31 Aug 2007

Union Officials Target OLMS

Posted in Blog

In Tuesday’s Indy Star, Ed Fuelner hits the nail on the head with an article on Congress’s efforts to slash the budget of the OLMS (the Department of Labor office that investigates union fraud corruption and the misspending of union dues):

Unions control some $22 billion, a staggering amount of money. All of it comes from their members. These workers deserve to know what union leaders spend their hard-earned money on — whether it’s the $65 million the National Education Association gave Jesse Jackson’s liberal pressure group in 2005 or the $130,000 salaries earned by 49 union leaders at AFL-CIO headquarters last year.
OLMS is clearly doing a job that needs to be done. Its hundreds of criminal convictions prove that.
For more on Big Labor’s attempt to starve the OLMS read Mark Mix’s recent op-ed in the Washington Times.

 

31 Aug 2007

National Worker Advocate’s Labor Day Statement:“Union Officials Owe Workers an Apology”

Posted in News Releases

An audio clip from this statement can be downloaded at www.nrtw.org/audio/laborday.mp3

**Springfield, VA (August 31, 2007)** – Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and National Right to Work Committee, made the following statement regarding this year’s Labor Day holiday.

The Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization that provides free legal aid to victims of compulsory unionism abuse. The National Right to Work Committee is 2.2 million member grassroots citizens’ organization that is dedicated to the principle that no one should ever be forced to affiliate with a union in order to get or keep a job.

“While Americans hit the beaches and fire up the barbeques to celebrate Labor Day, the holiday marks a bittersweet occasion for millions of hardworking Americans forced to join or pay dues to a labor union just to get or keep a job.

“In the 28 states without a Right to Work law that makes union affiliation strictly voluntary, millions of our fellow citizens would be fired if they refused to pay union dues.

“Despite their feel-good rhetoric about standing up for workers’ rights, union officials commonly target dissenting workers. Sadly, such retaliation often takes the form of harassment, firings, and even brutal violence.

“The National Right to Work Committee has spent most of 2007 fighting two dangerous union power grabs in Congress. Right now, Big Labor is seeking the forced unionization of our nation’s police and firefighters by federal fiat. Meanwhile, union officials are working to pass a so-called ‘card check’ bill to impose aggressive new recruitment methods on America’s workers – a process which would allow union officials to bully individual workers into signing forms that are counted as ‘votes’ for unionization.

“Meanwhile, National Right to Work attorneys fought at the U.S. Supreme Court to establish that nonunion employees should not have to say ‘no’ multiple times to cut off the use of their forced dues for union political causes they abhor. In Ohio, the Foundation helped a teacher strike down a law barring union religious objectors from diverting their forced dues to a charity unless they were members of certain state-approved religions. In California, Foundation attorneys are defending a 16-year-old grocery clerk saving for college after union officials tried to get her fired for refusal to pay union dues.

“And so, as Big Labor officials dish out their tired old Labor Day propaganda, let us not forget about those rank-and-file workers who have paid a high price for standing up to union officials and exercising their individual rights.

“These workers have nothing for which to thank organized labor. This Labor Day, in fact, they are owed an apology.”

31 Aug 2007

Leading Union Watchdogs Available for Interviews On and Around Labor Day 2007

Posted in News Releases

**Springfield, VA (August 31, 2007)** – Experts from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and National Right to Work Committee will be available for comment and interviews on and around Labor Day September 3 about workers’ rights, union political activities, union organizing trends and tactics, union corruption, and other issues relating to organized labor in America.

The Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization that provides free legal aid to victims of compulsory unionism abuse. The National Right to Work Committee is 2.2 million member grassroots citizens’ organization that is dedicated to the principle that no one should ever be forced to affiliate with a union in order to get or keep a job.

National Right to Work spokesmen are frequently interviewed on national television and radio programs, including The O’Reilly Factor, Special Report with Brit Hume, CNBC’s Closing Bell, and on CNN. Their writings frequently appear in The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, Investor’s Business Daily, and scores of others. They are prepared to comment on or debate any issues related to the following:

• Union officials’ political efforts to pass legislation expanding union special privileges at the expense of rank-and-file employees;

• The growing support around the country for job-producing Right to Work laws that make union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary;

• How the Bush-appointed National Labor Relations Board has failed to rule on many of the most cutting-edge cases in American labor law – allowing union officials to step up their aggressive organizing tactics;

• The efforts of Big Labor’s allies in Congress to overturn state labor laws and give union officials monopoly bargaining power over firefighters and police officers;

• Organized labor’s war on the secret ballot election process for workers choosing whether to unionize; increasing use of coercive “card check” organizing campaigns against workers; and “corporate campaigns” to bully nonunion companies to unionize or go out of business;

• How the Foundation is helping workers battle back in the courts against forced union dues, union violations of religious freedom, union violence, and other infringements of employees’ individual rights;

• How teacher union officials have contributed to a decline in public education while blocking efforts at reform.

