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

12 Mar 2026

Two Groups of Sofitel DC Lafayette Square Hotel Employees Officially Win Efforts to Free Themselves of Unwanted Unions

Posted in News Releases

Despite extended union-instigated delays, around 80 employees have formally removed Unite Here and IUOE union bosses from their workplace

Washington, DC (March 12, 2026) – Two separate groups of employees of Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square have prevailed in their battle to free themselves from the “representation” of Unite Here Local 25 and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99 union officials. Their victories were cemented after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officially certified the results of their votes to remove the unions.

Sofitel Lafayette employee Mwandu Chibwe spearheaded the Unite Here “decertification” effort for the more than 60 food service workers, front of house workers, room attendants, and other hospitality workers. The engineers’ and painters’ decertification of IUOE Local 99 was led by Yuri Lishchenko. Both workers received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.

The NLRB, the federal agency responsible for administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions, certified Chibwe’s election on March 11, and Lishchenko’s election on March 10. Both groups are now free from the unwanted presence of union bosses in their workplace, despite Unite Here and IUOE union bosses’ attempts to disenfranchise the workers by filing charges against Sofitel Lafayette management with NLRB Region 5.

Union Bosses Abused NLRB System to Delay Employees’ Decertification Votes

Chibwe and her colleagues were trapped for years by Unite Here Local 25 after successfully voting in June 2024 to remove the union. Rather than respect the outcome of the election, Unite Here officials challenged the election by filing “blocking charges” against the hotel’s management and objections to the election result.

Blocking charges, in which union officials allege employer misbehavior, are a common tactic abused by union officials to delay or prevent workers from removing unwanted unions. Those charges were only withdrawn by Unite Here in January 2026 when it likely became clear its officials lacked the evidence necessary to support the charge.

Despite Unite Here’s charges lacking the evidence needed to overturn the workers’ vote, Chibwe’s election remained in limbo for two months until union officials dropped their objections to the election results this week, allowing the workers’ vote removing Unite Here to finally be certified by the NLRB.

Lishchenko and his coworkers petitioned the NLRB in June of 2025 for their election. However, due to the IUOE filing blocking charges against Sofitel, it took until March 2, 2026, for the workers to vote. The election took place after the NLRB investigated the IUOE’s charges and dismissed them, finding they were without merit.

“We are pleased to have been able to help Ms. Chibwe, Mr. Lishchenko, and their colleagues in freeing themselves from unwanted union bosses,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It is appalling, though not surprising, that union bosses frequently move to disenfranchise and trap workers in their rank-and-file rather than accept that they are no longer wanted by workers they purport to ‘represent.’

“This situation shows how the NLRB currently allows unproven union legal claims that lack any evidence to keep workers trapped in unions they oppose for months or years at a time,” Mix added. “We hope President Trump’s new appointees to the NLRB promptly take steps to defend workers against the rampant abuse of the current ‘blocking charge’ policy by union bosses seeking to disenfranchise employees opposed to unionization.”

9 Jan 2026

Two Additional Heavy Equipment Operators Targeted By Operating Engineers Union Bosses File Federal Charges

Posted in News Releases

Workers face unlawful IUOE union bosses’ retaliation measures for remaining employed with nonunion contractor

Lawrenceville, GA (January 9, 2026) – Two more employees of Dennis Taylor & Co., John Stroh and David Johnson, have filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 926. They now join their coworkers Michael Mitchem, Billy Johnson, and Chris Oaks who filed similar charges in September 2025 stating that IUOE union officials subjected them to illegal post-resignation discipline after the employees legally resigned their union memberships.

The workers’ charges were filed at the NLRB with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act and adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual employees.

After Stroh and Johnson had resigned their memberships so they could continue working, IUOE union officials sent both workers a letter threatening them with fines for simply going to work with an employer that had been part of a “hiring hall” arrangement with the IUOE in the past.

The employees resigned their union membership after Dennis Taylor & Co. ended an arrangement requiring it to employ workers through an IUOE hiring hall. Legally, union-run hiring halls are supposed to be accessible to both union members and nonmembers seeking employment with employers that chose to make use of hiring halls to fill open roles. However, there is a long history of union officials using hiring halls to discriminate against nonmembers and coerce workers into formal union membership in order to attain employment.

