Obama Labor Board Bucks Precedent and Positions Itself to Weaken Worker-Backed Elections to Remove Unwanted Unions
Obama Labor Board Bucks Precedent and Positions Itself to Weaken Worker-Backed Elections to Remove Unwanted Unions
Workers will challenge NLRB attempt to destroy their ballots in vote to oust union
Chehalis, WA (October 20, 2014) – Disregarding its own long-standing precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued an order that continues the impoundment of Bradken, Inc. workers’ ballots cast to determine whether the workers want to remove a local Machinist union from their workplace.
The NLRB’s ruling endangers the results of an election initiated by Jonathan Fuller and his coworkers at the steel manufacturing facility to determine whether to remove the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District W24 union as their monopoly bargaining representative.
Obama Labor Board Bucks Precedent and Positions Itself to Weaken Worker-Backed Elections to Remove Unwanted Unions
Chehalis, WA (October 20, 2014) – Disregarding its own long-standing precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued an order that continues the impoundment of Bradken, Inc. workers’ ballots cast to determine whether the workers want to remove a local Machinist union from their workplace.
The NLRB’s ruling endangers the results of an election initiated by Jonathan Fuller and his coworkers at the steel manufacturing facility to determine whether to remove the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District W24 union as their monopoly bargaining representative. Fuller is receiving free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
On August 16, 2013, IAM union officials filed federal charges against Bradken during a contract dispute. On August 30, 2013, Fuller and his coworkers filed a petition seeking a decertification election to determine their union representation. On April 23, 2014, an NLRB Regional Director approved an agreement between IAM and Bradken officials that settled the union’s charges with no admission of liability by Bradken. On June 5, the Regional Director ruled based on long-standing NLRB precedent that the facility’s approximately ninety-eight workers could vote in a decertification election, which was held on July 1 despite IAM union officials’ objections.
However, IAM union officials asked the NLRB in Washington, DC to review the Regional Director’s decision allowing the election, causing the NLRB to impound the workers’ ballots. IAM union lawyers argue that the Board should overturn the precedent that permits workers’ decertification elections when union unfair labor practice charges are settled without an employer admission of wrongdoing.
On October 10, a three-member panel of the Board issued a 2-1 order granting the IAM’s request for review, thereby leaving impounded the workers’ ballots. By not counting the ballots the NLRB leaves the union in place even though a majority of workers may have voted it out over a year ago. The grant of review signals the NLRB majority’s embrace of the union officials’ position that the ballots should be destroyed and the vote ruled invalid even though there is no current Board precedent for doing so under these circumstances.
«Taking its cue from Machinist union bosses, the Obama NLRB is positioning itself to eliminate a longstanding worker right to remove an unwanted union from their workplace during a dispute between the union and their employer,» said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. «If the Board does so, it would not be the first time the Obama NLRB destroyed workers’ ballots when they sought to determine their own union representation.»
In 2011, the NLRB overturned earlier Foundation-won protections for workers challenging union recognition via card check unionization. As a result, workers must now wait up to three years after the date of the first bargaining agreement between their employer and union officials before they can petition for a secret ballot vote. In the wake of that ruling, hundreds of worker ballots were destroyed.
L.A. School Employees File Class-Action Lawsuit against Local SEIU for Rights Violations
Los Angeles, CA (October 22, 2014) – A group of Los Angeles Unified School District workers have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 for violating their rights.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation-provided staff attorneys, Los Angeles school district building and grounds keeper Douglas Kennedy; bus drivers Eduardo Berumen and Griselda Moran; and cafeteria worker Magi Shanagian filed the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
In the complaint, the school employees detail how SEIU Local 99 union officials denied their several requests, in one case dating back to October 12, 2012, to refrain from full dues paying union membership.
Because California does not have Right to Work protections for workers, workers can be forced to pay union dues and fees to an unwanted union as a condition of employment. However, under Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent, workers who refrain from union membership can also refrain from paying for union politics and members-only events.
Despite the workers’ requests to refrain from union membership and full union dues payments, the Los Angeles Unified School District continues to confiscate full union dues from the workers’ paychecks at SEIU Local 99 officials’ behest. The workers are also challenging SEIU Local 99’s agreement provision with the school district that illegally restricts workers’ ability to resign union membership and dues payments to a period of 30 days over the life of an agreement, which is often for a period of three years.
«SEIU officials are stonewalling workers’ attempts to refrain from paying for the union bosses’ radical political agenda,» said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. «This case underscores the need for California to pass a Right to Work law making union membership and dues payments strictly voluntary.»
L.A. School Employees File Class-Action Lawsuit against Local SEIU for Rights Violations
L.A. School Employees File Class-Action Lawsuit against Local SEIU for Rights Violations
Union officials stonewall workers’ attempts to refrain from union membership and full dues payments
Los Angeles, CA (October 22, 2014) – A group of Los Angeles Unified School District workers have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 for violating their rights.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation-provided staff attorneys, Los Angeles school district building and grounds keeper Douglas Kennedy; bus drivers Eduardo Berumen and Griselda Moran; and cafeteria worker Magi Shanagian filed the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
In the complaint, the school employees detail how SEIU Local 99 union officials denied their several requests, in one case dating back to October 12, 2012, to refrain from full dues paying union membership.
