IBEW Local 16 Folds in Case Concerning Illegal $1.29 Million Retaliatory ‘Fine’ Threat Against Local Electrician
Union bosses imposed illegal limitations on resigning union membership, told electrician he would be fined for starting new business unless he signed with the union
Evansville, IN (September 30, 2025) – Brian Head, an Evansville-based electrician, has vindicated his federal labor rights against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 16 union. Head filed federal charges after IBEW union officials threatened him with a $1.29 million internal disciplinary fine even though he had validly resigned his union membership. He filed the charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The settlement requires union officials to rescind all fines against Head, expunge all records of them, and refrain from interfering with workers who exercise their right to resign their union membership in the future. The union is also required to notify other workers of their legal right to resign their union membership without restriction, and be free of any attempt to impose internal union fines post-resignation.
Fine Threats Came After Electrician Refused to Hand Over Business to Union Power
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual employees. Head’s charges document that he had resigned his IBEW union membership on March 27, 2025, in a notarized letter that IBEW officials acknowledged receiving. However, the union’s reply letter claimed that “[i]t is a six-month process before the resignation is finally effective.”
The NLRA forbids restricting the right of workers to resign their union memberships. Section 7 of the NLRA enshrines workers’ right to refrain from union membership. Furthermore, union bosses cannot impose discipline or fines upon nonmember workers.
IBEW Local 16 union officials began retaliating against Head after he resigned his union membership and announced he was purchasing a non-union electrical firm. Head refused to sign an IBEW Letter of Assent, which would have likely forced his employees under union control without any kind of worker vote.
Following Head declining to hand over his business to a union he was no longer legally affiliated with, IBEW Local 16 officials sent Head correspondence on May 1 demanding he appear before a union tribunal. Head later received a letter from IBEW Local 16 bosses on June 9 finding him “guilty” of violating the union’s constitution and imposing a “$1.29 Million dollar fine” as a penalty.
Foundation-Won Settlement Forces IBEW to Inform Workers of Rights
An NLRB Regional Director reviewed Head’s charges against IBEW union officials’ overreach, and made a merit determination in his favor, finding that the IBEW Local 16 union officials violated Head’s rights under the NLRA. IBEW union officials quickly decided to back down and settle rather than go to trial against the NLRB and Head’s Foundation lawyers. In addition to expunging their million-dollar-plus retaliatory fine, the settlement details that IBEW bosses must stop informing workers that there are restrictions on the right to resign one’s union membership. Additionally, they must inform all their members of their rights under the NLRA, and post the settlement on the union’s website.
“The Foundation is pleased to have assisted Mr. Head as he challenged IBEW union bosses’ attempt to illegally extort him after he had followed all legal procedures necessary to break free from the union,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “IBEW union bosses’ use of strong-arm tactics demonstrates that they value maintaining control over Indiana electricians far above respecting those electricians’ individual rights.
“Whenever union bosses violate the rights of any American worker, Foundation attorneys are ready to assist in their defense,” Mix added.
Electric Utility Worker Asks Trump NLRB to Prosecute IBEW’s Restrictive Policies That Compel Workers to Fund Union Politics
Electric utility worker asks NLRB General Counsel to seek Board ruling against union policies that force nonmembers to fund union political spending
Benson, MN (September 23, 2025) – Theresa Klassen, an employee of Agralite Electric Cooperative, is asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to expedite consideration of Big Labor schemes that force workers to pay dues for union political activities. Klassen has filed an appeal with the NLRB’s Acting General Counsel, asking him to issue a complaint in her case after an NLRB Regional Director let International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union officials off the hook for violating her rights. Klassen is receiving free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Klassen originally filed charges against both the IBEW international union and IBEW Local 160 to defend her rights under Communications Workers of America v. Beck. In this Foundation-won landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Court ruled that union officials cannot force workers who abstain from membership to pay dues for anything beyond the union’s monopoly bargaining functions – including politics.
Even though Klassen successfully resigned her union membership, union bosses continued to demand full dues payments from her – including dues for union political expenditures. When she invoked her Beck rights with assistance from Foundation staff attorneys, union bosses then claimed that she could only opt out of dues payments for politics within a narrow 30-day “window period” each year in the month of November.