IUOE union officials are allegedly pursuing illegal internal disciplinary measures against resigned former members months and years after they cut their ties with the union. Longstanding law says workers cannot face discipline for actions that occur after a worker has resigned from union membership.

Union bosses have a history of retaliating against workers with ruinous “disciplinary” fines, frequently for thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. In one recent case, Foundation staff attorneys successfully defended an Indiana electrician against an attempt by IBEW bosses to illegally levy a $1.3 million fine.

“It is unfortunate that it is necessary for more workers to file federal charges to defend themselves against IUOE union bosses’ thuggish intimidation tactics,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “They now join a growing number of their colleagues who are standing up to IUOE union officials’ illegal persecution.

“Like the vast majority of American workers, these employees simply want to work without any union affiliations, and it is outrageous that IUOE bosses are attempting to retaliate against them for making that simple choice,” added Mix.

21 Oct 2025

Heavy Equipment Operators File Federal Charges Against Operating Engineers Union for Illegal Retaliation

Posted in News Releases

IUOE union officials unlawfully threatened “internal discipline” fines against workers who continued employment with nonunion contractor

Lawrenceville, GA (October 21, 2025) – A group of construction industry employees of Dennis Taylor & Co. have filed federal charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 926 alleging IUOE union officials subjected them to illegal post-resignation discipline after the employees legally resigned their union memberships.

The workers’ charges were filed at the NLRB with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act and adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual employees.

The employees, Michael Mitchem, Billy Johnson, David Johnson, and Chris Oaks resigned their IUOE memberships months or years ago. Despite this, union officials are threatening the workers with fines, apparently for working at Dennis Taylor & Co., which once was part of a “hiring hall” arrangement with IUOE, but no longer is.

The resignations came after Dennis Taylor & Co. removed itself from an arrangement to hire employees through an IUOE union boss-controlled hiring hall. In theory, both union members and nonmembers can utilize union-run hiring halls to find employment with employers that have decided to utilize the hiring hall to fill openings. However there is a long history of union officials using hiring halls to discriminate against nonmembers and coerce workers into formal union membership in order to attain employment.

The charges filed by Michael Mitchem, Billy Johnson, and Chris Oaks each state that even before formally resigning from the union, the employees were never voluntary union members, as they had been misled into believing that union membership was mandatory. Though union officials frequently mislead workers into believing that formal union membership is required, the problem is especially prevalent when employment involves union hiring halls.

Under longstanding law, only fully voluntary union members can be subjected to internal union discipline, which often involves fines levied against workers at odds with union boss demands. Workers cannot face discipline for actions that occur after a worker has resigned from such voluntary union membership.

“Contrary to the apparent wishes of IUOE Local 926 union bosses, formal union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment, a precedent in place since the early 1960s,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It is outrageous that IUOE union officials are attempting to barge back into the lives of these workers years after they’ve legally exercised their rights, and are now illegally threatening them with fines simply for working to provide for themselves and their families.”

28 Jul 2025

Michigan-Based Rieth-Riley Asphalt Worker Submits Legal Brief Urging 6th Circuit to Protect Workers’ Right to Vote Out Unpopular Union

Posted in News Releases

Appeals Court brief: Labor Board violated federal law and its own rules to stifle Rieth-Riley workers’ statutory right to vote to remove unwanted IUOE union

Cincinnati, OH (July 28, 2025) – Rayalan Kent, a Michigan-based employee of asphalt paving company Rieth-Riley, has just filed an amicus brief with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in a case that could restore a substantial amount of power to workers in deciding whether they should be subject to union control. Kent has received free legal representation from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys since 2020 when he began his efforts to vote the union out of his workplace.

In the Sixth Circuit case Rieth-Riley Construction Co. vs. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Kent’s employer is arguing against the NLRB’s dismissal of valid petitions backed by Kent and his coworkers, which asked the Board to administer a vote at his workplace to remove (or “decertify”) the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 324. That contention is part of Rieth-Riley’s larger defense of its decision not to continue negotiating with the IUOE union.

