Washington, DC (March 29, 2010) – After President Barack Obama installed Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lawyer Craig Becker as a recess appointee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Saturday, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys are now filing 12 recusal motions asking Becker to step aside in any pending case involving the Foundation.

As associate general counsel of the SEIU, Becker directly litigated against Foundation attorneys and helped orchestrate legal strategies for SEIU affiliates across the United States, so he should recuse himself from cases involving the SEIU or its affiliates. Moreover, his published writings indicate an extreme level of hostility against the Foundation and its legal arguments on behalf of workers, even when the NLRB or United States Supreme Court have agreed and ruled against union officials for their abusive practices.

The Foundation’s free legal aid cases frequently involve unfair labor practices committed by union officials, such as coercive practices to corral workers into union membership and illegal use of fees paid by nonmembers for political purposes. Becker’s record suggests he is unable to give workers who turn to the Foundation for help an impartial hearing and instead will simply rubber-stamp whatever union boss wrongdoings are put before him.

“Craig Becker’s radical views on unionization caught the eyes of concerned citizens who normally don’t pay much attention to obscure agencies like the NLRB,” said Patrick Semmens, legal information director for the National Right to Work Foundation. “Becker’s record shows his personal bias and animosity specifically towards our nonprofit organization and generally towards workers who reject unionization or challenge union official abuse.”

In a bipartisan vote, the Senate in February voted against moving the nomination forward over concerns of Becker’s impartiality and whether he would use his seat on the federal agency to bypass a close vote in Congress and replace the secret ballot in workplace unionization drives with intimidating card check campaigns in which union operatives harass workers into signing union authorization cards.

The coercive nature of card check drives is at the heart of some of the cases in which the Foundation has asked for Becker’s recusal. Union lawyers have devised a legal strategy to overturn Dana Corp, a landmark case won by Foundation attorneys in which the NLRB granted employees the ability to file a decertification petition and demand a secret ballot election to toss out union officials from their workplace within 45 days after an employer recognizes a monopoly bargaining agent by card check.

Becker has strongly criticized the Foundation’s mere involvement in Dana, as well as the independent discretion of the NLRB’s General Counsel to put the case before the Board. Foundation attorneys have several Dana decertification petitions pending with the NLRB, but Becker appears to have pre-judged the issues at stake.

“The National Right to Work Foundation is the only charitable organization providing free legal aid to workers victimized by union boss abuse,” continued Semmens. “These workers deserve a fair hearing.”

Legal Aid Foundation Demands Radical Obama-Recess Appointee to Recuse Himself from 12 Pending Cases

New federal labor board member Craig Becker has demonstrated malice against National Right to Work Foundation and pre-judged cases about workplace freedom and union boss malfeasance

Washington, DC (March 29, 2010) – After President Barack Obama installed Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lawyer Craig Becker as a recess appointee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Saturday, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys are now filing 12 recusal motions asking Becker to step aside in any pending case involving the Foundation.

As associate general counsel of the SEIU, Becker directly litigated against Foundation attorneys and helped orchestrate legal strategies for SEIU affiliates across the United States, so he should recuse himself from cases involving the SEIU or its affiliates. Moreover, his published writings indicate an extreme level of hostility against the Foundation and its legal arguments on behalf of workers, even when the NLRB or United States Supreme Court have agreed and ruled against union officials for their abusive practices.

The Foundation’s free legal aid cases frequently involve unfair labor practices committed by union officials, such as coercive practices to corral workers into union membership and illegal use of fees paid by nonmembers for political purposes. Becker’s record suggests he is unable to give workers who turn to the Foundation for help an impartial hearing and instead will simply rubber-stamp whatever union boss wrongdoings are put before him.

The full press release is available here.  Download two of the motions (PDF) here and here.

Falls Church, VA (April 1, 2010) – With free legal aid from staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation, a Giant Food employee has filed unfair labor practice charges against United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 union bosses for forcing the employer to deduct union dues from his paycheck even though he exercised his right to refrain from union membership.

In the last six months, Peyman Jamshidi learned that unauthorized deductions were being made from his paycheck for union dues, despite the fact that he informed UFCW local 400 union officials that he did not want to be a union member. Because Virginia is a Right to Work state, Giant Food and UFCW Local 400 cannot require nonmember employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

When Jamshidi informed a union official that he was exercising his right to refrain from union membership, the union official still demanded that Jamshidi sign a union membership card for a vague promise of “protection.” Upon receiving the signed card from Jamshidi, the union official wrote on the card that Jamshidi was not to be charged any fees.