Brief: IBEW Union Clearly Violating National Labor Relations Act
Klassen’s appeal argues that it would violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) “for a union to demand payment for any dues beyond what Section 8(a)(3) requires unless that employee affirmatively consented to pay full union dues.” Under the Beck decision, Section 8(a)(3) only permits union bosses to demand dues for union expenses that are directly related to bargaining.
Now, Klassen is asking the NLRB to uphold this interpretation and end all opt-out requirements, so that union officials must obtain explicit permission from employees to take payments for non-bargaining-related functions, including union political and lobbying activities.
Klassen is also asking the NLRB to end window period practices for becoming Beck objectors, as they similarly violate the NLRA by preventing workers from exercising their rights. Window period restrictions on when employees can exercise their Beck rights allow union officials to extract money from workers after they’ve already objected to financially supporting union political activities.
“The IBEW should be respecting my rights, not throwing up roadblocks so they can continue to use my paycheck dollars to fund their own agenda,” said Klassen. “The NLRB needs to recognize that union officials are violating the law; otherwise, these rights are not rights at all.”
Union Officials Use Restrictive Policies to Consolidate Power
Because Minnesota lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, IBEW union officials can impose contracts that force Klassen and her coworkers to pay union dues as a condition of keeping their jobs, though this amount is limited by the Beck decision. In contrast, in Minnesota’s neighboring Right to Work states, union officials cannot force workers to pay any dues or fees just to keep their jobs.
“Free association is a right of every American, including workers who don’t want to associate with a union,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It’s telling that IBEW officials are using a legally suspect policy to make it needlessly difficult for workers to stop supporting the union’s political activities.
“While the NLRB General Counsel should urge the agency to address these illicit schemes swiftly, ultimately Minnesotans and all Americans deserve Right to Work protections, which would make all union financial support strictly voluntary,” Mix added.
Evansville Electrician Files Federal Charges Against IBEW Local 16 for Union Bosses’ $1.29 Million Retaliatory ‘Fine’
Electrician validly resigned union membership and left union to purchase a non-union electrical firm, but union used sham proceeding to levy massive fine
Evansville, IN (June 30, 2025) – Brian Head, an Evansville-based electrician, has just filed federal charges against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 16 union for threatening him with a $1.29 million fine after he exercised his right to resign from the union. Head filed his charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
IBEW Union Bosses Threaten Fake Limits on Membership Resignation, Bogus Discipline
Head’s charges to the NLRB, which is the agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, report that he resigned his IBEW union membership on March 27, 2025, in a notarized letter that IBEW officials acknowledged in an April 3 reply letter. However, the reply letter claimed that “[i]t is a six-month process before the resignation is finally effective.”
Putting such restrictions on workers’ right to resign their union memberships has no basis in law. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and U.S. Supreme Court decisions like Pattern Makers v. NLRB spell out that workers have a right to end union membership and union officials cannot require such membership as a condition of getting or keeping a job (though states that lack Right to Work laws like Indiana’s let union officials force workers to pay dues or be fired). Union officials also may not impose union discipline, like fines, on workers who aren’t members.
In the interim between the two letters, IBEW Local 16 pursued union discipline against Head for “purchas[ing] a non-union electrical contractor and…decid[ing] not to sign a Letter of Assent” that would have likely handed the business over to union control without any kind of worker vote. Notably, the union’s discipline took place after Head’s March 27 union resignation – meaning Head was legally beyond the union’s powers to impose any sort of internal punishment.
Union Letter Imposes Million-Dollar-Plus ‘Punishment’ on Electrician
Nevertheless, IBEW Local 16 officials sent Head correspondence on May 1 demanding he appear before a union tribunal. Head later received a letter from IBEW Local 16 bosses on June 9 finding him “guilty” of violating the union’s constitution and imposing a “$1.29 Million dollar fine” as a penalty.
