Visalia, Calif. (November 1, 2004) – The General Counsel of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) has issued a formal complaint against the United Farm Workers (UFW) union for misrepresenting workers’ freedom of association rights across the state.

The complaint stems from unfair labor practice charges brought by a pair of PictSweet Mushroom Farms workers earlier this year alleging that UFW officials unlawfully collected full union dues from their paychecks and threatened dissenting workers with a loss of health benefits.

Obtaining free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, Guillermo Virgen and Gerardo Mendoza filed the class-action unfair labor practice charges on behalf of roughly 300 workers employed by PictSweet. Aside from unlawful dues seizures and threats, the ALRB will also pursue classwide relief against the UFW hierarchy for failing 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.

The complaint is the second in a year involving the UFW union, following the ALRB’s issuing of a complaint in December 2003 against the UFW union for unlawfully ordering the mass firings of more than 150 Oxnard-area Coastal Berry employees who refused to pay full union dues in 2000.

“The UFW union hierarchy wants workers simply to shut up and pay up,” said National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “This union hierarchy’s repeated refusal to respect workers’ freedom shows a clear disdain for the people that they claim to represent and for the rule of law.”

Virgen and Mendoza allege that UFW union officials intentionally misled workers by stating that all workers in the bargaining unit were required to pay full union dues as a condition of employment. UFW union officials also unlawfully failed to inform employees of their rights to object to paying for non-collective bargaining activities (such as union electoral politics), and the right to challenge the union’s fee calculations before an impartial decision- maker.

Union officials also demanded that workers sign dues check-off cards authorizing the automatic deduction of full union dues from their paychecks to keep their jobs. UFW officials then threatened workers with a loss of benefits if they failed to pay full dues and sign payroll deduction authorization cards. The actions of UFW union officials not only violated the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, but also unlawfully infringed on constitutional rights recognized in several Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Brevard County, Florida (October 22, 2004) – A local Kennedy Space Center worker filed federal charges against the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stagehand Employees (IATSE) Union Local 780 today after union officials denied his right not to subsidize union politics, failed to provide him with a legally mandated audit of union expenditures, and continued to seize full union dues from his paychecks after he notified them that he objected to joining or paying full dues.

Adam Nehr, an employee of InDyne Inc., which provides video and imaging services to NASA, obtained free legal assistance from attorneys with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and filed the unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after union officials repeatedly denied his right to refrain from formal union membership.

Nehr alleges that, in August 2004, he notified union officials that he would assert his right to refrain from full union membership and paying full union dues. However, union officials repeatedly demanded that he reconfirm his objection, refused to provide an adequate breakdown of union expenditures, and continued to deduct full union dues from his paycheck. The NLRB will now investigate the charge and decide whether to issue a formal complaint in the case.

“Union officials want workers like Adam Nehr to simply shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Rather than respect the rights of workers they claim to represent, union officials are bullying workers to pay for political electioneering.”

The actions of IATSE union officials violated Nehr’s 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 the right not to be forced to pay for costs unrelated to collective bargaining, such as union political activity.

Florida’s highly popular Right to Work law, on the books since 1968, normally prevents workers from having to pay dues to an unwanted union. However, the part of Kennedy Space Center on which Nehr works is an “exclusive federal enclave” that instead falls under the jurisdiction of federal labor laws that authorize compulsory unionism.

“Unfortunately, even in states like Florida where Right to Work protections exist, workers continue to face such heavy-handed tactics on behalf of union officials,” said Gleason.

Solon, Ohio (October 19, 2004) – A local worker filed federal charges against the Bakery and Confectionary Workers Union Local 19 today after he exercised his right not to subsidize union political activities and was unlawfully fired for refusal to join the union and sign a dues “check-off” card.

Steven Taday, an employee of Schwebel Baking Company, Inc., obtained free legal assistance from attorneys with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and filed the unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after union officials had the company fire him for refusing to sign a card authorizing automatic dues deductions from his wages.

The new charges complement similar unfair labor practice charges filed last month against Schwebel Baking for unlawfully firing Taday.

Taday alleges that, beginning in February 2004, union officials misrepresented his rights by telling him he had to maintain full union membership and sign a dues check-off authorization allowing the automatic deduction of union dues from his paycheck as a condition of employment. The NLRB will now investigate the charge and decide whether to issue a formal complaint in the case.

“Union officials want workers like Steven Taday to simply shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Rather than respect the rights of workers they represent, union officials are bullying workers to pay for political electioneering.”

Taday’s firing from Schwebel, which employs more than 300 people, violated his rights recognized by the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision. Under Beck and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials must specifically inform employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and the right not to be forced to pay for costs unrelated to collective bargaining, such as union political activity.

