**Chicago, IL (February 21, 2007)** – A wave of federal unfair labor practice charges filed against the Teamsters Local 714 union by ten Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc. employees has forced Teamsters officials to stop attempting to collect unlawful retaliatory fines against the workers for continuing to do their jobs during a union-ordered strike.

The metal processing workers obtained free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation to file the unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in December 2006. The workers charged that Teamsters officials illegally failed to notify the workers of their right to refrain from formal union membership and then hit them with retaliatory fines – up to $1,000 apiece – for refusing to walk off the job during the strike in March 2006.

Because the Teamsters hierarchy unlawfully failed to inform the workers of their right to refrain from formal union membership and to object to paying for the union’s nonrepresentational activities, such as politics, the employees thus cannot be considered voluntary members – and could not legally be subjected to internal union disciplinary measures, such as the strike fines.

Facing a potential embarrassing prosecution by the NLRB, Teamsters union lawyers sent letters to the ten Ryerson employees stating that the union would not attempt to collect the fines, and Right to Work Foundation attorneys subsequently withdrew the NLRB unfair labor practice charges for the workers. Only in the unlikely event that the workers want formal union membership with the union that trampled on their rights, could the Teamsters officials attempt to collect the fines.

“Teamsters officials went to great lengths to intimidate workers and stifle dissent,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This case shows the contempt that union officials often have for employees who exercise independent judgment and who work to support their families during an unpopular strike.”

The actions of Teamsters union officials violate employee rights recognized under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court *Communications Workers v. Beck* decision. Under *Beck* and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials must inform employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and honor their right not to pay for costs unrelated to collective bargaining, such as union political activities.

**Ventura, CA (February 21, 2007)** – California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) prosecutors have issued a decision and order that United Farm Workers (UFW) union officials must end its misrepresentations, illegal threats of firings, and unlawful dues demands against California Mushroom employees. The ALRB ruling contradicts earlier knee jerk UFW statements to the media denying any wrongdoing and that: “We give workers a clear choice and show them how to exercise their options.”

The ruling stems from unfair labor practice charges brought by a pair of California Mushroom (formerly PictSweet Mushroom Farms) workers in early March 2004 alleging that UFW union officials unlawfully demanded and/or collected full union dues from their paychecks, and threatened to order dissenting workers fired.
With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Guillermo Virgen and Gerardo Mendoza filed the class-action charges on behalf of roughly 400 workers employed by California Mushroom Farm. Aside from unlawful dues seizures and threats, the union hierarchy also failed to inform thousands of laborers statewide that they have the right to certain procedural protections to assure that their forced union dues do not finance activities unrelated to collective bargaining, such as union political activities.

Though many workers previously contested the amount of forced dues deducted from their paychecks, UFW officials simply ignored their objections.

The ALRB is ordering that UFW union officials inform California Mushroom employees of their right to refrain from paying full union dues, provide workers with an audit of the union’s books, and establish and provide procedures by which the employees can challenge the amount of forced dues the union deducts from their paychecks. UFW officials also must refund with interest any unlawfully seized dues, as well as post notices and inform employees both orally and through the mail that they have the right to withhold forced dues unrelated to collective bargaining.

UFW officials must also provide the ALRB with all related documents in order to “facilitate the calculation of refunds,” as well as process any languishing objections to paying full dues by employees.

“UFW union officials have repeatedly run roughshod over the rights of workers at California Mushroom Farm,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The union hierarchy’s refusal to respect the workers’ basic freedoms shows a clear disdain, not only for the employees that they claim to represent, but also for the rule of law.”

Not only did UFW officials violate the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, but they also infringed on rights recognized in several Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Read the ALRB Ruling

Washington, DC (February 8, 2007) – Two employees represented by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys in defending against abusive “card check” union organizing tactics today gave written testimony to the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee about their disturbing experiences.

The coercive card check unionization scheme is highly controversial for severely curtailing employees’ freedom to choose whether or not to unionize and for stripping workers of the limited protections of a government-supervised secret ballot election.