Rogue Obama NLRB Appointee Again Moves to Prevent Workers from Removing Unwanted Union from Workplace
Rogue Obama NLRB Appointee Again Moves to Prevent Workers from Removing Unwanted Union from Workplace
General Counsel seeks to block workers’ majority petition to end employer recognition of an unsupported union
Chicago, IL (October 23, 2014) – An Arlington Metals Corporation steelworker has moved to intervene to stop a federal agency from foisting unwanted union representation back on his workplace after he and his coworkers attempted to remove the union.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Franklin Park-area Arlington Metals employee Brandon De La Cruz filed the motion with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Chicago. Predictably, the NLRB General Counsel filed a brief in opposition to the workers’ motion.
De La Cruz and a majority of his coworkers petitioned their employer to remove the United Steelworkers (USW) union from their workplace. After the workers presented the petition, Arlington Metals management withdrew recognition of the union as the workers’ bargaining representative, as long-standing law permits.
Minnesota Homecare Providers Appeal Federal Challenge to SEIU Forced Unionization Scheme
Minnesota Homecare Providers Appeal Federal Challenge to SEIU Forced Unionization Scheme
SEIU seeks to push home-based personal care providers into forced-dues ranks against their will
Minneapolis, MN (October 30, 2014) – Today, a group of home-based personal care providers challenging a state law that authorizes the forcible unionization of Minnesota’s 27,000 care providers have asked a federal appeals court to overrule a lower court’s ruling issued last week in their case.
With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Teri Bierman and eight other providers from around the state appealed the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota judge’s ruling denying the providers’ request for a court injunction that would immediately halt implementation of the law.
Local Confectioner Worker Files Federal Charges Challenging Union Officials’ Forced-Dues Sweetheart Deal with Employer
Local Confectioner Worker Files Federal Charges Challenging Union Officials’ Forced-Dues Sweetheart Deal with Employer
Candy company worker suspended without pay for trying to exercise rights
Oakdale, CA (November 7, 2014) – A Modesto-area Sconza Candy Company employee has filed federal charges against a local bakers union and her employer for a litany of rights violations.
With the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Sconza employee Athena Manning filed the unfair labor practice charges Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Manning charges that Sconza management and Bakers Union Local 125 officials failed to notify her of her rights to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership. In May, company and union officials also actively misled her about her obligations to the union, claiming that joining the union and paying full dues were required as a condition of employment.
Local Union and Food Service Contractor Face Federal Prosecution for Workers’ Rights Violations
Local Union and Food Service Contractor Face Federal Prosecution for Workers’ Rights Violations
Company and union officials obstruct workers from exercising rights to refrain from union membership and dues payments
Fort Leonard Wood, MO (November 7, 2014) – A local government union and an Overland Park, Kansas-based food services company are facing a federal prosecution for violating Fort Leonard Wood food service workers’ rights.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) prosecution comes in the wake of federal charges filed by two workers with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Because Missouri does not have Right to Work protections for workers, workers can be required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. However, under Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent, nonmember workers can refrain from paying for union boss politics and many other activities.
Kimsha Rosensteel, an 11-year employee with food services provider EDP Enterprises, Inc, was president of the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) Local R14-139 union for about one and a half years. While she was union president, Rosensteel discovered that the union was failing to follow federal disclosure requirements designed to better inform workers about their rights to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.
Local Grocery Union Faces Federal Charges for Retaliatory Forced Dues Confiscations
Local Grocery Union Faces Federal Charges for Retaliatory Forced Dues Confiscations
Case underscores need for Right to Work protections for workers
Burlington, WA (November 12, 2014) – A local Fred Meyer grocery store worker has filed a federal charge against the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 21 union for refusing to follow federal disclosure requirements and confiscating more than the legally-permitted amount of forced union fees from her paychecks.
With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Deborah Kohut of Mount Vernon filed the federal unfair labor practice charge Monday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Teamster Union Faces Another Federal Charge for Violating a Disney Company Driver’s Rights
Teamster Union Faces Another Federal Charge for Violating a Disney Company Driver’s Rights
Teamster union officials showing pattern of workers’ rights abuses
Lake Buena Vista, FL (November 17, 2014) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, a Walt Disney Company driver has filed a federal charge against a local Teamsters union.
Winter Garden resident Anthony Pirrelli filed the unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Teamsters Local 385 for ignoring his right to refrain from paying union dues. Under Florida’s popular Right to Work law, no worker can be required to join or pay fees to a union as a condition of employment.
In August, Pirrelli attempted to resign union membership and revoke his union dues deduction authorization – a document used by union officials to automatically collect dues from workers’ paychecks. Despite Pirrelli’s efforts, Teamsters Local 385 union officials have refused to stop collecting union dues from his paychecks or provide him a copy of his union dues deduction authorization.