While Kent and his fellow employees were eventually able to exercise their right to vote on the IUOE, the NLRB in 2022 dismissed his petitions and halted the election, declining to count the already-cast ballots just hours before the vote tally, calling it a “merit-determination” dismissal. This dismissal was based on unfair labor practice allegations the IUOE filed against Rieth-Riley management in 2018. But the NLRB never held a hearing on whether those alleged practices had any connection to Kent and his coworkers’ desire to oust the union.

Kent’s brief urges the Sixth Circuit to use Rieth-Riley Construction Co. as an opportunity to invalidate the NLRB’s “merit-determination” dismissal policy. The brief also asks the Court to order the NLRB to take the long-overdue step of counting the ballots in Mr. Kent’s decertification election, so he and his coworkers can properly exercise their right to vote on the union.

Federal Labor Board’s Actions Violated Statutory Authority and Agency’s Own Regulations

Kent’s amicus brief argues that the NLRB’s use of “merit-determination” dismissals – a “blocking charge” policy – violates the agency’s statutory authority and the purpose of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the federal law the NLRB is responsible for enforcing. The NLRA requires that the Board hold a hearing and an election when employees submit a valid petition requesting a union decertification vote. However, “by dismissing Mr. Kent’s decertification petitions based on the mere allegations in the Union’s blocking charge, the Region and the Board failed to comply with Congress’ directive that the Board ‘shall’ conduct a hearing and ‘shall’ conduct an election when a question of representation exists,” says the amicus brief.

The brief also points out that the NLRB’s “merit-determination” dismissal policy violates rules the agency itself promulgated. In 2020, the NLRB finalized its Election Protection Rule (EPR), which, among other things, mandated that “blocking charges” could no longer stop workers from exercising their right to vote in a union decertification election. The EPR instead required the NLRB to hold elections and tally votes before dealing with any allegations surrounding the employer conduct. “Here, the Board is refusing to follow its own rules by dismissing Mr. Kent’s decertification petitions because of speculation, unproven allegations, and a confidential ‘investigation’ to which he is not privy,” the brief reads.

“In this brief, Rayalan Kent and his coworkers speak for all independent-minded American workers, whose clear right under federal law to vote to remove union officials they disapprove of is gravely threatened by the existence of the NLRB’s various invented non-statutory policies,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Union bosses should not be able to unilaterally override this right, and the Sixth Circuit needs to restore to workers their fundamental rights of free choice under the National Labor Relations Act.”

29 Apr 2024

IUOE Union Bosses Hit With Federal Charge for Illegal Termination

Posted in Newsletter Articles

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

Longstanding law protects against mandatory dues deductions, formal union membership

Firestop inspector Alexandra Le isn’t going to let IUOE union bosses snuff out her livelihood over her refusal to join or support the union. She’s filed federal charges with Foundation aid.

PLEASANTON, CA – Sometimes, even the extraordinary power to demand payments from workers under threat of termination isn’t enough for union bosses, who frequently go beyond what is legal to coerce workers into membership and dues payment.

Alexandra Le, an employee of Construction Testing Services (CTS), found herself on the receiving end of such illegal demands from International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) officials in October. But Le is now fighting back, hitting IUOE bosses and her employer with federal charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 32 with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.

Union Misinformed Worker About Rights

Le’s charges state that IUOE bosses got her fired after she rebuffed their demands to formally join the union. Additionally, Le’s charges maintain that union officials unlawfully deducted union dues from her paycheck without her permission and failed to inform her of her right to pay reduced union dues as a non-member — a right secured by the Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court victory.

Because California lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, Le and her coworkers can be forced to pay some fees to the union to keep their jobs, even if they’ve abstained from formal union membership. However, as per Beck, in non-Right to Work states, union officials can’t force nonmember employees to pay for union expenses (such as union politics) that go beyond what the union claims goes to bargaining.

Other Supreme Court precedents require union bosses to seek workers’ express consent before deducting dues directly from their paychecks.

In Right to Work states, all union financial support is voluntary and the choice of each individual worker.

Employee Demands Federal Injunction to Reverse Illegal Union-Ordered Firing

“It’s outrageous that IUOE union officials believe they can get me fired simply because I don’t agree with their organization and don’t want to support or affiliate with them,” Le said. “IUOE union officials have been far more concerned with consolidating power in the workplace and collecting dues than caring about me and my coworkers, and I hope the NLRB will hold them responsible for their illegal actions.”