In addition to Virginia’s Right to Work law that protects the freedom of association of independent-minded workers, federal law requires union officials to inform employees of their right to refrain from union membership and makes dues deduction check-off procedures entirely voluntary. Other employees in the workplace less informed about their rights may have been illegally coerced into signing union membership cards and authorizing dues deductions.

The Baltimore-based Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will investigate the charges and determine whether to prosecute UFCW Local 400 union bosses before an administrative law judge. Jamshidi demands that the illegal forced dues deductions cease immediately and seeks a full reimbursement of all money deducted from his paycheck without his consent.

Jamshidi’s charges mirror a similar case currently pending before the NLRB Regional Director in San Diego, California. In that case, union officials similarly misled a grocery store worker into signing a union membership card and writing “Beck Decision” on the card, suggesting that he could only be charged union fees related to workplace bargaining in line with the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent Communication Workers of America v. Beck. But UFCW local union officials ordered he be fired when he attempted to pay the amount he believed he lawfully owed and not the full union dues and initiation fees the union demanded.

“UFCW Local 400 union bosses’ practice of illegally seizing dues from workers’ paychecks without their consent demonstrates a flagrant disregard for Virginia’s longstanding and popular Right to Work law,” explained Patrick Semmens, legal information director for the National Right to Work Foundation.

“More troublingly, there appears to be a pattern among UFCW local union officials to deliberately and fraudulently coerce workers into joining dues-paying ranks,” continued Semmens. “At least one worker in California has already been illegally fired as a result of this disturbing practice, clearly demonstrating the need for forced-unionism states like California to adopt Right to Work protections for independent-minded workers.”

Washington, DC (April 5, 2010) – The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has dismissed a complaint filed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and a Nashua-area postal worker who discovered his annual union membership dues were illegally diverted into the union’s political action committee (PAC).

In July 2006, United States Postal Service employee Philip Wakeman paid $429 in membership dues to join the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU), a division of the Laborers’ International Union. On the “Memo” line at the bottom of the check, he wrote “Union Dues.” A union official later acknowledged receipt of the union dues.

In October 2008, over two years after submitting the check to the NPMHU union, a stranger called Wakeman on an unrelated matter and informed him that she found his information on the Internet. The stranger then suggested that he do a “Google” Internet search of his name. After doing so, Mr. Wakeman was astounded to find his name disclosed as making a contribution to the NPMHU PAC in the exact amount of his annual NPMHU union membership dues – all without his knowledge.

It is illegal for union officials to fund union PACs using “dues, fees, or other moneys required as a condition of membership in a labor organization.” NPMHU union bosses were also accused of violating federal election law by making a political campaign contribution in another person’s name and soliciting political contributions under false pretenses while failing to inform Mr. Wakeman that his membership dues would be used for political purposes.

Apparently NPMHU union bosses had illegally diverted his dues payment to the union’s PAC, but then redirected the portion of funds not intended for union political activities back to membership expenses after the 2006 midterm elections, blaming it on a “technical error” and prompting the FEC to dismiss the charges.

“Unfortunately, the FEC failed to investigate whether this instance of political money laundering was part of a larger scheme afoot,” said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Even if the union officials’ dubious claims that it was a mistake are to be believed, in effect Mr. Wakeman was forced to give an interest-free loan to the union to use his dues for politics.”

“We will work to ensure that the FEC’s lack of action in this case does not embolden union bosses to concoct similar schemes to funnel union dues for politics as long as they ‘fix’ it later,” Semmens said.

FEC Confirms Postal Union Improperly Diverted Worker’s Dues to Union Political Action Committee

Despite finding, FEC dismisses complaint citing NPMHU officials’ claim that diversion of union dues was so-called “technical error”

Washington, DC (April 5, 2010) – The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has dismissed a complaint filed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and a Nashua-area postal worker who discovered his annual union membership dues were illegally diverted into the union’s political action committee (PAC).

In July 2006, United States Postal Service employee Philip Wakeman paid $429 in membership dues to join the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU), a division of the Laborers’ International Union. On the “Memo” line at the bottom of the check, he wrote “Union Dues.” A union official later acknowledged receipt of the union dues.

In October 2008, over two years after submitting the check to the NPMHU union, a stranger called Wakeman on an unrelated matter and informed him that she found his information on the Internet. The stranger then suggested that he do a “Google” Internet search of his name. After doing so, Mr. Wakeman was astounded to find his name disclosed as making a contribution to the NPMHU PAC in the exact amount of his annual NPMHU union membership dues – all without his knowledge.

The full press release is available here.