Mike Ivey, a Foundation-assisted materials handler at Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation in Gaffney, South Carolina, detailed the unrelenting harassment he and his coworkers have faced over the past four years at the hands of United Auto Workers (UAW) union organizers seeking to force unwanted unionization upon them. This has occurred even though more than 70 percent of the employees submitted a petition stating they want nothing to do with the UAW.

“Faced with a never-ending onslaught, we employees feel that the UAW is holding our heads under water until we drown,” he stated. “Some employees have had five or more harassing visits from these union organizers. The only way, it seems, to stop the badgering and pressure is to sign the card….Moreover, in many instances, employees who signed cards under pressure or false pretenses later attempted to retrieve or void this card. The union would not allow this to happen, telling them that they could not do so.”

Karen Mayhew, a Portland, Oregon, employee of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (a component of the national Kaiser Permanente health network) also detailed misrepresentations made to employees during a card check campaign last year involving the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Aside from collecting the cards under false pretenses – that they would actually be used to get a secret ballot election – union organizers browbeat people to sign. Ultimately, the federal labor board forced the union to rescind its unlawful “voluntary recognition.”

“Throughout this whole ordeal, my colleagues and I were subjected to badgering and immense peer pressure. Some of us even received calls at home,” Mayhew stated. “I believe this abuse was directed towards me at the request of the union in an effort to intimidate me and have me back down… union abuses of a wide variety are the rule in ‘card check’ campaigns, not the exception.”

Karen Mayhew’s testimony can be found at www.nrtw.org/pdfs/Mayhew.pdf. Mike Ivey’s testimony can be found at www.nrtw.org/pdfs/Ivey.pdf.

**Toledo, OH (February 6, 2007)** – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a formal complaint and agreed to prosecute the United Auto Workers (UAW) union for a campaign of harassment and intimidation aimed at nurses seeking an election to vote the union out at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center.

The complaint stems from unfair labor practice charges filed by St. Vincent nurse Amy Anderson in July 2006 with help from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys. Anderson’s charges detailed a bullying campaign by UAW union officials as she and others sought to collect signatures from their co-workers to throw the unwanted union out of their workplace.

The NLRB complaint against the UAW union and its Local 12 lists numerous examples of union agents physically intimidating nurses, including “following, surrounding, and impeding access to employees.” The complaint also cites that in one instance a union official physically “struck a clipboard containing the petition” from one of the nurse’s hands.

The NLRB complaint also alleges that UAW officials unlawfully intimidated nurses by such acts as recording their license plate numbers. The related harassment took place at and around the medical center, not only in the parking lots, but even in the cafeteria and bathrooms.

“UAW union officials have unleashed a shameless bullying campaign on St. Vincent nurses to keep the mandatory dues flowing in,” said Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “Given such hostility for the rights of the very rank-and-file nurses that UAW officials claim to ‘represent,’ it comes as no surprise that many nurses are leading the effort to show them the door.”

Despite union officials’ organized campaign of unlawful intimidation, the nurses were ultimately able to collect signatures from 30 percent of employees – the minimum necessary to trigger an NLRB supervised decertification election. Once the signatures are certified by NLRB Region 8 in Cleveland, the Board will hold a secret ballot election through which the health care professionals can rid their workplace of the abusive union.

Tired of union officials’ mistreatment, a group of nurses formed “Nurses For A Union-Free St. Vincent’s” (www.NursesKnowTheTruth.bravehost.com) with the goal of decertifying the unwanted automotive union. The NLRB has scheduled an April 24, 2007, hearing before an administrative law judge to prosecute the UAW union.

In April 2006, Foundation attorneys helped four nurses from St. Vincent’s file related federal charges with the NLRB against the UAW union and its Toledo Local 12 for violating their rights under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court decision *Communications Workers v. Beck*. Under *Beck* and related rulings, union officials must inform workers of their right to refrain from formal union membership and from paying for activities unrelated to collective bargaining, such as union political activities.

Download the Complaint

**El Paso, TX (February 5, 2007)** – National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officials have issued a formal complaint and agreed to prosecute a local security guard union and employer for unlawfully suspending a local guard without pay in retaliation for asserting his legal right to refrain from union membership.

The complaint stems from charges Juan Vielma, a local AKAL Security employee, filed against the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) union and his employer with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.