Le’s charge against the IUOE union states that, after she refused to affiliate with the union, IUOE bosses “caused Charging Party to be removed from the work schedule by her Employer as of October 2nd.” The NLRB v. General Motors Corp. U.S. Supreme Court decision protects the right of workers to refuse formal union membership, even in a non-Right to Work state.

As a remedy, the charge asks the NLRB Regional Director in Oakland to “invoke its authority under Section 10(j)” of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which empowers the Board to seek an injunction from a federal court to stop IUOE and CTS management from committing the unfair labor practices.

Workers Need More Protections Against Union Boss Coercion

“Ms. Le’s case shows why Right to Work protections are important,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President and Legal Director William Messenger.

“Even if IUOE union officials had followed federal labor law in this case, Ms. Le would still be forced to contribute to the activities of an organization she clearly doesn’t want to be part of.

“As Ms. Le’s case demonstrates, union bosses often value workers merely as sources of dues revenue and will go to extraordinary lengths to keep the money flowing,” Messenger added. “Workers deserve more protections against union boss coercion, not fewer.”

4 Jan 2024

East Bay-Area Fire Safety Inspector Prevails in Case Against IUOE Union for Illegal Firing

Posted in News Releases

Employee wins reinstatement and back pay after being unlawfully fired for exercising right to reject formal union membership

Pleasanton, CA (January 4, 2024) – After being fired over her refusal to formally become a formal union member, Construction Testing Services employee Alexandra Le won a settlement against the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) and her employer. The settlement, won with free legal representation from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, requires CTS to reinstate Le and requires CTS and the IUOE union to jointly pay back to her over $9,000 in back wages and benefits. Le will also receive back hundreds in union fees that were deducted from her paycheck without her authorization.

In October, Le filed federal charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 32 in Oakland, CA, stating that IUOE union officials illegally demanded she join the union as a condition of keeping her job and instigated her firing by CTS when she refused to join. Le, who works in fire and life safety as a firestop inspector, also noted in her charges that IUOE officials failed to inform her of her right to abstain from formal union membership, and never notified her of her right to pay a reduced amount of union dues as a nonmember.

According to her charges, company and union officials began deducting full union dues directly from her paycheck without her permission, and deducted a dues amount that included union political expenses and other costs not legally chargeable to workers who aren’t formal union members.

IUOE Union Officials Ignored Supreme Court Precedents in Effort to Force Worker into Union Membership

Because California lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, Le and her coworkers can be forced to pay some fees to the union as a condition of keeping their jobs, even if they’ve abstained from formal union membership. However, as per the National Right to Work Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision, even in non-Right to Work states union officials can’t force nonmember employees to pay for union politics and other activities outside the union’s bargaining functions. Other Supreme Court precedents and federal labor laws protect workers’ right to refrain from formal union membership and require union bosses to seek workers’ express consent before deducting dues directly from their paychecks.

In contrast, in Right to Work states, union membership and all union financial support are fully voluntary. As Le’s case was ongoing, she submitted written testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and the Workforce for a hearing on a federal law to expand Right to Work protections for employees nationwide.

In her testimony, she described the impact the illegal union-instigated firing had on her life: “My absence significantly set me back from a financial standpoint and has led to the stressful process of having to fight for my rights via the legal process…And while the union fees cause a notable decrease in my hard-earned take-home pay, the time lost and stress incurred by asserting rights that I had to discover independently has been equally detrimental.”

“Simply put, nobody should be forced to join or pay any dues or fees to a union that they do not want to join,” Le concluded. Two other workers who had received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation also testified in the hearing about their experiences with illegal union forced-dues demands as a result of lacking the protection of Right to Work laws.

Worker Will Receive Back Pay and Repayments of Union Dues and Fees as Part of Settlement

Le’s Foundation-won settlement completely vindicates her rights. In addition to reinstatement and repayments of back wages and illegally-seized union fees, the settlement dictates that the company will only deduct the reduced Beck amount of union dues from Le’s paycheck going forward. The union will also waive fees totaling roughly $1,700 that its officials tried to force Le to pay from the time her case began back to the date of her hiring.