“IBEW Local 16 union bosses’ imposition of this cruel million-dollar-plus ‘punishment’ on a rank-and-file worker shows that their real priority is maintaining cartel-like control over Indiana electricians – not standing up for workers’ rights or freedom,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “IBEW bosses have no legal grounds for this obscene exploitation. But as ridiculous as this situation is, it’s important to remember that union monopoly bargaining is still the law of the land in all 50 states – a power that allows overtly self-interested union bosses like IBEW officials to extend their so-called ‘representation’ over every worker in a unionized facility, no matter how strenuously any worker opposes the union.”
Minnesota Electric Utility Employee Challenges IBEW Nationwide Policy Coercing Worker Contributions to Union’s Political Activity
Worker charges union with blocking her right under CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision to end payments for union politics
Benson, MN (April 8, 2025) – An employee of Agralite Electric Cooperative, an electric utility company in Western Minnesota, has just filed federal charges against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union, challenging nationwide restrictions union officials impose on workers who wish to cut off financial support for union political activities. The worker, Theresa Klassen, filed charges against both the IBEW international union and IBEW Local 160 at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 18 in Minneapolis. Klassen is represented for free by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law and adjudicating disputes between employers, union officials, and individual employees. In her charges, Klassen is defending her rights under the landmark Foundation-won Communications Workers of America (CWA) v. Beck Supreme Court decision, which forbids union officials from forcing workers who have refrained from formal union membership to pay dues for anything beyond the union’s monopoly bargaining functions. Union political expenditures are one expense employees can opt out of paying by invoking their Beck rights.
Because Minnesota lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, IBEW union officials can impose contracts that force Klassen and her coworkers to pay union dues as a condition of keeping their jobs. However, nonmember workers like Klassen can object to paying full dues and instead pay a reduced amount under Beck. In contrast, in Right to Work states like all of Minnesota’s neighbors, union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.
“It’s disappointing that IBEW union officials can legally force me to fork over even a little bit of my paycheck to them after I resigned my membership, but refusing to pay for union politics is my right and the IBEW isn’t respecting it,” commented Klassen. “They’ve put a bunch of time limitations on when I can exercise this right, and are also requiring me to contact union bosses in Washington, D.C. who I have never met just to prevent my money from going toward union politicking I oppose. This is wrong.”
Filings: IBEW Officials Illegally Rebuffed Worker Twice After Receiving Requests to Stop Funneling Money to Union Politics
Klassen’s charges state that she first contacted her local union to resign her union membership in October 2024. While Local 160 union officials acknowledged her resignation letter, they claimed that the IBEW’s national policy is to “not allow nonmembers automatic Beck objector status,” and for that reason she would need to send a letter to the union’s international headquarters to opt out of paying for union politics. Local 160’s reply also stated that Beck objections would only be accepted during “window periods” of time comprising only 8-16% of the year, according to her charges.
Klassen’s charges also state that she sent a Beck objection letter to the IBEW international headquarters again in February 2025. IBEW union agents rejected this request as well, alleging that Klassen’s request fell outside the arbitrary time restrictions set by the union. Klassen is charging both IBEW Local 160 and the IBEW international union with enforcing these illicit limits on her Beck rights.
Window period restrictions on when employees can exercise their Beck rights allow union officials to extract money from workers who have already objected to financially supporting union activities. The creation of window periods is not authorized or otherwise mentioned in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the federal labor law governing the private sector. Foundation attorneys are assisting multiple AT&T workers in Florida battle a similar scheme concocted by CWA officials.
“That IBEW union bosses are enforcing a nationwide policy making it needlessly difficult to stop supporting the union’s political activities should tell workers exactly what the union’s priorities are,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “While Beck rights are an important protection for workers in non-Right to Work states, no American worker should be forced to subsidize any union activities that they disagree with, whether political or not.”
IBEW Union Back Down After Chicago 911 Operator Filed Charges Challenging Dues Seizures
IBEW union officials falsely told employee that union had no power to stop dues deductions
Chicago, IL (October 24, 2024) – Patricia Whittaker, a 911 operator for the City of Chicago, has triumphed in her legal fight to halt union dues payments to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 21 after union officials misled her about her rights and obstructed her attempts to stop the deductions. With help from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Whittaker filed charges with the Illinois Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to assert her rights.