Vielma’s charge details how the SPFPA union hierarchy holds a monopoly bargaining agreement with his employer that illegally makes financial support for the union a mandatory condition of employment.

AKAL Security, a national contract security provider, capitulated to the union hierarchy’s illegal demands when they indefinitely suspended Vielma without pay in June 2006 for failure to formally join union ranks and pay money to the union. Under protections afforded by Texas’ highly-popular Right to Work law, union membership and dues payment are strictly voluntary. While Texas state prosecutors are yet to take action to enforce these clear violations of Texas criminal law, Foundation attorneys persuaded federal officials to pursue the matter to the extent possible under federal law.

AKAL Security and SPFPA union officials are falsely claiming that Vielma and his colleagues work on federal property that is not protected by the Right to Work law – and thus can be forced to pay union fees as a condition of employment. NLRB investigators disagreed, and found that the union hierarchy violated federal law by restraining and coercing employees exercising their limited rights under the National Labor Relations Act to refrain from union participation.

“Such blatant violations of the freedom of association are unbecoming of the State of Texas’ long tradition of defending employees’ Right to Work,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The union hierarchy wants Mr. Vielma and his coworkers to just shut up and pay up.”

Foundation attorneys seek reinstatement and back pay for Vielma, as well as a notice to all AKAL Security employees about their rights to refrain from union membership and dues payment. The NLRB has scheduled a hearing for March 13, 2007, before an administrative law judge.

**Hartford, CT (January 31, 2007)** – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation an employee of Colt Manufacturing has filed a rare *mandamus* petition asking a federal appellate court in Washington, DC to order the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to rule in a long-delayed case that has languished at the federal labor board for nearly four years.

George Gally, a 40-year veteran Colt employee, originally filed unfair labor practice charges in 2003 challenging the United Autoworker (UAW) union’s nationwide policy of requiring employees to object annually in order to receive refunds of forced union dues spent for non-collective bargaining activities such as union politics and lobbying. Gally filed his *mandamus* petition at the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

In the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court *Communications Workers v. Beck* decision, the court recognized that workers have the right to refrain from formal, full dues-paying union membership and pay a reduced fee to cover the union’s collective bargaining costs. But UAW officials have violated the Supreme Court’s *Beck* and related appellate court rulings by requiring Gally and his co-workers to re-object every year – a practice intended to discourage them from reclaiming their money.

The current delay is part of a 15-year history of illegal actions by UAW officials against Gally. In December 2003, a federal administrative law judge awarded Gally nearly $31,000 in compensation plus interest for pay lost after he was illegally fired at the request of UAW Local 376 union officials in 1991. Earlier in 2003, Gally filed the unfair labor practice charges challenging the UAW union officials’ annual objection scheme.

“The issue is simple: for Gally and his co-workers, justice delayed is justice denied,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “Instead of defending the rights of individual employees that have been victimized by compulsory unionism abuses, too often the NLRB has sat on its hands allowing union officials’ wholesale workers’ rights violations to continue.”

Gally’s case is far from the only example of delayed justice for workers at the NLRB, a federal bureaucracy long criticized for political in-fighting and institutional bias favoring compulsory unionism. Only a few weeks ago the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the labor board to produce a ruling in a Foundation-assisted case that began in 1989.

In that case the NLRB was ordered to rule by January 30, 2007, but when the decision was finally released – 17 years after Schreiber Foods employees Sherry and David Pirlott first filed the case – the majority of the Members issuing the decision refused to address the core legal issue of whether nonunion workers can be compelled to pay for union organizing activity.

**Washington, DC (January 30, 2007)** – Forced to rule by an extremely rare court order, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) let stand a controversial Clinton NLRB ruling that approved the firing of workers who refuse to pay for union organizing campaigns. The ruling came in a long-languishing case initiated in 1989 by two cheese processing plant workers against Teamsters Local 75 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with free legal help from the National Right to Work Foundation.

