Federal Court Upholds Wisconsin Governor’s Public-Sector Unionism Reforms, Right to Work Protections
Madison, WI (September 11, 2013) – Today, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin upheld Governor Scott Walker’s 2011 public-sector unionism reform measures, also known as «Act 10,» which included giving most Wisconsin public workers the Right to Work.
With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, two Wisconsin public employees moved to intervene in the lawsuit in favor of the law after Laborers Local 236 union officials challenged the law in the federal court. The court permitted the two civil servants to file an amicus brief.
Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, released the following statement in regards to the court’s decision:
«The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin has upheld the constitutionality of ‘Act 10.’ The court’s decision is a powerful victory for individual workers who do not want anything to do with an unwanted union in their workplace.
«We’re happy that the court rejected the empty arguments of union officials who have had a free ride on the backs of taxpayers and government workers for too long. The decision ensures that thousands of Wisconsin’s civil servants will continue to have the freedom to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union.
«No worker should ever be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment, which is why Wisconsin should guarantee that right for all Wisconsin workers, including private-sector employees and public safety workers, through a Right to Work law.»
FirstEnergy Worker Files Federal Charge Against Local Electrical Worker Union
Reading, PA (September 12, 2013) – A FirstEnergy Corp. worker has filed a federal charge against a local union for violating her rights.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Deborah Adie of Orwigsburg filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In the charge, Adie alleges that International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 777 union officials demanded she join the union or she would lose her job.
Under federal law, no worker can be forced to formally join a union. However, because Pennsylvania is not a Right to Work state, workers can be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. IBEW Local 777 union officials never informed Adie of her right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership, a right upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Right to Work Foundation-won Communications Workers v. Beck case.
In mid-March, Adie wrote a letter to the union hierarchy resigning her union membership and objecting to paying full union dues. Despite her request, union officials refused to acknowledge her resignation, and they continue to collect full union dues from her paychecks.
In April, Adie was told by a union official that she needed to fill out a union form instead of her March resignation letter in order to resign membership. Because she failed to turn in that form, she was notified that the union would not recognize her resignation and would continue to take full union dues from her paychecks.
Adie’s charge also challenges the provision of the IBEW Local 777’s monopoly bargaining agreement with FirstEnergy that illegally requires workers to remain in the union as a condition of their employment.
«No worker should ever be forced to join or pay dues to an unwanted union just to get or keep a job,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «And no worker should be required to jump through hoops just to exercise their rights.»
«This case underscores why Pennsylvania needs to pass a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payments completely voluntary,» added Mix.
Twenty-four states have Right to Work protections for employees. Public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans and union members support the Right to Work principle of voluntary unionism.
Local Cold Storage Warehouse Worker Files Federal Unfair Labor Practice Charge against UFCW Union
Local Cold Storage Warehouse Worker Files Federal Unfair Labor Practice Charge against UFCW Union
Union officials post coercive notices to mislead workers into dues-paying ranks
Rochelle, IL (September 19, 2013) – An Americold Logistics warehouse employee has filed a federal charge against a local union for violating her rights and posting coercive notices in the workplace designed to mislead workers into dues-paying ranks.
Karen Cox of Dixon filed the federal charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
In June 2012, a local affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) unionized Cox’s workplace. However, union and company officials did not reach a contract until June 2013. During that time, Cox began a campaign to remove the unwanted union from her workplace. In August, the workers voted in a secret-ballot election whether to remove the union from their workplace. At the request of the union hierarchy, the results of the election have been impounded pending review by the NLRB.
In September, union officials posted a notice in the workplace demanding workers become full dues paying union members, or they will be fired.
Federal Appeals Court Rules to Halt Implementation of Minnesota’s Childcare Unionization Scheme
Federal Appeals Court Rules to Halt Implementation of Minnesota’s Childcare Unionization Scheme
Childcare providers fight dictate to push them into forced union dues ranks
Minneapolis, MN (September 19, 2013) – Today, a federal appeals court ruled to delay implementation of Minnesota’s new law that seeks to forcibly unionize the state’s home-based childcare providers.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Jennifer Parrish from Rochester and 11 other providers from around the state filed an appeal last month after the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota dismissed their lawsuit on the grounds that it was filed too soon.
Parrish and other providers seek to halt implementation of a recently-passed law intended to designate American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) officials as the monopoly political representative of thousands of providers in the state, who are either owners of childcare businesses or family members who take care of related children.
Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement on the appeals court ruling:
«Minnesota’s childcare providers are no longer under imminent threat to be forcibly unionized in a union they want nothing to do with.
«The court ruled to delay implementation of the law pending the outcome of a National Right to Work Foundation-led challenge pending at the U.S. Supreme Court of a similar law passed in Illinois.»