“Ms. Le’s battle to protect her freedom of association from IUOE union officials is courageous, but no worker should ever have to fight this hard to protect their livelihood from dues-hungry union officials,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix.

“While we’re proud to help Ms. Le prevail in her case, the fact is that the very IUOE bosses who so callously instigated her illegal firing are still authorized to collect mandatory union fees from her because California workers lack the protection of a Right to Work law,” Mix added. “Workers themselves – not union bosses – should be in charge of determining whether a union is worthy of receiving their hard-earned cash, which is why all Americans deserve the protection of Right to Work.”

17 Oct 2023

Federal Charge: East Bay-Area Construction Materials Worker Illegally Fired for Refusing to Join Union

Posted in News Releases

NLRB investigating IUOE union bosses for retaliatory termination and seizing dues from employee’s paycheck in violation of longstanding law

Pleasanton, CA (October 17, 2023) – Alexandra Le, an employee of Pleasanton-based materials testing company Construction Testing Services (CTS), has hit International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) officials and CTS with federal charges. The charges state IUOE bosses illegally demanded she join the union as a condition of keeping her job and instigated her firing by CTS when she refused to join. Additionally, Le’s charges maintain that company and union officials violated the law by deducting union dues directly from her paycheck without her permission.

Le, a firestop inspector, filed the charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 32 in Oakland, CA, with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. She notes in her charges that IUOE officials not only failed to inform her of her right to abstain from union membership, but also never notified her of her right to pay a reduced amount of union dues as a nonmember.

Because California lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, Le and her coworkers can be forced to pay some dues to the union as a condition of keeping their jobs, even if they’ve abstained from formal union membership. However, as per the Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision, even in non-Right to Work states union officials can’t force nonmember employees to pay for union expenses beyond what the union claims goes to bargaining, such as union politics. Other Supreme Court precedents and federal labor laws protect workers’ right to refrain from formal union membership and require union bosses to seek workers’ express consent before deducting dues directly from their paychecks.

In Right to Work states, union membership and all union financial support are fully voluntary.

Worker Demands NLRB Step in to Reverse Union-Instigated Firing, Illegal Demands

“Le’s charges show that IUOE union officials, in their apparent greed for forced dues, have ignored numerous longstanding legal protections for workers opposed to union affiliation,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “While the union’s anti-worker actions would be wildly unlawful in any state in the country, they reveal the importance of state Right to Work protections: No worker should be forced to give any amount of their hard-earned paycheck to union officials who threaten and misinform the employees they claim to ‘represent,’ or simply haven’t earned workers’ support.”

21 Jun 2022

National Right to Work Foundation Slams Decision Trapping Michigan Construction Workers in Unpopular Union

Posted in News Releases

NLRB rules that ballots employees already cast in vote to oust union cannot be counted, highlighting Labor Board’s pro-union boss bias

Washington, DC (June 21, 2022) – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, DC, has permitted the destruction of hundreds of ballots already cast by Michigan Rieth-Riley Construction Company workers in an election whether to oust International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) union officials. The decision shuts down a years-long effort by Rieth-Riley employees to remove IUOE Local 324 officials, allowing the union to stifle the workers’ vote with questionable “blocking charges” against Rieth-Riley management.

Rieth-Riley employee Rayalan Kent led the effort to vote out IUOE union officials. With the assistance of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, he submitted two petitions in 2020 with enough worker support to trigger the NLRB’s administration of a “decertification vote.” A vote finally occurred in October 2020, but Regional NLRB officials in Detroit ruled, just hours before the ballots were to be counted, that union boss-concocted “blocking charges” invalidated the employees’ petition. The NLRB in Washington has now affirmed that decision.

Both rulings fly in the face of Foundation-backed reforms the NLRB adopted in 2020 regarding “blocking charges,” which provided that ballots in union decertification elections should be counted first before any unfair labor practice charges surrounding the election are dealt with. Moreover, even prior NLRB precedent required that an evidentiary hearing be held to determine whether there is any “causal nexus” between union allegations of employer misconduct and employee dissatisfaction engendering a union decertification effort. But the NLRB never held any such hearing in this case.