Although David and Sherry Pirlott, employees of Schreiber Foods, won part of their case on technical grounds, the NLRB refused to enter a judgment barring union officials from compelling the payment of union dues that are spent for union organizing. Accordingly, nonunion members nationwide may be forced as a condition of employment to pay for recruitment of new union members and to fund highly aggressive corporate campaigns intended to bully companies and employees into unionization. Union organizing expenditures often comprise as much as 40 and even up to 60 percent of a union’s budget, and nonmembers bristle at the use of their forced dues to corral even more workers into unions.

In a blistering dissent, Member Peter Schaumber scorned as “indefensible” the NLRB majority’s decision not to reverse a controversial Clinton-NLRB ruling that violated rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Schaumber also noted that the NLRB was reneging on its earlier representations to the U.S. Supreme Court. The agency had argued against U.S. Supreme Court review of its Clinton-era *Meijer* decision on the grounds that the NLRB would have the opportunity to reevaluate its position in *Schreiber Foods*. By now refusing to follow through and either reaffirm or overturn *Meijer*, Schaumber noted, the NLRB “effectively insulates the *Meijer* decision from appellate and Supreme Court review for the foreseeable future.”

“David and Sherry Pirlott have waited nearly two decades only to be slapped in the face by the agency charged with protecting them,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “This is justice delayed, and justice denied. Not only did it take two lawsuits against the agency and over 17 years to extract a ruling, but now the Board thumbs its nose again at binding U.S. Supreme Court precedents. The handling of this case is an embarrassment to all federal executive agencies.”

Foundation attorneys persuaded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to order the NLRB to rule in the *Schreiber Foods* case in just the third known mandamus order ever issued against the Board since its creation in 1935. The Pirlotts’ case was the oldest of scores of cases in which Right to Work Foundation-assisted employees are trying to reclaim their forced union dues used for non-bargaining activity. Foundation attorneys are planning a vigorous appeal.

Under the Supreme Court’s rulings in *Communications Workers v. Beck* and *Ellis v. Railway Clerks*, cases brought by employees represented by Right to Work Foundation attorneys, workers may not be lawfully forced to pay for any union activities unrelated to collective bargaining, contract negotiation, or grievance adjustment such as union organizing, politics, extra-unit litigation, and member-only programs.

**Washington, DC (January 22, 2007)** – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, two Schreiber Foods employees from Green Bay, Wisconsin, persuaded a federal appellate court to order the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to rule in a long-delayed case the workers filed in 1989. Having refrained from formal union membership, the workers are challenging union officials’ use of their forced union dues for activities unrelated to collective bargaining, particularly union organizing costs.

Union organizing expenditures often comprise 20 to 40 percent of a union’s budget, and nonmembers have bristled at the notion of their compulsory dues being used to force even more workers into unions.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued the extraordinary order, mandating that the NLRB must rule in the case by January 30, 2007. The case – originally filed by David and Sherry Pirlott 18 years ago against Teamsters Local 75 in Wisconsin – is the oldest of scores of cases in which Foundation-assisted employees are trying to reclaim their forced union dues used for non-bargaining activity.

The NLRB, which has long been plagued by what critics have called political in-fighting and institutional bias favoring compulsory unionism, faced similar appellate court scrutiny in the Pirlott case in 1998. But rather than decide the case that had long been pending on the docket in Washington, DC, the Board sent the case back to an administrative law judge for further fact finding. The case returned to Washington, DC, in 2001 where it has since collected dust awaiting a decision.

The Pirlotts’ writ of mandamus petition, filed in June 2006, pointed out the Board’s egregious and unjustifiable delay in issuing a decision. The appellate court ruling grants the writ and denies the NLRB’s request for yet another extension of time – mandating that the NLRB issue a “judicially reviewable” ruling. Accordingly, the appellate court ruling forecloses the Board from once again shuffling the case around the NRLB bureaucracy in another attempt to shirk its duties.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “When asked to defend the rights of employees who labor under forced unionism, this agency has been AWOL all too often. And the status quo usually benefits union officials, not workers.”

Under the Supreme Court’s rulings in *Communications Workers v. Beck* and *Ellis v. Railway Clerks*, cases brought by employees represented by Foundation attorneys, workers may not be lawfully forced to pay for any union activities unrelated to collective bargaining, contract negotiation, or grievance adjustment such as union organizing, politics, extra-unit litigation, and member-only programs.