Whittaker sent multiple requests to IBEW union officials to end union deductions, as is her First Amendment right under the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision. In Janus, the Supreme Court declared that union officials could not force public sector employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment, and that union officials must obtain affirmative employee consent before deducting union dues from any public worker’s paycheck.
Union officials instead engaged in a deceptive cycle in which Whittaker was told to resolve the matter with her employer, while the employer directed her back to the union, resulting in continued dues deductions without her consent that lasted over 10 months. In doing so, the charges maintained, union officials misstated the law by making it appear as if the employer, not the union, was the one responsible for ordering a stop to dues deductions.
Union Deception Violates Workers’ Rights
As part of this scheme, IBEW Local 21 union officials at one point tried to portray themselves as the “good guys” by continuing to take dues money from Whittaker’s paycheck, but then “reimbursing” those dues deductions by check, according to Whittaker’s charges. They did this to appear as if they were pacifying Whittaker while they worked out a way to “win her back,” despite the fact that Whittaker made clear to them she just wanted to cut ties with the union.
In Other Recent Case, IBEW Local 21 Stopped Janus Violations After Foundation Involvement
This isn’t the first time IBEW 21 union officials have been caught imposing illegal dues practices on Chicago 911 employees. In June, Rhonda Younkins, also triumphed in her months-long legal battle to exercise her First Amendment right to stop all union dues payments to IBEW Local 21. As with Whittaker’s case, IBEW Local 21 union officials stopped their violation of Younkins’ Janus rights only after Foundation attorneys filed charges at PERB on Younkins’ behalf.
Continued Impact of Janus Decision
The Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court ruling, issued in June 2018, affirmed that public employees cannot be forced to pay union dues or fees without their affirmative consent. This decision has empowered employees like Whittaker to challenge union overreach and unlawful dues deductions. Since the ruling, hundreds of thousands public employees across the country have exercised their Janus rights to opt out of union payments.
The Janus ruling has already led to major changes across the country. Before the decision, millions of public sector workers, including many in Illinois, were required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. Immediately following the ruling, around 450,000 public employees stopped paying union dues, with many others following in subsequent years as litigation backed by Foundation attorneys continues to defend their rights.
“The behavior of IBEW Local 21 union officials highlight just how crucial it is for public employees to be aware of and assert their Janus rights,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “While we are pleased to see IBEW officials back down once again, it is unacceptable that it takes aggressive legal action just to force union officials to respect workers’ constitutional rights.”
Chicago 911 Operator Successfully Defends Janus Rights Against IBEW Forced Dues
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.
Six years after Janus, union bosses still violating workers’ First Amendment rights, but workers fight back
Hundreds of thousands of American public sector workers felt the impact of the Foundation-won Janus decision almost immediately after the Supreme Court decided it in June 2018, and its legacy has only continued to grow.
CHICAGO, IL – “I decided to leave [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)] 21 because for some time now I believed that IBEW 21 was not acting in the best interest of its members. Be it a new job title that senior employees were deliberately misinformed about, to breach of contract on my employer’s part, to having to navigate the police and court alone after being threatened at work, IBEW 21 was either ineffective or absent.”
This is how Rhonda Younkins, a City of Chicago 911 operator, described the so-called “representation” she and her colleagues were getting from IBEW 21 union bosses. With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, Younkins in June was able to force IBEW Local 21 officials to return unlawfully deducted dues and cease future payroll deductions.
IBEW Bosses Backed Off Anti-Janus Demands After Foundation Involvement
Younkins was defending her rights under the landmark Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision. In Janus, the justices ruled that the First Amendment forbids union bosses from forcing public sector workers to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment. The Justices further clarified that union officials could only take dues from a worker’s paycheck after receiving their clear and affirmative consent.
Younkins repeatedly tried to end dues payments to the IBEW 21 union, but union officials either ignored her requests or tried to foist other demands on her. After many unsuccessful attempts, Younkins sought free legal aid from Foundation staff attorneys, who filed charges against the IBEW union at the Illinois Labor Relations Board (ILRB).