Settlements Foundation attorneys won in 2021 for Rieth-Riley employees Rob Nevins and Jesse London indicate that malfeasance by IUOE officials, not Rieth-Riley misdeeds, likely caused the company’s workers to push for the union’s ouster. London and Nevins decided to end their union memberships and keep working to support their families despite a union boss-ordered strike in 2019.

Nevins charged union officials with threatening to “blackball” him if he didn’t strike, and London reported that IUOE officials refused to hand over health insurance premium money they owed him for time he participated in the strike. The settlements mandated that IUOE union bosses not discriminate against London and Nevins for exercising their right to refrain from union membership, and also ordered them to pay London the health insurance premium money he was owed.

“The current decision demonstrates how the NLRB and its bureaucrats have twisted a law that is allegedly designed to protect the free choice rights of rank-and-file workers. Instead of supporting workers’ rights, this Board and past Boards have weaponized the National Labor Relations Act against workers solely to entrench union boss power,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Rather than apply the letter and spirit of the 2020 Election Protection rule, Joe Biden’s NLRB has undermined and rendered useless even those modest reforms. Given this awful ruling, it is now likely that Rieth-Riley workers’ votes to remove the union will simply be dropped in a trash can.”

Mix added: “Workers have a statutory right to vote out a union they oppose and NLRB bureaucrats should not be able to nullify that right on the basis of unproven and often unrelated allegations of employer misconduct.”

9 May 2022

Red Rock Casino Slot Technicians Blast Regional Labor Board Ruling Trapping Them Under Unpopular Union, Appeal Decision

Posted in News Releases

Employee vote to decertify union blocked based on allegations that have nothing to do with slot techs’ bargaining unit

Las Vegas, NV (May 9, 2022) – Red Rock Casino slot machine technician Jereme Barrios has asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, DC, to reverse an NLRB Region’s decision which blocks his and his coworkers’ right to vote out a union that a majority of them have already expressed interest in removing. Barrios is receiving free legal representation from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

Barrios submitted a petition to the NLRB Region 28 in March asking the agency to conduct a union “decertification vote” amongst his fellow slot technicians whether to kick out International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 501 officials. The petition contained signatures of a large majority of his colleagues.

However, the Region did not schedule the vote as Barrios and his coworkers had asked. NLRB Region 28 Director Cornele Overstreet instead ruled in April that largely unverified and unrelated allegations (also called “blocking charges”) union officials had made against management of Station Casinos, Red Rock’s parent company, blocked the technicians from exercising their right to vote whether to remove the union.

Barrios’ Request for Review argues that the Region’s decision is unfounded, and requests that the NLRB in Washington, DC, reverse it and allow them to have an immediate decertification vote.

Slot Tech’s Request for Review Criticizes Regional Labor Board Decision as “a Scattershot Mess”

Barrios’ Request for Review begins by explaining that, even if any of the union’s “blocking charges” have merit, the NLRB Regional Director was not adhering to Foundation-backed reforms in the rules regarding “blocking charges” that the NLRB formally adopted in 2020. Under the reforms, “blocking charges” generally do not stop employees from exercising their right to vote in a decertification election. Instead, the NLRB takes up any “blocking charges” surrounding an election after a vote tally has been released.

“The Regional Director ignored the current Election Rules and even refused to cite them,” Barrios’ Request for Review says.

Moreover, Barrios’ Foundation attorneys go even deeper and demonstrate that, even under the old election rules which would have allowed “blocking charges” to stall a decertification election, the union’s allegations against the employer are completely insufficient to block an employee vote.

Barrios’ attorneys show that the majority of the union’s accusations describe alleged employer malfeasance concerning bargaining units other than Barrios’. The Request for Review points out that, by the Region’s logic, “any employer’s unfair labor practice could block any decertification in any of its other units, no matter how remote.”

The remaining “blocking charges,” including an allegation that Red Rock management did not bargain with the union over COVID-19 protections, Barrios’ Request for Review explains, either do not reveal actual violations of federal labor law by Red Rock management or have no causal connection to Barrios and his colleagues’ desire to remove the union. Barrios’ brief notes that Red Rock officials already complied with a consent order regarding the dispute over COVID-19 protections and “likely remedied any violation that could conceivably block an election.”