“Unfortunately, as long as Ohio workers labor under a system of compulsory unionism, these sorts of abuses will continue to plague workers across the state,” said Gleason.

Fairfield, Calif. (October 6, 2004) — Two employees of Anheuser Busch have filed federal charges against a Teamsters union local for violating the terms of a recent settlement agreement and threatening to have workers fired for refusing to comply with union officials’ unlawful monetary demands.

Catherine Anderson and Noemi Palmas, part-time employees at Anheuser Busch’s Fairfield and Van Nuys facilities, respectively, filed the unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys.

As a result of earlier federal charges filed by Anderson and Palmas in July 2003, NLRB prosecutors forced Teamsters Local 896 officials to settle the cases with a requirement that they properly inform workers of their right to refrain from financially supporting the union’s political and ideological causes. Teamsters officials had also agreed to cease illegal threats to have workers dismissed for refusal to pay excessive initiation fees and agreed to provide workers refraining from formal union membership “a precise and accurate statement” about the calculation of the forced dues.

Anderson and Palmas today allege that since signing the settlement agreement, Teamsters officials have
ordered some workers to pay a union “initiation” fee for a second time, continued to charge nonmembers nearly full dues, and failed to provide a legally mandated audit of union expenditures. Additionally, union officials require that workers wishing to refrain from formal union membership must renew their objections each year, and they demand that workers show up in person at the union hall to settle all past debts with the union. A refusal to comply with these unlawful demands would result in the employee’s termination.

“This Teamsters union hierarchy wants workers simply to shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The repeated attempts by union officials to run roughshod over workers’ rights show the inevitable greed and corruption that flow from forced unionism.”

The actions of Teamsters union officials violated worker protections recognized in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Communications Workers v. Beck, a case argued and won by Foundation attorneys. Under the Beck ruling, workers may not be compelled to pay dues beyond the union’s proven collective bargaining costs, and they are entitled to an independent audit of union expenditures before any forced dues or fees are seized.

Washington, DC (October 6, 2004) – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Director has filed a formal complaint – ordered by the NLRB’s General Counsel – against a Daimler-Chrysler subsidiary for withholding pay raises as part of a strategy to coerce employees into ceding to unwanted unionization.

Meanwhile, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys helped Freightliner employees David Roach and Mike Ivey file a second unfair labor practice charge alleging the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and the company engaged in unlawful premature bargaining over numerous substantive terms and conditions of employment – despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of employees signed a petition opposing the UAW union’s organizing efforts.

The NLRB complaint targets the withholding of scheduled pay increases as a way of coercing employees to select UAW union officials as their workplace representative. Documents obtained by Foundation attorneys indicated that company officials posted notices announcing that previous increases were delayed because of the union organizing campaign.

Approximately 70 percent of the plant’s employees signed a petition stating that they reject union affiliation and prefer to negotiate directly with company officials over wages and benefits. However, the UAW union and Freightliner continued to enforce a “neutrality agreement” that included a series of prearranged terms and conditions of employment in exchange for active employer assistance during the union organizing drive.

Under most “neutrality agreements,” union organizers are given full access to non-union employees’ personal information and company facilities. Also, workers are usually denied the ability to decide their representation through a secret ballot election, and union operatives are allowed to sign up workers under a coercive “card check” authorization scheme.

“Freightliner and UAW officials cut a backroom deal to corral workers into union affiliation against their wishes by holding their wage increase hostage,” said Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “While an overwhelming majority of workers simply don’t want the union around, Freightliner and the UAW union are refusing to get the message.”

The issuance of this complaint follows precedent-setting orders issued last month by the NLRB General Counsel that unfair labor practice complaints be issued in a series of employee cases challenging organized labor’s predominant “card check” organizing method. Foundation attorneys convinced NLRB General Counsel Arthur Rosenfeld also to issue complaints based on unfair labor practice charges filed by workers who found themselves targeted for organization by the unwanted UAW union at Dana Corporation’s plants in Bristol, Virginia, and St. Johns, Michigan.

The NLRB has scheduled a November 15 hearing before an Administrative Law Judge to prosecute the Freightliner complaint.

Washington, D.C. (September 27, 2004) – National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have persuaded the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to order the federal labor prosecution of Heartland Industrial Partners LLP and the Steelworkers union for corralling unsuspecting employees of acquired corporations into unionization.

David Stockman, President Reagan’s former budget director, heads the firm that entered the arrangement with the Steelworkers union. Foundation attorneys argue that the agreement is an unlawful “secondary boycott,” as it imposes unionization on other companies which they purchase or with which they conduct certain business.

