Workers in Ypsilanti and Petoskey Successfully End Union Bosses’ Power to Demand Dues as Similar Efforts Rise Across MI
In rebuke to Right to Work repeal, workers strip Teamsters and ATU of ability to require dues as condition of employment
Michigan (July 18, 2024) – Two sets of workers from across the state of Michigan have successfully voted to strip union officials of their powers to force them to pay union dues as a condition of keeping their jobs. Mechanics from Brown Motors (a Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep dealer) in Petoskey and drivers from MV Transportation in Ypsilanti have voted by 75% and 78% respectively to remove union bosses’ forced-dues powers in a process known as a “deauthorization vote”. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, certified the results of both elections earlier this week.
Both sets of workers received free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in obtaining the elections. Joseph Illes submitted a “deauthorization petition” in May on behalf of his Brown Motors coworkers, who wanted to revoke forced-dues privileges from Teamsters union officials. Robert Gray handled a similar petition for his colleagues at MV Transportation, who sought to deauthorize the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). NLRB rules require that at least 30% of a work unit sign onto a deauthorization petition to trigger a deauthorization election.
Because Michigan lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, union bosses that gain power in a workplace have the legal power to demand that workers pay dues or fees as a condition of employment. These demands apply even to workers who voted against the union or otherwise oppose its presence. In Right to Work states, in contrast, union membership and union financial support are strictly the choice of each individual worker.
The only ways that workers in non-Right to Work states can end union bosses’ forced-dues powers are by either voting as a majority against forced dues in a deauthorization election (as the Brown Motors and MV Transportation employees have done), or by voting to remove the union entirely in a “decertification election”. Decertification elections can be petitioned for in a way similar to a deauthorization election. A decertification also terminates union bosses’ monopoly bargaining power over workers.
After Legislature Nixes Right to Work, Employees Across MI Seek to Stop Forced Dues
In a party-line 2023 vote, Michigan legislators repealed Right to Work at the behest of union special interests, ending workers’ ability to decide for themselves whether or not union officials deserve their dues money. 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.
In addition to the now-successful efforts in Petoskey and Ypsilanti, Foundation attorneys are aiding Grand Rapids-based security guard James Reamsma and his coworkers with a deauthorization vote against United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) union officials. Reamsma’s fellow guards work at government buildings across Western Michigan. Reamsma expressed that, in the wake of the Right to Work repeal, “UGSOA union officials have threatened to have everyone who does not join the union fired.”
Foundation attorneys also represent Roger Cornett, a Detroit-area Kroger employee who faced post-repeal threats from his employer that he would be terminated if he did not join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union at the store and fund the union’s Political Action Committee (PAC). Both demands are forbidden by federal law (even in a non-Right to Work environment) and Foundation attorneys argue in Cornett’s case that the union’s contract fails the legal standard to compel dues payments from any worker.
“Despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of Michiganders wanted Right to Work to remain in place, Michigan legislators repealed it on a narrow party-line vote as a giveaway to the union boss puppeteers that fund their campaigns,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Within just months of the repeal becoming effective, workers from all corners of the state are requesting – and winning – votes to stop union bosses from forcing them to pay dues, showing that Michigan workers are not going to take this attack on their individual rights sitting down.
“We at the Foundation are proud to help Michigan workers reclaim their freedom, but no worker should have to navigate the NLRB’s bureaucratic deauthorization process simply to ensure their hard-earned money isn’t going to union boss activities they may staunchly disagree with,” Mix added.
Service Employees at Brown Motors in Petoskey, MI, Petition for Vote to Stop Paying Union Forced Fees
Follows string of other legal actions by workers opposing forced payments to union bosses in wake of party-line Right to Work law repeal
Petoskey, MI (May 7, 2024) – Mechanics, parts department workers, and other auto service-related employees at Brown Motors, a Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep dealer, are seeking a vote to end Teamsters union officials’ ability to demand payment of dues or fees as a condition of employment. Joseph Illes, a mechanic at Brown Motors, submitted a “deauthorization petition” to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for administering and enforcing federal labor law. Under NLRB rules, upon receiving a petition from employees, the agency will hold a vote at a workplace on whether to remove the contract provision allowing a union to require dues or fees as a condition of employment.
According to the deauthorization petition, the requested election is sought for all “regular full and part-time parts department employees, mechanics, lubemen, porters and wash rack employees” at Brown Motors.
MI Legislators’ Repeal of Right to Work Continues to Receive Backlash from Workers
Michigan legislators’ party-line repeal of Michigan’s popular Right to Work law became effective in February. This change permits union officials to and enforce requirements that force workers to pay dues or fees to the union. In a non-Right to Work state, employees’ only options to prevent their money from going toward a union agenda they oppose is to petition for a deauthorization vote (as Illes and his coworkers have), or to kick the union out of their workplace completely through a decertification vote, which involves a similar process to deauthorization.
Michigan’s Right to Work law, which took effect in 2013, made union dues payment strictly voluntary for all Michigan workers. Those employees who wished to support the union at their workplace were free to join and pay union dues. Employees who chose to not join the union were not required to pay the union anything to keep their jobs.
The Michigan Legislature voted to repeal the Right to Work Law in March 2023, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed it that same month, despite polling showing that 70% of Michigan voters wanted the law to remain in place.
Since the repeal, Foundation staff attorneys have aided several Great Lakes State workers who are seeking freedom from union dues demands, including security guard James Reamsma and his coworkers who are posted at government buildings across Western Michigan. Reamsma and his colleagues also petitioned for a “deauthorization vote” to stop forced-dues demands from United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) union officials, with Reamsma expressing that in the wake of the Right to Work repeal “UGSOA union officials have threatened to have everyone who does not join the union fired.”
Foundation attorneys also represent Roger Cornett, a Detroit-area Kroger employee who faced post-repeal threats from his employer that he would be terminated if he did not join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union at the store and fund the union’s Political Action Committee (PAC). Both demands are forbidden by federal law, even in a non-Right to Work environment.
“Mr. Illes and his coworkers at Brown Motors in Petoskey are just the latest example that Michigan’s Right to Work repeal does real harm to the freedom of workers across the state,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Workers shouldn’t have to slog through the NLRB’s deauthorization process simply to stop paying fees to a union they don’t support.”