Seattle, WA (February 11, 2010) – A group of AT&T Mobility employees have won a legal victory countering union officials’ domination of their workplace using a coercive card check unionization campaign that occurred after union organizers colluded with AT&T officials to sweep the workers into union ranks in exchange for contract concessions.

Per a so-called “neutrality agreement” between the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union hierarchy and AT&T, workers in a 140-employee bargaining unit (which consists of various locations across the state of Washington) were “card checked” into the CWA union’s regional monopoly bargaining unit which consists of thousands of employees.

In exchange for AT&T foisting CWA monopoly bargaining on workers through a card check organizing drive, union officials agreed to subject employees to a contract which results in lost benefits for the workers, including promotion opportunities. Moreover, the employees’ inclusion in the larger regional unit would make it virtually impossible for them to later organize to remove the union officials’ monopoly bargaining privileges.

However, using precedent won by Right to Work Foundation attorneys in the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) landmark 2007 decision in Dana Corporation, Joseph Simpson of Redmond and his colleagues filed a decertification petition demanding a secret ballot election to remove the unwanted union from their workplace.

In Dana, the NLRB, citing the coercive nature of card check organizing, recognized that employees should be able to file a decertification petition and demand a secret ballot election to toss out union officials from their workplace within 45 days after notice that a union has obtained monopoly bargaining powers through card check.

CWA union brass contested the employees’ request for a secret ballot election because it was not made within the 45-day window period. However, the NLRB regional director in Seattle investigating the matter confirmed employees had not been told of their right to request the election as Dana requires, because the notice was not posted at the facility where a majority of employees worked. Apparently the notice about their Dana rights was “taken down” at some point. The first time employees heard about their right to an election was when one of them contacted the Foundation. The regional director decided that the employees’ petition was therefore valid.

CWA union lawyers are now attempting to tie up the NLRB decision in an attempt to avoid an election at all costs and are appealing the regional office’s decision to the national board in Washington, DC – joining union lawyers in a handful of other high-profile cases asking the NLRB to undo workers’ Dana protections.

“Dana provides these employees with a last line of defense against a union boss-nurtured scheme concocted to force them under union control,” said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director of the National Right to Work Foundation. “While it is certainly important that these employees will now be able to challenge the unreliable card check unionization scheme with a secret ballot election, the fact is that employees should never be forced into union ranks to begin with.”

Washington, DC (February 16, 2010) – After a protracted legal battle, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel has sustained part of an appeal filed by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys challenging a backroom unionization deal between Tenet Healthcare Corporation and the California Nurses Association (CNA) union.

As part of their efforts to forcibly unionize hospital employees across the country, CNA officials and Tenet Corporation agreed to a series of measures designed to impose union monopoly bargaining on unwilling nurses. This so-called Election Procedures Agreement (EPA) gave union organizers preferential access to Tenet facilities and gagged nurses who opposed unionization.

The agreement between Tenet and the CNA also subverted the NLRB’s oversight role during workplace elections. Under the CNA union’s scheme, the NLRB’s only role is to count ballots and rubber-stamp the union’s monopoly bargaining privileges, effectively gutting the already limited rights of employees who wish to resist unionization.

With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, nurses in Houston and Philadelphia have repeatedly challenged the legality of this arrangement. In earlier proceedings, Tenet was forced to give nurses who opposed forced unionism equal access to hospital facilities.

A recent appeal filed by Foundation attorneys challenging the EPA was partly sustained by the NLRB’s General Counsel. The General Counsel agreed with Foundation attorneys that a provision of the EPA committing Tenet to binding arbitration if union officials and the company are unable to agree on a first contract constitutes illegal pre-recognition bargaining between the union and the company, allowing union officials to negotiate substantive terms of employment for workers they don’t even represent. The legality of this provision will now be litigated before an administrative law judge and ultimately the federal courts.

“CNA bosses shouldn’t be empowered to negotiate on behalf of workers they don’t even represent,” said Patrick Semmens, legal information director of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Tenet Corporation and CNA operatives have stacked the deck in favor of union organizers, stifling independent-minded employees in an attempt to push Houston and Philadelphia nurses under union boss control, like it or not.”

Michigan Home-Care Providers File Class-Action Suit Challenging Union Boss/Granholm Unionization Scheme

Right to Work Foundation attorneys challenge Governor and union boss collusion to force home-care providers under union control

Lansing, MI (February 17, 2010) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, a group of Michigan home-based day-care providers have filed a class-action federal lawsuit against government union officials and Governor Granholm’s Administration for illegally forcing them to pay union dues.