NLRB General Counsel Arthur Rosenfeld’s order addresses an increasingly common “top-down organizing” tactic that is used to short-circuit traditional grassroots-driven union organizing drives that have been increasingly unsuccessful due to a lack of interest among rank-and-file employees.

With the help of attorneys from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Linda Kandel, Galen Raber, Juanita Miller, and Renate Croll filed the unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB against the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) union and Heartland in August 2003.

As part of their pact with the USWA union, Heartland agreed to force any company in which it has substantial investments to accept a so-called “partnership agreement.” Under the terms of the “partnership agreement,” the company must deny employees an opportunity to vote in a traditional secret ballot election, give union organizers employees’ private information including home addresses, and ultimately force workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

Moreover, a newly acquired company must also impose the provisions of the “partnership agreement” on corporations it acquires or with which it does substantial business.

In return for this arrangement, Steelworkers union officials agreed to stifle employee rights under federal law and to limit employees’ ability to influence their own wages, benefits, and working conditions.

“Heartland and the USWA union are using their illegal sweetheart deal to force thousands and thousands of American workers into the clutches of compulsory unionism,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation.

This quid pro quo arrangement may also violate civil and criminal provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act.

Rosenfeld’s order complements a lawsuit filed by Foundation attorneys, Patterson et al. v. Heartland Industrial Partners LLP et al., challenging the “neutrality agreement” between Heartland and the USWA union. The suit was filed in federal court on behalf of Wanda Patterson, an employee of Collins & Aikman, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. In January, the U.S. District Court cleared the path for full discovery into details of the agreement, and the case is still pending.

Santa Monica, Calif. (September 22, 2004) – National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have persuaded the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C., to order the prosecution of a local hotel and union for actions taken to corral hotel staff into unionization against their will and without a secret ballot election.

The order came in response to six employees at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel filing federal charges late last year to challenge a so-called “card check” unionization drive that resulted in a flood of allegations of workers’ rights violations. NLRB General Counsel Arthur Rosenfeld ordered a trial regarding allegations that the Four Points Hotel illegally recognized Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Union Local 11 as the monopoly bargaining representative of the Hotel’s staff despite a lack of majority support. Additionally, the Four Points Hotel faces prosecution for unlawfully assisting HERE union officials in foisting union affiliation on its employees.

Under “card check” or so-called “neutrality agreements,” employers are induced to waive their employees’ ability to vote in a secret ballot election and agree to provide other assistance to the union in pressuring employees to unionize. These pacts often include unlawful pre-arrangements over substantive terms and conditions of employment, such as health care, wages, or compulsory union dues.

Because many Four Points workers felt harassed into signing union authorization cards, and many revoked signed cards, the employees disputed the union’s claim that a majority of Sheraton workers actually support the union. They are asking the agency to bar HERE officials from bargaining on their behalf. The case will now be remanded to the NLRB Regional office for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.

“Union officials knew they could not win a traditional, government-supervised secret ballot election of the employees,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “That’s why they resorted to the coercive ‘card check’ process to saddle workers with unwanted union representation.”

Rosenfeld’s order follows precedent setting orders earlier this month that unfair labor practice complaints be issued in a series of employee cases challenging organized labor’s predominant coercive “card check” organizing method. Foundation attorneys convinced Rosenfeld to issue complaints based on unfair labor practice charges filed by workers who found themselves targeted for organization by the unwanted United Auto Workers union at Freightliner’s Gaffney, South Carolina, facility as well as Dana Corporation’s plants in Bristol, Virginia, and St. Johns, Michigan.

Solon, Ohio (September 13, 2004) – A Solon worker filed federal charges against an area bread baking company today after he was unlawfully fired for refusing to join a union and exercising his right not to subsidize union political activities.

Steven Taday, an employee of Schwebel Baking Company, Inc., obtained free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and filed the unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after being fired for refusing to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union Local 700 and sign a card authorizing automatic dues deductions from his wages.

Taday alleges that, beginning in February 2004, company officials misrepresented his rights by telling him he had to maintain full union membership and sign a dues check-off authorization allowing the automatic deduction of union dues from his paycheck as a condition of employment. The NLRB will now investigate the charge and decide whether to issue a formal complaint in the case.

“Company officials apparently want workers like Steven Taday to simply shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Rather than respect the rights of workers they employ, company officials are bullying workers to pay for union political electioneering.”

The employee’s dismissal from Schwebel, which employs more than 300 people, violated his rights established by the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers v. Beck decision. Under Beck and subsequent NLRB rulings, union officials must specifically inform employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and the right not to be forced to pay for costs unrelated to collective bargaining such, as union political activity.