IBEW 21 union officials eventually backed down, ceased dues collections, and issued refunds of past illegally seized dues.
Janus Impact Still Growing
While Younkins’ reasons for defunding IBEW union bosses are unique to her job and experience, she’s certainly not alone in using Janus to break free from union bosses’ influence. After Janus was issued in 2018, an estimated 450,000 public employees immediately stopped payment to unions, and in the six years since then, Foundation-backed litigation has helped defend the rights of tens of thousands of other government employees.
“We at the Foundation are encouraged at the strides workers have made since our Janus victory at the Supreme Court,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens. “But the fight is far from over. As cases like Ms. Younkins’ show, union bosses still stonewall public workers when they try to exercise their First Amendment Janus freedoms, and private sector workers don’t yet enjoy similar protections.
“Foundation staff attorneys will keep fighting for a future where all American workers’ right to freely associate or dissociate with a union is fully protected,” Semmens added.
IBEW Union Bosses Back Down after Attempting to Trap Chicago 911 Operator in Forced Dues in Violation of First Amendment
Facing state prosecution for violating City employee’s rights under 2018 Janus US Supreme Court ruling, IBEW stops dues seizure & issues refund
Chicago, IL (July 1, 2024) –Rhonda Younkins, a 911 operator employed by the City of Chicago, has just prevailed in her months long legal effort to exercise her right under the First Amendment to stop all union dues payments to IBEW Local 21 union officials. Younkins had repeatedly attempted to end dues payments, as is her right under the 2018 Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision, only to have IBEW union officials ignore her or make other demands.
After Ms. Younkins’ requests to stop dues were repeatedly rebuffed by union officials, she contacted the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, whose attorneys won and argued the Janus case at the U.S. Supreme Court. Foundation staff attorneys filed charges against IBEW Local 21 on Ms. Younkins behalf at the Illinois Labor Relations Board (ILRB), which oversees labor law for government employees in Illinois.
When it became clear that ILRB officials would be issuing a complaint against IBEW 21 for violating Younkins’ legal rights, union officials backed down by agreeing to stop dues collections. They also agreed to refund past dues.
“I decided to leave IBEW 21 because for some time now I believed that IBEW 21 was not acting in the best interest of its members,” stated Younkins. “Be it a new job title that senior employees were deliberately misinformed about, to breach of contract on my employer’s part, to having to navigate the police and court alone after being threatened at work, IBEW 21 was either ineffective or absent.”
Regarding her extended legal ordeal to force union officials to respect her legal rights, Younkins commented: “Verbal communication is ill advised when dealing with IBEW 21’s [officials], it’s best to get everything in writing, even then you may still get double talk and word salad. Faith and trust in IBEW 21 were lost a long time ago.”
Younkins’ long sought victory occurred just as the 6th anniversary of the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court victory approached. That case, won by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys in June 2018, affirmed that public employees like Younkins have a First Amendment right not to fund union activities.
Prior to Janus, millions of government workers in Illinois and elsewhere were required as a condition of employment to pay dues or fees to union officials. Immediately after the ruling, an estimated 450,000 public employees immediately stopped payment to unions, and since then Foundation-backed litigation has helped defend the rights of tens of thousands of other government employees.
“Six years ago, the Janus U.S. Supreme Court landmark victory affirmed the rights of public employees like Rhonda Younkins to funding the activities of union officials they oppose,” stated Foundation President Mark Mix. “Unfortunately, this situation demonstrates how union officials continue to resist Janus and refuse to accept that individual public employees are now free to decide whether or not a union boss deserves their financial support.”
“It shouldn’t take months of back and forth, not to mention a state labor board charge, just to force union officials to comply with the First Amendment,” added Mix. “This case against the IBEW shows why our Foundation exists, and we encourage others seeking to exercise their Janus rights to contact Foundation staff attorneys for free legal aid right away.”
