Breakthru Beverage Workers Across Florida Seek Vote to Oust Teamsters Union
Drivers in work unit spanning six cities sign petition asking federal labor board to hold union removal vote
Florida (November 6, 2025) – Across Florida, drivers for beverage distributor Breakthru Beverages are supporting a petition that asks the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a vote to remove Teamsters union officials from several distribution facilities. Breakthru driver Tim Zulinki submitted the petition to the NLRB with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering votes to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions in workplaces. Zulinki obtained signatures on his decertification petition well exceeding the necessary threshold to trigger a secret ballot election. Breakthru employs drivers at distribution centers in Jacksonville, Midway, Pensacola, Orlando, Fort Myers, and Tampa.
Florida is a Right to Work state, meaning Teamsters union officials cannot demand that Breakthru drivers pay union dues as a condition of getting or keeping a job. In states that lack Right to Work protections, union officials can have workers fired for refusal to pay dues or fees to a union. Though forced dues are prohibited in Florida and other Right to Work states, union officials can still impose their exclusive “representation” powers on every worker in a workplace, including those who oppose the union or voted against it.
Now the NLRB will examine the petition and should schedule an election quickly. If Zulinki and a majority of those participating in the decertification election vote against the Teamsters, hundreds of Breakthru drivers across the Sunshine State will be free from Teamsters union officials’ exclusive representation power.
Drivers Back Union Removal Effort After Months-Long Strike Ordered by Teamsters Bosses
In June, Teamsters union bosses ordered Breakthru drivers on strike. The strike order ended at the close of October, as union officials announced that they and Breakthru management had finalized a new contract. Zulinki submitted his decertification petition just before the contract became effective – which is crucial timing considering the NLRB’s non-statutory “contract bar” policy normally blocks workers from filing decertification petitions for up to three years after a contract is approved. The contract bar appears nowhere in the text of federal labor law, but is the invention of union boss-friendly NLRB decisions.
Teamsters union officials have a track record of supporting agendas that are opposed by the workers they claim to represent. During the 2024 election cycle, the union’s upper echelon chose not to endorse Donald Trump because he would not commit to eliminating Right to Work and granting forced dues power to union bosses nationwide. Nearly 80% of American union members back Right to Work.
National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have also seen a marked rise in requests from workers seeking legal assistance in Teamsters decertification cases.
“Sean O’Brien & Co.’s propaganda about the Teamsters union’s supposed ‘victory’ across Florida after the Breakthru strike is being contradicted by rank-and-file workers in real time,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Mr. Zulinki and his coworkers want freedom from the Teamsters hierarchy, which is increasingly proving to be radical and out-of-touch with what workers want.
“While Florida provides important protections for independent-minded workers through its Right to Work law, ultimately no worker should be subject to union monopoly bargaining control they disagree with,” Mix added.
AT&T Employee Wins Settlement from CWA Union after Facing Union Retaliation for Exercising Legal Rights
Union officials refused to allow worker to resign his union membership while on military leave and attempted to fine him in violation of federal labor law
Jacksonville, FL (January 24, 2020) – AT&T employee Jared Brewer has won a favorable settlement from Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 3106 union with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation after union officials violated his legal rights under federal law.
To end the case, union officials rescinded their threat to subject Brewer to internal union “discipline” and fine him for exercising his legal rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). They also were required to notify other workers of their legal rights by posting notices on the union’s bulletin boards at 22 AT&T Jacksonville facilities.
Brewer was on military leave when union officials called a strike in August 2019. He sent an email to them in which he resigned his union membership. Even though the NLRA guarantees employees the right to resign their union membership at any time, union officials refused to honor Brewer’s request. One union representative falsely claimed that his resignation letter was “untimely.”
After sending a certified letter containing the same resignation language, Brewer returned to work. Despite his resignation, union officials told Brewer in an October letter that they were bringing charges against him in an internal union “trial” for working during the union-initiated work stoppage. Brewer did not attend the November 7 “trial” because he had already resigned his union membership and, therefore, could not legally be subject to union disciplinary procedures.
Union officials notified Brewer on November 15 that the union found him guilty at its “trial” and imposed a monetary fine of more. They threatened him with legal action if he did not pay the fine within 21 days.
In response, Brewer filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board with free legal aid from Foundation staff attorneys. Brewer charged that union officials violated his legal rights under the NLRA by disciplining and fining him as a nonmember, and by denying his resignation. Union officials are prohibited from requiring formal union membership as a condition of employment by both Florida’s Right to Work law and the NLRA, and under the NLRA workers are free to resign their union membership at any time.
Brewer’s unfair labor practice charges drove union officials to settle. This requires union officials to honor Brewer’s resignation and rescind the fine and union “discipline” against him. Union officials also must post for 60 days in its union hall and numerous AT&T facilities a notice in which the union promises not to “restrain or coerce” workers from exercising their legal rights to resign and work during strikes.
“Faced with legal action from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, CWA union officials backed down from their blatant violations of longstanding labor law and were forced to settle with Mr. Brewer,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Federal labor law is crystal clear: Workers have an absolute right to resign their union membership if they choose, and once a worker has exercised that right they cannot be subject to fines levied by any internal union boss kangaroo court.”
AT&T Employee Hits CWA Union with Unfair Labor Practices Charges for Violating Rights During Military Leave
Union officials refused to allow worker to resign his union membership and attempted to fine him for exercising his legal rights
Jacksonville, FL (November 25, 2019) – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, AT&T employee Jared Brewer has filed unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3106 for violating his legal rights. Brewer charges that CWA union officials illegally refused to accept Brewer’s legitimate request to resign his union membership and later used that as grounds to fine Brewer after he had resigned from the union.
Brewer was on military leave when union officials called for a strike in August 2019. He sent an email to union officials in which he resigned his union membership. Instead of respecting his legal right to resign at any time, a union representative falsely told him that his resignation letter was “untimely.” Brewer returned to work and sent a certified letter containing the same resignation language.
Then in an October letter, union officials told Brewer that they were bringing charges against him in an internal union “trial” for exercising his right to work despite the union-initiated work stoppage. Brewer did not attend the November 7 “trial” because he had already resigned his union membership and therefore could not legally be subject to union disciplinary procedures.
Union officials notified Brewer on November 15 that the union had found him guilty at its “trial” and imposed a fine of more than $700. Union officials threatened him with legal action if he did not pay the fine within 21 days.
Brewer’s unfair labor practice charge alleges that union officials violated his legal rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by attempting to discipline and fine him as a nonmember, in addition to denying his resignation of union membership. Under the NLRA, union officials are prohibited from requiring union membership as a condition of employment and workers are free to resign their union membership.
“CWA union bosses are blatantly violating longstanding law by denying Mr. Brewer’s request to resign his union membership,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Federal labor law is crystal clear: Workers have an absolute right to resign their union membership if they so choose and once a worker has exercised that right they cannot be subject to fines levied by any internal union boss kangaroo court.”