To schedule an interview – or for more information – call Justin Hakes at 703-770-3317 or email him at jah@nrtw.org

30 Aug 2007

Murdock: America Needs a National Right to Work Law

Posted in Blog

Syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock writes that the best way to celebrate the American worker this Labor Day is to pass the National Right to Work Act.

Meanwhile, this study from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research cites that Right to Work states continue blazing past forced unionism states in job growth at a 5-to-1 clip.

 

 

29 Aug 2007

Pine Tree State Workers Quit Jobs Rather Than Pay Forced Dues

Posted in Blog

A group of State employees from Maine have decided they’re not going to take it any more when it comes to paying forced union dues- many have decided to quit their jobs instead.

State employee Shirley Laruss, currently battling cancer, would rather her money go towards co-pays and medical bills.

Meanwhile, Mark Turek of UnfairShare.org says, "I’ve spoken with so many people that are so very, very frustrated. I’ve had people call me in tears."

Shame on the legislature in Maine for forcing their public servants to choose between paying dues to an unwanted union and losing their jobs.

 

29 Aug 2007

Welcome to Freedom@Work!

Posted in Blog

Welcome to the new Freedom@Work blog, the most cutting-edge resource for the latest news and views from the Right to Work movement. We look forward to bringing you the latest from the front lines in the battle against compulsory unionism, and using this space to further employee free choice in America. For background on the National Right to Work organizations and the Right to Work issue, please click on the «About» link on the right. Be sure to check back regularly by bookmarking www.nrtw.org/blog or signing up for the RSS feed at https://www.nrtw.org/blog/blog/feed.

29 Aug 2007

Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason Reacts to Federal Election Commission Fine Against America Coming Together

Posted in News Releases

In 2004, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation filed one of the complaints that led to this FEC conciliation agreement. As a group that defends employees against forced political confromity by unions, we were alarmed by the diversion of $26 million by officials of the Service Employees International Union, taken mostly from workers’ forced union dues, into partisan and overt electioneering activity.

See attached letter I received yesterday from the FEC.

This FEC action is a mere slap on the wrist. The big problem with the FEC’s «enforcement» action is, at the end of the day, not one cent of the millions of dollars illegally funnelled into federal election activity will be returned to the unionized workers forced to foot the bill as a condition of employment.

The SEIU union was the biggest ACT donor at $26 million, according to SEIU’s president Andy Stern, a founder of ACT. And many other millions of dollars in workers’ forced union dues were transferred into ACT by officials of other major unions.

Stefan Gleason
Vice President
National Right to Work
Legal Defense Foundation

20 Aug 2007

Goodyear Employees Win Settlement Against Steelworkers Union for Illegal Retaliatory Strike Fines and Intimidation

Posted in News Releases

**Akron, OH (August 20, 2007)** – In order to avoid impending federal prosecution by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a local union backed down from its unlawful attempts to fine several Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (NYSE:**GT**) employees $620 each for refusing to abandon their jobs during a union-ordered strike.

The settlement won by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys requires United Steel Workers of America (USWA) Local 2L union officials to stop threatening employees who are not formal union members with internal union fines, to discontinue holding internal union trials used to discipline such employees, and to cease coercing and intimidating employees who choose not to walk off the job during a union-ordered strike. The settlement also requires notices to be posted in visible areas throughout the Goodyear plant advising employees of their rights.

USWA union officials also must stop “using bullhorns to intimidate” and threaten retaliation against employees at their residences, according to the settlement. USWA union officials must now withdraw the illegal strike fines levied against Goodyear employees as well as expunge all internal union disciplinary records on file.

Foundation attorneys originally helped Frank C. Steen III file federal charges after union officials targeted him with illegal retaliatory strike fines, threats, hate mail, and other recriminations. Having issued a formal complaint in June 2007, the NLRB had scheduled a trial for tomorrow, August 21.

“The outright contempt that these thuggish union officials have for employees who refuse to toe the union line is despicable,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Such bully tactics underscore the Buckeye state’s need for a Right to Work law that would make union affiliation and dues payment strictly voluntary.”

Between October 2006 and January 2007, USWA officials ordered over 15,000 Goodyear employees across 16 plants in North America to walk off the job. However, in order to support their families, Steen and his coworkers resigned from formal union membership in November and exercised their right to return to work.

After resigning, Steen and his coworkers were ordered to appear at an internal “kangaroo” court (which the employees refused to attend), where union officials imposed the fines on the employees for continuing to do their jobs. USWA union officials also sought to retaliate against the workers for informing others of their legal right to refrain from formal union membership.

While at work during the strike, Steen received approximately 10 pieces of hate mail from union officials. On two different occasions, USWA union operatives shouted through bullhorns outside Steen’s residence, calling him a “low life” for refusing to abandon his job. And in a separate incident, another union-strike supporter threatened one of Steen’s coworkers over the phone that he would be fined for “everything he made and then some” and would be fired once the strike was over.