Anaheim Assa Abloy Worker Seeks Federal Court Order Against IBEW Union for Instigating Illegal Termination
Federal law prohibits conditioning employment on union membership, yet IBEW bosses demanded firing after worker refrained from joining union
Los Angeles, CA (June 16, 2023) – An Anaheim-based employee of automated door manufacturer Assa Abloy is hitting the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441 union and his employer with federal charges, maintaining that union officials unlawfully instigated his firing because he abstained from union membership. The worker, Jaime Zambrano, filed his charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 21 in Los Angeles with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
California’s lack of Right to Work protections grants union officials the power to get workers fired for refusing to pay dues or fees to the union. However, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) forbids union officials from conditioning employment on formal union membership, even in non-Right to Work states. Zambrano maintains that, despite his paying the required amount of union dues to stay employed, Assa Abloy management terminated him at union officials’ behest after he didn’t fill out a union membership form.
Zambrano’s charge also seeks his immediate reinstatement via a 10(j) injunction against both his employer and the union. Under Section 10(j) of the NLRA, the NLRB General Counsel can seek a federal court order immediately stopping particularly egregious violations of federal law.
IBEW Union Officials Made Illegal Membership Demand, Gave Worker No Timeline
Zambrano began paying union dues to the IBEW union in September of 2022. In the spring of 2023, union officials sent him paperwork, including a union membership form. No indication was given of when union officials expected the paperwork to be completed and returned.
Zambrano discovered in late May that Assa Abloy officials were terminating him at IBEW bosses’ request because they had not received the membership form from him. While firing a worker for refraining from union membership is a clear infringement of federal labor law, Zambrano’s charge also says that union officials’ not providing him a timeline of when the paperwork should be completed is a “fail[ure] to comply with the requirements of Philadelphia Sheraton,” an NLRB case that requires union officials to inform workers of exactly what their obligations are.
“Because of these egregious and bad-faith acts, the Charging Party demands that the General Counsel seek 10(j) relief seeking his reinstatement,” reads Zambrano’s charge.
“IBEW union officials are playing outrageous games with Mr. Zambrano’s livelihood and potentially the livelihoods of many other workers who simply don’t want to affiliate with the IBEW,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Getting a worker thrown off a job merely for refusal to join a union is a violation of black letter federal labor law – union officials who can’t get workers to join voluntarily certainly shouldn’t be able to compel such membership by threatening to upend the careers of those who dissent from the union.”
“But even if IBEW officials were acting fully within the bounds of California and federal labor law, Mr. Zambrano would still be forced to pay dues to the union just to keep his job because of California’s lack of a Right to Work law,” Mix added. “This kind of forced association has no place in America, and all American workers deserve Right to Work protections that ensure that union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.”
Michigan Worker Wins NLRB Decision Against Union Boss Scheme to Undercut Right to Work in Michigan
Union bosses sought to impose coercive in-person ID requirement on workers seeking to exercise the right to stop paying union fees
Springfield, VA (February 15, 2017) – With legal representation provided by attorneys from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a Michigan worker has won a battle against illegal barriers created by union officials seeking to restrict workers from resigning their union membership and exercising their rights under Michigan’s Right to Work law.
In October 2014, after Michigan’s new Right to Work law went into effect, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 58 union officials imposed a new policy governing the procedures for resigning formal union membership and revoking dues checkoff. These procedures demanded that resignations take place in person at the Local 58 union hall in Detroit, Michigan, where the worker would have to present photo identification and a corresponding written resignation and/or dues checkoff revocation.
After the policy was implemented, Ryan Greene, a worker who lives several hours away from the IBEW Local 58 union hall, decided to exercise his right to resign his formal union membership and revoke his dues checkoff authorization. Upon encountering the restrictive policy created by Local 58 union officials, Greene filed a federal Unfair Labor Practice charge with the NLRB alleging that the new policy was unlawful and violated the rights of workers as guaranteed in the National Labor Relations Act.
The ULP charge argued that forcing workers to appear in person with a photo ID violated workers’ rights by illegally hindering their right to resign at any time from the union and to revoke dues checkoff authorizations.
The regional General Counsel for the NLRB investigated and issued a complaint. The administrative law judge who heard the case dismissed the complaint, but the Foundation staff attorneys appealed to the full NLRB for Greene.
