clear legal line that Right to Work provides by ensuring that all union membership and financial support are strictly voluntary, there unfortunately is little reason to think these types of abuses of workers’ legal rights will not continue to spread across the Great Lake State,” added Mix.
Detroit School Bus Driver Slams Teamsters Union With Federal Charges for Seizing Full Dues Illegally From Paycheck
Teamsters officials ignored First Student driver’s request to opt-out of funding union politics, similar cases increase after MI Right to Work repeal
Detroit, MI (June 14, 2024) – Frances Dennis, a Troy-based school bus driver for First Student, Inc., has just filed federal charges against Teamsters Local 299 union officials for seizing full union dues payments from her wages even though she resigned her membership in the union. Dennis filed the charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 7 in Detroit with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys.
Dennis is seeking to defend her rights under the Foundation-won Communications Workers of America v. Beck Supreme Court decision, which forbids union officials from forcing employees who have abstained from union membership into paying dues or fees for anything beyond the union’s core bargaining functions. Union political expenditures, which often make up part of full membership dues, are among those expenses that Beck prevents union officials from forcing nonmember workers into funding. Nonmember workers who exercise their Beck rights are also entitled to an independent audit of the union’s finances and a breakdown of how union officials spend forced contributions.
In non-Right to Work states, including Michigan where Right to Work was repealed earlier this year, union officials’ privilege to force workers to pay dues or fees as a condition of employment is limited by the Beck ruling. Under federal law and U.S. Supreme Court precedents like General Motors v. NLRB, union officials also can’t compel workers to maintain formal union membership as a condition of getting or keeping a job.
In Right to Work states, in contrast, both union membership and all union financial support are strictly the choice of each individual worker.
Teamsters Continue to Take Money for Politics Unlawfully From School Bus Driver
According to the charges, in December 2023 Dennis sent a letter to Teamsters union officials exercising both her right to resign union membership and her right to cut off union dues deductions from her paycheck. At the time, Michigan’s Right to Work law was still on the books, meaning Teamsters union officials should have honored both of Dennis’ requests. However, her charges state that Teamsters agents “did not respond to this letter and continued to deduct dues from her wages.”
Knowing that the Michigan Legislature had set the Right to Work repeal for February 2024, Dennis sent another letter in January 2024 “objecting to the demand of any dues or fees without the protections guaranteed by Communications Workers of America v. Beck.” She also objected to union officials taking dues from her paycheck. Even where forced-dues arrangements are legal, federal law prohibits union bosses from requiring the payment of such dues through direct payroll deduction.
Dennis’ charges report that Teamsters union bosses have not responded to her letter, have not provided her with any of her Beck rights, and continue to seize full union dues out of her wages. Even worse, a union recording secretary told Dennis via text that “she was required…to complete and submit a dues checkoff form” authorizing direct dues deduction as a condition of keeping her job.
After MI Right to Work Repeal, Cases Challenging Forced Dues Pile Up
Dennis’ case is just the latest in a string filed by Foundation attorneys for Michigan workers seeking to challenge union bosses’ forced-dues arrangements in the wake of Michigan’s Right to Work repeal. Earlier this month, Sault Ste. Marie Meijer employee Joseph Arnold hit his employer with federal charges for compelling him to sign a United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union membership form. In Milford, Kroger employee Roger Cornett levied federal charges against both a UFCW local and the store for jointly enforcing a scheme that forces employees to contribute to the union’s Political Action Committee (PAC) to stay employed. James Reamsma, a Grand Rapids-area security guard, is defending a “deauthorization vote” by security guards across Western Michigan to end the forced-dues power of a United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) union.
“The Michigan Legislature’s cynical and partisan repeal of Right to Work was a blatant power grab for union bosses across the state at the expense of workers’ right to freely decide whether union bosses have earned their financial support,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “As Ms. Dennis’ case and an increasing number of cases from around the state show, union bosses often seek to circumvent or flat out ignore workers’ free association rights, which is why those freedoms deserve stronger and not weaker protections.”
“Perhaps more unsettling is the fact that some of these cases involve union officials illegally funneling worker money into union politics – the same political machine that led to the demise of these workers’ free choice under Right to Work,” Mix added.
Foundation Helps Healthcare Workers Remove Unwanted Unions
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, September/October 2022 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Evidence of union boss “serious financial malpractice” exposed as workers seek to vote out SEIU
Nurse Brittany Burgess (front, center) led her fellow Mayo Clinic nurses in decertifying the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) union. She’s “extremely grateful” for Foundation support.
