Utah Mechanics Eject Operating Engineers Union Bosses After Landslide Decertification Vote Results
National Labor Board certifies election outcome
Salt Lake City, UT (December 19, 2025) – Employees of Smith Power Products, Inc are free from the hold of Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 union officials after an overwhelming majority of the units 58 workers voted to “decertify” the union in a secret ballot election administered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
NLRB Region 27 certified the election results, officially ending Operating Engineers officials’ exclusive monopoly “representation” of the Smith Power Products employees. The decertification effort was spearheaded by Smith Power Products employee Bryce Runia, who filed his petition with the NLRB with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
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.
The election took place among all full-time employees employed in the Parts and Service Department of the Smith Power Products, Salt Lake City, Utah, facility. Seventy percent of the workers’ votes were cast against the continued presence of Operating Engineers union officials in the workplace.
Utah is one of the 26 states with Right to Work protections that safeguard workers by making union affiliation and dues payment strictly voluntary. Yet, even in Right to Work states, union officials can impose exclusive bargaining control upon all workers in a workplace, even those who oppose the union. The workers’ decertification victory removes the union officials’ monopoly bargaining powers over the employees.
“The Foundation is pleased to have assisted Mr. Runia and his colleagues in exercising their right to remove an unwanted union from their workplace,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “This case serves as another reminder that, in addition to the vast majority of workers who polls show are happily non-union, there are numerous other employees in Utah and across America who are currently trapped in a union against their will.”
Educators at Casa Trail House Children’s Shelter File Petitions to Remove Unwanted Union ‘Representation’
Teachers and teachers’ assistants at immigrant youth facility seek Labor Board vote to remove Operating Engineers union officials
El Paso, TX (November 9, 2022) – A teacher’s assistant at Southwest Key Programs Casa Trail House, a charity organization for immigrant children in Texas, has filed a petition to free her and her coworkers from unwanted so-called “representation” by union officials of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 351. Brenda Muñoz is receiving free representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys to navigate the decertification process before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Muñoz’s petition comes on the heels of another decertification effort by Southwest Key employee Maria Amaya, also filed with Foundation legal aid. Ms. Amaya is in a separate bargaining unit from Ms. Muñoz, although they both work for the same employer and both seek to eliminate unwanted IUOE union officials from their workplace.
Because Texas is one of 27 states with Right to Work protections for private sector employees, unions cannot force workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of keeping their jobs. However, even in Right to Work states union officials are empowered to impose monopoly representation on entire units of workers even over the objections of many workers within the unit, necessitating decertification elections to remove unwanted union “representation.”
The decertification efforts at Casa Trail House come as interest in holding votes to remove unions increases nationwide. The NLRB’s own data show that, currently, a unionized private sector worker is more than twice as likely to be involved in a decertification effort as the average nonunion worker is to be involved in a unionization campaign.
“No worker anywhere should be forced under a union’s so-called ‘representation’ against their will. A decertification vote should be scheduled promptly for these workers who do not wish to be associated with IUOE,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Foundation staff attorneys stand ready to provide legal aid to workers wanting to hold a decertification election to oust a union they oppose and believe they would be better off without.”