After the briefing concluded, the NLRB issued a 2-1 decision determining that the policy set by Local 58 officials infringed on workers rights. The Board’s opinion rules that the policy was an illegal restriction placed by the union on the members’ rights to resign and revoke, because it imposes a significant burden on exercising those rights.
“This case is just another example of union officials’ campaign to prevent the workers they claim to ‘represent’ from exercising their rights under the state’s popular new Right to Work law,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Instead of cooking up schemes to trap workers into paying union dues, union officials should ask themselves why they are so afraid of giving workers a choice when it comes to union membership and dues payment.”
Since Michigan enacted its Right to Work law in 2012, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have successfully worked to defend the law against union challenges and assist workers in exercising their right under the law to resign from union membership and stop all payment of union dues and fees. Since the law was enacted, Foundation attorneys have filed some 28 legal actions for Michigan workers seeking to exercise their rights as protected by Right to Work.
Wisconsin Nuclear Plant Worker Hits Union Officials with Federal Charges for Retaliation and Discrimination
Union officials ordered employee removed and banned from travel assignments for exercising rights under Wisconsin Right to Work law
Green Bay, WI (March 1, 2017) – With free legal representation by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Wisconsin nuclear plant worker has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against his employer, NextEra Energy, IBEW Locals 204 and 2150, IBEW Local System Council U-4, and the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) Local 555 for illegal discrimination and retaliation in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
Clifford Teeter of Augusta, Wisconsin, is employed by NextEra Energy at its Two Rivers facility as a Lead Auxiliary Operator. Currently, the workers at the Two Rivers facility are under NextEra’s union monopoly bargaining contract with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2150. NextEra also has an agreement with three other IBEW and UWUA union locals to allow NextEra management to send workers on temporary work assignments at NextEra plants in other states.
In July 2016, NextEra and IBEW Local 2150 sent out an email to Teeter and his co-workers asking for volunteers for a month long travel assignment at NextEra’s facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Teeter volunteered for the assignment and was officially selected by NextEra for the assignment.
On September 12, Teeter notified NextEra and Local 2150 that he had resigned his formal union membership and revoked his dues checkoff authorization. Under federal law an employee can resign his formal union membership at any time, and it is illegal for union officials to retaliate against an employee for choosing to exercise this right. In addition, Right to Work laws in 28 states – including Wisconsin and Iowa – give employees the right to cut off all dues and fees to the union, leaving union membership and dues payment completely voluntary.
Soon after the resignation, Local 2150 officials informed Teeter that they were having NextEra remove him from the travel assignment because he was no longer a member in good standing with the Local. NextEra complied with the request, removing Teeter from the assignment and giving his spot to the next most senior union member.
Teeter was later informed by Local 2150 officials that he would only be eligible for future travel assignments if he rejoined the Local. Faced with this discrimination, Teeter reached out to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation for free legal aid, and filed federal unfair labor practice charges against NextEra and the four unions involved in the agreement, with the help of Foundation staff attorneys.
The federal unfair labor practice charges allege that the resource sharing agreement discriminates against workers who choose to exercise their right to disassociate from a union. The discriminatory actions of NextEra and the associated union local officials deprived Teeter of overtime, incentive, and bonus pay, as well as other career opportunities that he would have earned by going on the travel assignment.
“Unfortunately, even in states like Wisconsin that have Right to Work protections, union bosses are willing to use any tactic, legal or illegal, to retaliate against workers who exercise their right to resign their membership and cut off dues payments to a union they do not support,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “Wisconsin’s Right to Work law is very clear: no worker can be punished for their choice to abstain from union membership. This case shows that vigilance is necessary to ensure that Right to Work protections for employees are vigorously enforced.”
Mr. Teeter’s case is one of many relating to Wisconsin’s Right to Work law, which was enacted in 2015. Foundation staff attorneys have submitted amicus briefs in federal and state court in response to union boss lawsuits attempting to overturn the Right to Work protections for Wisconsin employees. A federal judge upheld the law and the state lawsuit is pending. In addition, since Wisconsin enacted Right to Work, Foundation attorneys have filed 19 actions defending and enforcing Right to Work protections for workers, with 8 actions currently active.