DETROIT, MI – Workers across America are increasingly fed up with union bosses’ self-serving so-called “representation.” National Right to Work Foundation legal aid requests are spiking from workers seeking assistance in filing decertification petitions to end union monopoly bargaining control in their workplaces. In 2021 alone, Foundation attorneys provided legal assistance in 54 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decertification efforts, which together sought to end union boss control of more than 7,000 workers.
This increased demand has continued in 2022, with healthcare workers in particular seeking the Foundation’s legal aid in exercising their legal right to free themselves from union ranks. In one such ongoing case, Foundation staff attorneys assisted Crystal Harper, an employee at Detroit’s Sinai-Grace Hospital, who along with coworkers battled to oust SEIU Healthcare Michigan union officials.
Harper’s initial petition was rejected after an NLRB regional official dubiously dismissed the petition on the grounds that “Midnight, February 8th” in the union monopoly contract was actually unambiguously a reference to the minute after 11:59 p.m. on May 7. This questionable interpretation of union officials’ sloppily written contract meant that the petition filed on the 8th was actually late under the controversial NLRB-created “contract bar” policy.
Undeterred, that decision was appealed and a second petition for a decertification vote was filed in May after the contract bar had expired and a vote was scheduled. Meanwhile, “substantiated allegations of serious financial malpractice” have come to light involving the SEIU local that were so glaring even SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry couldn’t ignore them, as she was pushed to use the SEIU’s “trusteeship” procedures to oust local officials and take full control of the local.
As a result, in June, Foundation President Mark Mix formally asked the Department of Labor and Department of Justice to investigate the serious allegations of financial and other wrongdoing by SEIU local officials. The letter calling for the federal investigation noted that “any internal SEIU International investigation will be insufficient [given the] long history of union officials attempting to ignore or downplay corruption in their own ranks.”
Foundation Counters Union Legal Tricks to Block Vote
Elsewhere in Michigan, lab technicians at Ascension Providence Rochester Hospital have finally won their effort to be free of unwanted so-called “representation” by union officials of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 40.
During the protracted process, Foundation staff attorneys successfully fought off OPEIU union lawyers’ efforts to block the vote which cited the pending sale of the facility by Ascension to LabCorp as grounds for rejecting the workers’ request for an election. Union lawyers had urged the NLRB regional office to block a vote whether to remove the union on the grounds of an upcoming “cessation of operations” by the employer, a policy previously applied only to certification elections.
In briefs to the NLRB, Foundation staff attorneys countered that union attempts to block the vote were unjustified as a matter of law. Foundation attorneys also noted that the attempt to block the vote was likely a cynical attempt to keep power over the bargaining unit. If the sale ultimately went through, the union would have likely sought to block a decertification vote citing the NLRB-created “successor bar” that insulates union officials from decertification votes after a workplace’s change in ownership.
The Board ultimately rejected the union lawyers’ arguments and scheduled a decertification vote by mail-in ballot. However, rather than go forward with a vote they seemingly knew they were going to lose, OPEIU officials instead disclaimed interest in the unit, finally giving the workers the freedom from unwanted union representation they sought.
Meanwhile in Minnesota, multiple groups of healthcare workers are seeking decertification votes with Foundation legal aid. At the Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, Minnesota, approximately 500 nurses filed a petition for a vote to remove the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) union, while two separate units of Cuyuna of the lawsuit, Regional Medical Center healthcare workers located at facilities in Crosby, Baxter, Longville, and Breezy Point, Minnesota, filed for decertification votes to free themselves from the SEIU.
Hundreds of Minnesota Nurses Petition to Be Union Free
“I’m extremely grateful to have the free legal assistance of the National Right to Work Foundation in fighting for our right to hold a vote to remove the union,” commented Mayo Clinic Mankato nurse Brittany Burgess. “I can’t wait until the day when we are all finally free of the MNA.”
One likely reason for the increased decertification activity is Foundation-advocated reforms that were adopted by the NLRB in 2020 to curtail union officials’ abuse of so-called “blocking charges,” which they use to delay or block workers from exercising their right to decertify a union. However, with the Biden-appointed NLRB majority recently announcing it was starting rulemaking to overturn those reforms, Foundation staff attorneys are now gearing up to challenge the Biden Board’s attempt to give union bosses more power to trap workers in union ranks they oppose.
“Foundation staff attorneys will continue to assist workers in exercising their rights under federal law to hold decertification elections to remove so-called ‘representation’ opposed by most workers,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President and Legal Director Raymond LaJeunesse. “The Biden NLRB is clearly prioritizing union boss power to the detriment of the rights of rank-and-file workers. Look no further than the fact that just as the Board seeks to expand the ability of union officials to impose unionization on workers through coercive ‘Card Checks’ without even secret-ballot votes, it simultaneously plans to make it easier for union lawyers to block workers from holding votes to remove a union.”