Download the settlement

14 Aug 2007

Teamsters Union Must Abandon Over $100,000 in Illegal Fines Levied Against Workers During California Grocery Strike

Posted in News Releases

**Los Angeles, CA (August 14, 2007)** – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, 54 grocery workers of Albertsons and Ralphs grocery chains won a major settlement agreement from the Teamsters Local 952 union requiring it to rescind over $100,000 in illegal strike fines.

Under the settlement approved late last week by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, DC, Teamsters union officials will rescind all unlawful fines levied against employees during the Southern California grocery strike in 2003-2004.

The settlement also mandates that union officials allow several hundred – perhaps even thousands – of workers in eight different bargaining units to retroactively revoke their formal union membership and receive rebates of mandatory dues taken to fund union political and other non-bargaining activities. Under the settlement, the matter will now be remanded to NLRB Region 21 in Los Angeles, which will ensure the union’s compliance.

Led by Juan Saldana, Daniel Hernandez, Sr. and Mike MacDonald, dozens of Albertsons and Ralphs distribution center employees filed unfair labor practice charges in March 2004 with the NLRB after Teamsters officials issued illegal retaliatory fines against them ranging up to $7,200 per employee for refusing to participate in “sympathy strike” activity.

In fact, Teamsters Local 952 union officials socked employees with the confiscatory fines simply for observing the union’s own “no strike” contract with their employers. The targeted employees had continued to report to work during the crippling grocery strike ordered against Albertsons, Vons, and Ralphs by officials of a different union, the United Food and Commercial Workers.

“Although a significant victory for these employees, this case underscores that state law should not force any worker to affiliate with, or be ‘represented’ by, an unwanted union in the first place,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation.

Previously, an NLRB administrative law judge ruled that Teamsters Local 952 officials illegally failed to inform workers of their rights to refrain from formal union membership and to object to paying for the union’s nonrepresentational activities, such as politics. Because the employees thus cannot be considered voluntary members, the judge ruled that employees must be allowed to resign retroactively and thereby avoid internal union disciplinary measures taken against them. The ruling also overturned Teamsters officials’ illegal policy of forcing workers to renew annually their objections to financially supporting the union’s political activities, and to file such objections individually.

In the Foundation-won *Communications Workers of America v. Beck* decision in 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employees are entitled to resign from formal union membership and withhold forced dues for activities other than union monopoly bargaining, such as union political activities and lobbying. And only truly voluntary union members can be subjected to internal union discipline, such as fines

14 Aug 2007

Island View Casino Employees Seek Federal Injunction to Block Coercive “Card Check” Unionization Drive

Posted in News Releases

**Gulfport, MS (August 14, 2007)** – Three employees of the Island View Casino have filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop union organizers from obtaining confidential information about Island View employees and from demanding other organizing assistance from Island View management in violation of federal labor law.

In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi with the help of National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, the three employees, detail how Teamsters, International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) and UNITE-HERE union officials are attempting to violate the Labor Management Relations Act by demanding that Island View hand over “things of value” to union organizers. Among these, Teamsters, IUOE, and UNITE union organizers have demanded confidential records containing personal information about employees, sweeping physical access to Gulfside’s properties for organizing, and control over all communications Gulfside has with its employees concerning the unions.

The federal law provisions at issue are meant to prevent sweetheart deals between employers and unions which induce union officials to sell out the interests of the employees they are supposed to represent.

The unions’ demands are part of a “Memorandum of Agreement” that union officials signed with the management of the Grand Casino Gulfport. The remaining assets of the now-defunct Grand Casino were purchased by the Gulfside Casino Partnership in December 2005 after the Grand Casino was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

So-called “neutrality and card check” agreements give union organizers sweeping power to browbeat rank-and-file workers into union ranks. Armed with confidential personnel information, union organizers often make “house calls” where they can intimidate or harass employees into signing cards that are then counted as “votes” for unionization. “Card checks” also deny employees the privacy and limited protections afforded workers during a National Labor Relations Board-run secret ballot election over whether to unionize.

In past National Right to Work Foundation-assisted cases, employees have reported being misled about the cards’ true purpose, and some employees have even had to threaten police action to get union organizers off their property. The Island View employees and their co-workers are particularly concerned about the prospect of home visits from union organizers, after hearing stories of intimidation during organizing drives at other area casinos.

“Union bosses are determined to force unionization on Island View employees from the top down, like it or not,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “These employees believe that the union bosses are more concerned with bolstering union ranks than with representing rank-and-file employees.”

Mississippi is one of 22 Right to Work states in which union membership and dues payment is strictly voluntary. However, if union officials are granted monopoly bargaining power over Island View employees, the workers will no longer be free to negotiate individually over their own wages and working conditions.

Download the Federal Lawsuit