“Unfortunately, as long as Ohio workers labor under a system of compulsory unionism, these sorts of abuses will continue to plague workers across the state,” said Gleason.

Santa Ana, Calif. (September 13, 2004) — The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation today filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California attacking a “project labor agreement” (PLA) that would force workers on 28 public projects worth roughly $300 million into union ranks. Foundation attorneys filed their “friend of the court” brief in support of a group of nonunion apprentices seeking work on the projects.

Foundation attorneys argue that the agreement between the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council (CTC) union and the Rancho Santiago Community College District (District) that forces workers on all 28 projects into union collectives is preempted by federal labor law. Specifically, Foundation attorneys argue that the discriminatory union-only requirement imposed on contractors bidding on the projects violates provisions in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) that limit the ability of union officials to impose union affiliation on workers against their will.

A PLA is a collective bargaining agreement that contractors must become a party to as a condition of performing work on a government-funded construction project. PLAs invariably require contractors to grant union officials monopoly bargaining privileges over their workers, use exclusive union hiring halls, and operate according to wasteful union work rules. A PLA’s function is to foist compulsory union representation onto the backs of employees of nonunion contractors who choose the freedom to work without union involvement.

“It is wrong for the state government to sponsor a scheme that bilks taxpayers out of millions of dollars and deprives employees of their basic right to choose whether or not to affiliate with a union,” said Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “Work should be awarded on the basis of who is willing to do the best job at a reasonable price, not on who is most willing to sell workers out to compulsory unionism.”

Foundation attorneys assert that the discriminatory PLA between the CTC union and the District runs afoul of the NLRA as interpreted in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Building and Construction Trades Council v. ABC of Massachusetts/Rhode Island (“Boston Harbor”). Under Boston Harbor, a state or local government may not attempt to regulate a given industry through its projects. By denying work to nonunion contractors on $300 million worth of public projects, Foundation attorneys argue, the District is attempting to regulate the regional construction industry.

Judge James V. Selna will conduct a hearing on September 27, 2004, to decide whether to grant the District’s motion to dismiss the case against it by the group of apprentices.

Washington, D.C. (September 8, 2004) – National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have persuaded the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to issue the first-ever unfair labor practice complaints in a series of employee cases challenging organized labor’s predominant organizing method known as “card check.”

Under “card check” or so-called “neutrality agreements,” employers are induced to waive their employees’ ability to vote in a secret ballot election and agree to provide other assistance to the union in pressuring employees to unionize. These pacts – which are sometimes characterized as sweetheart deals – often include unlawful pre-arrangements over substantive terms and conditions of employment, such as health care, wages, or compulsory union dues.

Replacing the less-abusive secret ballot election process with “card check” has become the number one requirement for candidates to obtain Big Labor’s support in the 2004 elections. According to the AFL-CIO’s recent statement to BNA’s Daily Labor Report, “we don’t have any issue that’s a litmus test, but this is as close as it gets.”

NLRB General Counsel Arthur Rosenfeld found that deals the United Auto Workers (UAW) union cut with Freightliner (owned by Daimler Chrysler) and automotive supplier Dana Corporation amounted to unlawful premature bargaining under long-established law. The illegal agreements had been reached long before the UAW had provided any evidence that a majority of the companies’ employees wanted anything to do with the union.

Foundation attorneys brought the original unfair labor practice charges after being contacted by workers who found themselves targeted for organization by the unwanted UAW union at Freightliner’s Gaffney, South Carolina, facility as well as Dana Corporation’s plants in Bristol, Virginia, and St. Johns, Michigan.

The lead cases directly impact the enforceability of these “neutrality” or “card check” agreements, in which employers typically grant union operatives sweeping access to their workplaces and employees’ personal information, strip workers of the opportunity to a secret ballot representation election, and hold mandatory “captive audience” speeches about why employees should be unionized. Workers are subjected to “card check” drives in which union operatives bully workers face-to-face to sign union authorization cards that count as a “vote” in favor of unionization.

“Though long overdue, the General Counsel’s decision is an encouraging step towards protecting the rights of tens of thousands of workers across the country facing this ugly union organizing tactic,” said Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “Workers ought to be able to decide whether to unionize in an atmosphere free of coercion.”

In the Freightliner case, Gaffney workers filed federal charges against Freightliner, Daimler-Chrysler, and the UAW union for unlawfully withholding scheduled pay raises as part of a strategy to coerce employees into ceding to unionization. Although an overwhelming majority of employees signed a petition opposing the UAW, Freightliner nevertheless bargained with the union. Meanwhile, in the cases brought by Dana employees, company and union officials negotiated over health benefits and other substantive terms of employment without first having a majority of workers’ support.