12 Dec 2023

Majority of Austin, MN, Mayo Clinic Medical Assistants, Care Specialists Request Vote to Remove Steelworkers Union

Posted in News Releases

Last December, a majority of workers successfully voted to strip union officials of power to compel dues payments

Austin, MN (December 12, 2023) – A patient care specialist at the Mayo Clinic location in Austin, MN, has just submitted to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) a petition backed by her colleagues seeking a vote to remove United Steelworkers (USW) Local 11-005 union officials from power at their facility. The patient care specialist, Erin Krulish, filed the petition with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, which includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. Under NLRB rules, a union decertification petition must contain the signatures of at least 30% of the employees at a workplace to trigger a decertification election. Krulish’s petition contains signatures from a majority of her work unit, which includes licensed practical nurses (LPNs), medical assistants, and patient care specialists.

If a majority of workers vote against a union in a decertification vote, the union is removed from the workplace and loses its monopoly bargaining power. Such power permits union officials to dictate the contract provisions of all employees in a unit, even those who oppose or voted against the union.

Workers’ Petition Follows Successful Vote to Strip Union of Forced-Dues Power

Because Minnesota lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, Steelworkers union bosses have the power to enter into contracts with Mayo Clinic management that force Krulish and her coworkers to pay union dues or fees just to keep their jobs. In contrast, in Right to Work states like neighboring Wisconsin and Iowa, union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.

Last December, however, Krulish and her fellow employees voted 49-17 to revoke the union’s power to compel them to pay dues. Such an election, called a “deauthorization vote,” is the only way in non-Right to Work states to stop a union from seizing dues from workers as a condition of employment, outside of completely decertifying the union.

Pro-Union Boss NLRB Policy Forced Workers to Wait to Remove Union

Even after a deauthorization vote, union bosses still retain their monopoly bargaining powers, which can only be eliminated by decertifying a union. Krulish and her fellow employees desired to do this from the outset, but were unfortunately limited by a non-statutory NLRB policy known as the “contract bar,” which immunizes unions from all worker attempts to vote the union out for up to three years while a union monopoly bargaining contract is in place.

Last December, with one year still left on the union contract, Krulish expressed her and her coworkers’ eagerness to decertify the union once the contract expired: “We plan to decertify come next December when our contract is up and we are ready for another fight!”

“Employees at Mayo Clinic Austin clearly don’t wish to associate with Steelworkers union officials, and twice now Ms. Krulish and her coworkers have mustered the majority showing necessary to revoke coercive powers from the union,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “While we’re proud to support her and her dedicated colleagues, the situation shows the kind of pro-union boss restraints that workers are under not just in non-Right to Work states, but across the country.”

“Workers should not be arbitrarily blocked for years from exercising their right to vote out unwanted union officials, nor should they need to seek a workplace-wide vote just to ensure their hard-earned money isn’t going to an organization they don’t approve of,” Mix added.

21 Apr 2023

With Foundation Aid, Mayo Clinic Nurses Defeat Forced Union Dues Requirement

Posted in Newsletter Articles

The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, March/April 2023 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.

Nurses’ ultimate goal is to end Steelworkers union bosses’ so-called ‘representation’ completely

Mayo Clinic nurses MNA

Austin, MN, Mayo nurse Erin Krulish and her coworkers hope to soon join Mankato, MN, Mayo nurses (above) in removing unwanted union “representation” from their facility.

AUSTIN, MN – Nurses at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin, Minnesota, recently voted overwhelmingly in a deauthorization election to end the power of United Steelworkers (USW) union officials to require nurses to pay up or be fired. The workers filed the deauthorization petition with National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 18 with free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

“We are so happy with the way the election turned out,” Mayo Clinic Austin nurse Erin Krulish commented. “I think it really shows that all of us came together to show the union that we don’t want to keep paying them when they are doing nothing for us.”

Krulish filed the deauthorization petition for her coworkers seeking to end the so-called “union security clause” that authorizes USW union bosses to have nurses fired for refusing to financially support union activities. The request seeking the vote to end United Steelworkers union officials’ forced-dues powers at Mayo Clinic Austin was signed by 49 of the 66 workers, well over the number required to trigger the NLRB-supervised election.

Ending Forced Dues Comes as Nurses Wait for Vote to Formally Remove Union

Minnesota is not a Right to Work state, meaning all workers in a unionized workplace can be required to pay dues or fees to a union as a condition of keeping their jobs. However, federal law does allow workers to hold deauthorization votes to end union officials’ legal authority to force workers to “pay up or be fired,” although winning such a vote can often be an uphill battle as independent workers have to take on professional forced-dues-funded union organizers.

The overwhelming 49-17 vote against mandatory union payments came as the nurses wait for the opportunity to end USW officials’ so-called “representation” at the facility completely, a process known as decertification. “We plan to decertify come next December when our contract is up and we are ready for another fight!” Krulish said following the deauthorization victory.

Currently, the non-statutory NLRB-invented “contract bar” doctrine blocks workers from holding a decertification vote to remove a union’s monopoly representation powers for up to three years when a union boss-imposed contract is in effect. Consequently, a deauthorization vote, which isn’t limited by the contract bar, was the nurses’ only option. If the nurses at the Austin Mayo Clinic do decertify as they plan, they will join Minnesota nurses at Mayo Clinic Mankato and Mayo Clinic St. James who voted to oust union officials from their hospitals in the last six months.

“No worker anywhere should be forced under so-called union ‘representation’ they oppose,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “So while we’re pleased Ms. Krulish and her coworkers were victorious against the Steelworkers union, this case also shows why it is past time to end the NLRB-sanctioned ‘contract bar’ which traps workers in union ranks they oppose for years at a time.”

“Ultimately, Minnesota needs a state Right to Work law to ensure that every individual worker has the freedom to decide whether or not to financially support a union, even those who can’t overcome the hurdles required to successfully navigate the complicated deauthorization process,” added Mix.