Right to Work Foundation Announces New Addition to Legal Team
Right to Work Foundation Announces New Addition to Legal Team
Regent-trained attorney dedicated to the cause of individual liberty for America’s workers
Washington, DC (September 20, 2013) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has hired Amanda Freeman of Woodbridge, Virginia as an addition to its cutting-edge legal team.
Freeman is a member of the Virginia State Bar and 2009 graduate of the Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
«Amanda brings a real commitment to defending and advancing individual liberty to the Foundation,» said Ray LaJeunesse, vice president and legal director of the National Right to Work Foundation.
Worker Files Brief in Supreme Court Case Challenging Backroom Union Organizing Deal
Worker Files Brief in Supreme Court Case Challenging Backroom Union Organizing Deal
Right to Work legal challenge could determine if companies are allowed to hand over sensitive employee information to aggressive union organizers
Washington, DC (September 23, 2013) – National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys filed a brief at the United States Supreme Court late Friday for a Florida casino worker challenging a much used union organizing scheme. The case, Mulhall v. UNITE HERE, could determine whether union organizers can receive workers’ personal information and other valuable organizing tools in exchange for concessions at employees’ expense.
In 2004, UNITE HERE Local 355 and Mardi Gras Gaming entered into an agreement in which union officials promised to devote over one hundred thousand dollars to help pass a gambling ballot initiative and guaranteed not to picket, boycott, or strike against Mardi Gras facilities.
In return, Mardi Gras agreed to give union operatives workers’ personal contact information (including home addresses), grant them access to company facilities during a coercive ‘card check’ organizing campaign, refrain from informing workers about the impact of unionization, and refrain from requesting a federally-supervised secret ballot election to determine whether employees unionized.
Eight Chattanooga Volkswagen Workers File Federal Charges Challenging UAW Card Check Scheme
Eight Chattanooga Volkswagen Workers File Federal Charges Challenging UAW Card Check Scheme
Demand for installing UAW union at VW based on cards collected through «unlawful means including misrepresentations, coercion, threats, and promises»
Chattanooga, TN (September 25, 2013) – Today, eight Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers filed federal charges against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union for misleading and coercing them and other workers to forfeit their rights in what is now a «card check» unionization drive by the UAW.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the eight workers filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Atlanta.
After UAW union officials claimed to possess signature cards from a majority of workers, UAW union president Bob King demanded VW deny workers a secret ballot vote on unionization and instead unionize all workers on the basis of the unreliable and abuse-prone card check process.
Supreme Court to Review Illinois Homecare Provider Unionization Scheme
Supreme Court to Review Illinois Homecare Provider Unionization Scheme
National Right to Work Foundation attorneys return to High Court to defend home-based personal care providers forced into union ranks
Washington, DC (October 1, 2013) – The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it is granting a writ of certiorari in a case that will decide whether Illinois homecare providers can be forced into union ranks against their will.
With the help of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, Pam Harris and seven other Illinois care providers are challenging a forced-unionism scheme enacted by Illinois Governors Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn on the grounds that it violates their rights to free expression and association by forcing them to subsidize union lobbying.
UPS Worker Files Federal Charge against Teamster Union for Ignoring His Rights Under Michigan’s Right to Work Law
UPS Worker Files Federal Charge against Teamster Union for Ignoring His Rights Under Michigan’s Right to Work Law
Teamster union officials stonewall worker’s attempt to refrain from dues payments
Grand Rapids, MI (October 4, 2013) – A Wyoming, Michigan UPS (NYSE: UPS) worker has filed a federal charge against a local Teamster union for violating his rights.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Gary Frost filed the unfair labor practice charge Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Frost, who is not a member of the Teamster Local 406 union, had to pay union dues and fees as a condition of his employment before Michigan recently enacted a Right to Work law making union dues payments completely voluntary.
Worker Advocate: Indiana’s Right to Work Law Remains in Effect, Will be Upheld
Springfield, VA (September 11, 2013) – The National Right to Work Foundation has received numerous inquiries from concerned Indiana workers after a Lake County judge invalidated the state’s recently enacted Right to Work law.
Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, released the following statement about the decision and the current status of Indiana’s Right to Work law:
«Despite the Lake County court judge’s ruling, the constitutionality of Right to Work laws has long been a settled question. No worker should ever be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys plan to file an amicus brief for workers they represent in support of Indiana’s Right to Work law when the case is considered on appeal at the Indiana Supreme Court.
«In the meantime, Indiana’s popular Right to Work law remains in effect while the case is pending on appeal. As such, workers will continue to have the choice to refrain from union membership and dues payments.
«Workers who have questions about their rights or about Indiana’s Right to Work law should contact the National Right to Work Foundation at 1-800-336-3600 or via email to legal@www.nrtw.org.»
