9 Mar 2026

Pennsylvania EMS/Rescue Workers Unanimously Vote to Remove Teamsters Union After Union Boss Delay Tactics

Posted in News Releases

Emergency workers submitted multiple petitions asking for vote to escape Teamsters union officials’ exclusive “representation” powers and demands for money

North Huntingdon Township, PA (March 10, 2026) – Following months of union-instigated delays, Shannon Martin and her coworkers at North Huntingdon EMS/Rescue unanimously voted Teamsters Local 205 union officials out of power at their workplace. Martin obtained the vote by filing a union decertification petition at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing private sector labor law, a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. In response to her colleagues’ staunch opposition to the union, Martin filed a total of three union decertification petitions with Foundation legal aid, all of which either showed unanimous worker support for a union decertification vote or otherwise passed the threshold to trigger a vote under NLRB rules.

However, NLRB Region 6 in Pittsburgh blocked Martin and her colleagues from having a vote for months at Teamsters officials’ behest. Regional NLRB officials cited the so-called “voluntary recognition bar” as the justification for delaying the vote. The voluntary recognition bar stops workers from exercising their right to vote out a union for a year or more after union officials have installed themselves via “card check,” a process that bypasses the traditional secret-ballot union election process.

Under card check, union officials can demand “union authorization cards” directly from workers, which are later counted as “votes” for the union. Unsurprisingly, this process leaves workers open to threats and manipulation from union officials. Even union organizing handbooks recognize that card check is not indicative of how workers would vote in a standard union election. Martin and her coworkers were unfortunately trapped in a work unit that had been organized via card check.

To make matters even worse, Pennsylvania lacks Right to Work protections, meaning Teamsters union bosses were empowered to impose monopoly bargaining contracts that forced Martin and her colleagues to pay money to the union as a condition of employment. In contrast, in Right to Work states, union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.

Flawed NLRB Policy Let Union Bosses Stay in Power Despite Obvious Worker Opposition

In mid-February – over a year after the Teamsters union had established itself via card check in Martin’s workplace – Martin filed her third decertification petition with Foundation aid, which finally resulted in the NLRB scheduling a vote to remove the union. On March 3, Martin and her coworkers voted unanimously to dethrone Teamsters union bosses.

The Foundation has consistently advocated for the elimination of the voluntary recognition bar, as well as other NLRB policies that appear nowhere in the text of federal labor law and serve only to stifle workers’ free choice. The Foundation supported the NLRB’s promulgation of the Election Protection Rule during the first Trump Administration, which gave independent-minded workers a chance to request a secret-ballot vote to challenge union officials’ claims of majority support following a card check campaign. However, the Biden NLRB repealed the Election Protection Rule.

“Ms. Martin and her coworkers’ dedication to winning back their freedom from unwanted Teamsters officials is admirable, and we were proud to help them win,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “But her case exposes the anti-worker nature of the so-called ‘voluntary recognition bar.’ This misguided NLRB policy let Teamsters bosses stay in power long after it was clear that there was uniform opposition to them in the workplace.

“Trump’s new appointees should look to situations like Ms. Martin’s as prime examples of why NLRB policies should be reformed to prioritize secret-ballot elections and worker free choice,” Mix added.

14 Oct 2025

Pennsylvania EMT/Rescue Workers File Second Petition for ‘Decertification’ Vote to Remove Teamsters Local 205

Posted in News Releases

At Teamsters’ behest, NLRB official blocked earlier election request citing non-statutory NLRB ‘bar’ to decertification after card check unionization

Huntingdon, PA (October 14, 2025) – Shannon Martin, an employee of North Huntingdon EMS/Rescue, has filed a second petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking a “decertification” election to remove Teamsters Local 205 union officials as the employees’ “representative.” Martin is receiving free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

Martin’s second request comes after the NLRB’s Regional Director for Region 6 in Pittsburgh shot down her first petition. At the behest of Teamsters union lawyers, the Regional Director dismissed the employees’ request for a secret ballot election. That decision cited the agency’s non-statutory “voluntary recognition bar” that prohibits worker-requested secret ballot elections from being held for at least six months and up to one year after a union gains monopoly bargaining power over workers through the abuse-prone “card check” process.

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), a task that includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. The Board-created “bar” cited to stifle Martin and her colleagues’ election request is nowhere to be found in the text of the NLRA, but is rather a bureaucratic invention of the agency that is often used by union officials to block workers from having their voices heard.

In the dismissal notice, the NLRB Regional Director stated that “since the petition was filed eight days short of six-months from the parties’ first bargaining session, a voluntary recognition bar exists and I am therefore dismissing the petition.” The premise upon which Martin’s petition was thrown out was that the union demanded and was granted recognition from North Huntingdon EMS/Rescue to be the workers’ monopoly representative without holding a secret ballot NLRB-administered election. Because the parties had been bargaining for less than six months, the Regional Director dismissed the petition, despite the text of the NLRA stating that the Board “shall direct an election” when a question concerning the union’s status as the employees’ representative is raised.

Because Pennsylvania lacks Right to Work protections, Teamsters union bosses are able to impose union monopoly bargaining contracts that force employees to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. Without a decertification election to remove the union, Martin and her colleagues will likely be forced to pay union dues or fees under threat of termination.

The Foundation has seen a rise in the requests for assistance from independent-minded workers seeking support in their efforts to be free of unwanted union bosses. This includes recent cases in Texas and Kentucky where other workers are seeking to remove the Teamsters from their workplace.

“Teamsters union brass, increasingly unable to hold onto their rank and file, are choosing to silence worker voices by not allowing them the chance to have their wishes expressed via secret ballot elections,” stated National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “This attempt to use any means to keep workers trapped in a union they oppose and never even voted for demonstrates why the NLRB should move to eliminate the various Board-created hurdles that workers face when attempting to exercise their statutory right to hold decertification elections.”