Foundation Attorneys Aid Other Station Casinos Employees

The slot techs’ effort comes as Red Rock hospitality and foodservice staff, led by Foundation-backed employee Raynell Teske, are battling an order from a federal district court judge that forces them under the “representation” of Culinary Union bosses. The order was issued despite the fact that a majority of the hospitality and foodservice employees voted in a secret ballot election to reject union officials’ effort to install themselves at the casino.

Foundation attorneys also represent Palms Casino engineering worker Thomas Stallings and his coworkers in their decertification effort against IUOE and International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) officials. As in Barrios’ case, Stallings’ attorneys argue that regional NLRB officials have left Stallings and his coworkers trapped under the monopoly control of an unpopular union despite the current NLRB rules regarding “blocking charges,” and despite the fact the accusations by union officials against their employer have little if anything to do with Stallings’ work unit.

“Las Vegas is now home to at least three instances where regional NLRB officials have reflexively indulged union boss requests to remain in power at workplaces where a clear majority of workers want the union gone,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Las Vegas is indeed ‘Sin City,’ if the sin is disrespecting workers’ fundamental right to choose freely whether or not union bosses should speak for them.”

“Foundation attorneys are proud to stand by these courageous workers, who are fighting not only union coercion but an NLRB Regional Director seemingly determined to undermine the rights of workers opposed to union affiliation,” Mix added.

7 Mar 2020

Sacramento Employee Hits Union with Charge for Ignoring Janus Rights

Posted in Newsletter Articles

The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, January/February 2020 edition. To view other editions or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.

More than a year after Court decision, union bosses still tell workers forced fees are legal

In the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME decision, the Supreme Court recognized the right of all American public sector workers to refrain from subsidizing unions, but California IUOE bosses are acting as if those rights don’t exist.

SACRAMENTO, CA – Ethan Morris works for Sacramento County as a wastewater treatment employee. With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, he has hit the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Stationary Engineers union bosses at his workplace with charges that their misstatements of his requirement to pay union fees breach California law by disregarding workers’ First Amendment rights under the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision.

California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), the agency in charge of determining whether unions like IUOE have violated California’s public sector labor laws, will now investigate Morris’ charge.

California Union Bosses Blatantly Lie About Legality of Forced Dues

Morris has never been a member of IUOE Stationary Engineers. He recounts in his charge that he received a notice from an IUOE financial secretary in July 2019 which claimed that “employees who do not join the Union must pay a . . . fee” to the union as a condition of employment, and that these mandatory fees are “legal and enforceable in California” through direct deductions from non-member employees’ paychecks.

Morris’ charge says the union’s fee demands ignore government employees’ First Amendment rights under the 2018 Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision. In Janus, a majority of the Court recognized that union dues or fees cannot be mandatory for public employees and may only be deducted from government workers’ paychecks if they have given “affirmative and knowing” waivers of their First Amendment right not to subsidize a union.

Morris maintains that by ignoring Janus, IUOE Stationary Engineers bosses infringed his rights under California’s Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA). That statute provides Golden State workers “the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of employee organizations” and prohibits unions from “coerc[ing] or discriminat[ing] against” employees for exercising that right.

IUOE Officials Broke California Labor Law by Defying Janus

Morris demands that union officials rectify the situation by stopping the illegal fee demands and posting a PERB-approved notice informing his coworkers of their right to refrain from union activities and acknowledging that compulsory fee demands violate that right.

“Ethan Morris discovered his First Amendment Janus rights independently, and in doing so was able to catch IUOE Stationary Engineers bosses in a red-handed lie about the right of public sector workers in America to abstain from financially supporting a union,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “For every worker who rebuffs illegal union threats, there are almost certainly thousands of workers who unknowingly sign away their rights.

“State governments must step up and proactively protect employees’ Janus rights, including making sure that every worker knows those rights and not deducting any union dues or fees absent a worker’s knowing and voluntary waiver of his or her rights,” Mix added.

Taking the lead on protecting public workers’ Janus rights is Alaska, where last September Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued an executive order requiring all state agencies to stop the deduction of union dues from any worker who had not submitted a form affirmatively waiving his or her right under Janus not to fund any union activities.