Carrie Schlaud and Diana Orr of Lapeer County, Edward and Nora Gross of Ingham County, and Peggy Mashke of Ogemaw County — with assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation — filed the federal suit today on behalf of all of Michigan’s 40,000 home-care providers.

The suit challenges a scheme created by Granholm, Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS) officials, and a union front group called «Child Care Providers Together Michigan» (CCPTM) to designate home-care providers who accept state assistance as «state employees» and foist CCPTM union political «representation» on them. CCPTM is an operation run by the United Autoworker (UAW) and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSME) unions.

Under Granholm’s direction, DHS officials created the «Michigan Home Based Child Care Council» to provide the union bosses with an entity to deal with as the «management» of the home child-care providers. Even though only 15 percent of the 40,000 day-care providers voted in the union certification election, the CCPTM union hierarchy was granted monopoly bargaining privileges and political representation of all the home-care providers.

Click here to read the full release.

Seattle, WA (February 24, 2010) – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Redmond-based AT&T Mobility employee filed federal charges after union organizers illegally colluded with company officials to sweep AT&T workers across the state into union ranks in exchange for contract concessions.

Per a so-called “neutrality agreement” between the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union hierarchy and AT&T, workers in a 140-employee bargaining unit (which consists of various locations across the state of Washington) had CWA union monopoly bargaining foisted upon them after a card-check forced unionism campaign. In exchange, union officials agreed with AT&T to subject the employees to a previously negotiated contract which results in lost benefits and perks for the workers.

As part of the agreement, the workers would be swept into the CWA union’s regional monopoly bargaining unit which consists of thousands of employees – making it virtually impossible for them to later organize to remove the union officials’ monopoly bargaining privileges.

Greg Hartmann of Auburn is challenging the pre-recognition negotiations because he and his colleagues were not even aware of the terms either of the neutrality agreement or the employees’ new contract until after the card-check campaign.

Moreover, using precedent won by Right to Work Foundation attorneys in the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) landmark 2007 decision in Dana Corporation, the employees filed a decertification petition demanding a secret ballot election to remove the unwanted union from their workplace. CWA union lawyers failed to convince the NLRB regional director in Seattle to block the employees’ request for a secret ballot election.

Instead, union lawyers are now adding workers who were not included in the card-check campaign to the list of eligible voters for the decertification election – bringing into question AT&T’s recognition of the union as the workers’ monopoly bargaining agent. Hartmann is challenging the company’s granting of bargaining privileges to CWA union officials because changing the eligible voters list suggests the union bosses were prematurely recognized.

“First, CWA union bosses cut a backroom deal to force these workers into their forced dues-paying ranks and now they appear to be rigging the decertification election to prevent workers from throwing out the unwanted union,” said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Union officials’ blatant disregard for the rights of employees in this case shows why no worker should ever be forced to pay dues to a union, or to accept union ‘representation’ as a condition of employment.”

Honolulu, Hawaii (December 15, 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, two Honolulu hotel employees have obtained a federally-mandated settlement from union officials with UNITE HERE! Local 5 and its national affiliate.

Brenda Lee Orr, a nonunion employee of Turtle Bay Resort, and Grant Suzuki, a nonunion employee of Hilton Hawaiian Beach Resort and Spa, filed federal charges against UNITE HERE! Local 5 last year, accusing union officials of illegally forcing nonunion employees to pay dues for activities unrelated to workplace bargaining. Suzuki also alleged that union officials failed to provide him with a federally-mandated breakdown of all union expenditures.

Because Hawaii does not have a Right to Work law, union officials can require nonmember employees to pay certain dues. However, the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Communication Workers v. Beck holds that nonunion workers may not be charged for activities unrelated to collective bargaining. The Foundation-won Supreme Court decision Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson also requires union officials to provide nonmember employees with an audited financial breakdown of union expenditures.

Following a preliminary investigation of the charges by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), union officials agreed to a settlement that refunds all dues unrelated to workplace bargaining taken from Orr and Suzuki since April 1, 2007. The settlement also requires union officials to post workplace notices informing workers of their rights to obtain an audit of union expenditures and to opt-out of certain union dues.

Foundation attorneys estimate that union officials must now return approximately 60% of all dues collected from Orr and Suzuki under the agreement.

“After a lengthy legal battle, Brenda Lee Orr and Grant Suzuki have finally reclaimed a significant portion of their hard-earned salaries from these scofflaw union bosses,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Unfortunately, many Hawaiian workers are still unaware of their rights, so union officials will continue to collect more forced dues dollars from unwilling employees. Ultimately, making dues payment strictly voluntary through passage of a Right to Work law is the best way to end these abuses.”