**Columbus, OH (January 22, 2007)** — A St. Marys-area teacher today filed a federal complaint challenging the constitutionality of a statewide law denying public employees the right to a religious objection to paying union dues if they do not belong to certain state-approved religions.

With free legal help from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, Carol Katter, a 21-year veteran teacher in the St. Marys school district, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio’s Eastern Division. Katter filed the complaint against top officials of the Ohio State Employment Relations Board (SERB) for religious discrimination in enforcing the contested statute.

SERB officials cannot claim ignorance, as the agency had recently been an incidental party to an earlier investigation and lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice and National Right to Work Foundation attorneys involving similar actions.

Katter filed a related charge this week with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the Ohio Education Association (OEA) union, state affiliate of the National Education Association, challenging an attempt by union officials to divert her forced dues to the local union rather than a charity.

The federal court complaint spells out that, even though Katter is a lifelong Catholic, she was denied her right to an adequate religious accommodation. Katter believes that failing to divert her forced dues from the union contradicts her beliefs due to the union hierarchy’s support for abortion on demand.

Further still, an OEA union official told Katter that she must “change religions” in order to receive a religious accommodation before SERB. Katter’s complaint cites that the state’s discriminatory statute amounts to an unconstitutional establishment of religion, and seeks a federal injunction prohibiting SERB from further enforcing the law against other state employees.

“Carol Katter’s struggle underscores that Ohio employees still face an uphill battle when objecting to union affiliation on religious grounds,” stated National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “Until Ohio passes a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary, such abuses will inevitably continue.”

Katter’s charge follows a federal court decree issued last fall that re-affirmed that all public sector employees who have sincere religious objections to union affiliation cannot be forced to associate with and pay dues to a union they find objectionable. That decree stemmed from another Foundation-assisted case challenging similar systematic religious discrimination throughout Ohio. However, for technical reasons, Ohio’s SERB itself was not formally bound by that decree even though it was well aware of its existence.

**Buckhannon, WV (January 17, 2007)** – Esther Gearhart, a ResCare, Inc. assisted living employee filed federal labor board charges against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 1199 and ResCare for their attempts to force unwanted unionization on health care employees all across West Virginia.

Gearhart filed the charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 6 offices in Pittsburgh, PA, with assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys. The unfair labor practice charges ask for an injunction to block the union and ResCare from continuing their unlawful activities, and they detail multiple violations of the National Labor Relations Act by SEIU officials and ResCare.

Gearhart’s charge is the second such charge filed by ResCare employees with help from Foundation attorneys in recent weeks. In late December, Foundation attorneys helped employees in the Princeton area file charges to block similar unlawful union organizing activities. Employee reports also signal similar activities occurring across the state border in Ohio.
As part of an agreement kept secret from employees, ResCare executives agreed to abandon even the limited protections offered to employees under an NLRB-supervised secret ballot election in choosing whether to unionize. Instead the agreement imposed a coercive “card check” procedure, in which union organizers can browbeat employees individually to sign cards that are then counted as “votes” for unionization.

Because of the prevalence of union intimidation tactics directed at employees, card check is controversial for severely curtailing workers’ freedom of choice in deciding whether or not to unionize.

The “card check” procedure used at ResCare is part of a larger misnamed “neutrality agreement” designed to have the employer assist union organizers in pushing workers into the union’s ranks. Under such agreements, the company commonly must give union officials unfettered access to workers on company property and the home addresses and phone numbers of employees, resulting in home visits from groups of union organizers. Such agreements also often contain a “gag rule” preventing employers from discussing any potential impact of unionization on employees.

In exchange for agreeing to assist the union with the card check scheme, ResCare executives received concessions from SEIU officials, including an agreed upon contract to be foisted upon the employees once the unionization is complete. Such “pre-recognition bargaining” clearly violates federal law, yet the SEIU and ResCare are now rolling out this scheme all over West Virginia, and possibly Ohio as well.

“Union officials sold out the interests of the very workers they sought to ‘represent’ in order to force unionization and compulsory dues upon them,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Union organizers’ illegal behavior shows that they don’t respect the rights of the workers; it’s all about the money.”