New Hampshire State Employees File Class Action Lawsuit Against SEIU Seeking Refund of Illegally Seized Union Fees
Union officials violated civil servants’ First Amendment rights under the Supreme Court’s Janus decision by deducting unauthorized forced fees
Concord, NH (January 18, 2019) – New Hampshire state workers filed a class action lawsuit in federal court with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys stating that union officials violated their constitutional rights by forcing them to pay unauthorized union fees as a condition of employment.
State employees Patrick Doughty and Randy Severance are suing the State Employees’ Association of New Hampshire (SEIU Local 1984) in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.
The employees are asking the court to order union officials to refund the fees seized from their wages and those of countless other New Hampshire public employees who were subjected to the same unconstitutional mandatory union payments.
For years, the state forcibly deducted union fees from the two employees’ paychecks at the behest of union officials, even though neither was a member of SEIU Local 1984, nor had they agreed to pay any union fees. The lawsuit seeks refunds of all forced fees seized by the union going back at least three years as New Hampshire’s statute of limitations permits.
Taking union fees from Doughty and Severance without their explicit authorization violated their First Amendment rights, according to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME, a case argued and won by Foundation staff attorneys in 2018. The High Court ruled in Janus that coercing civil servants into financially subsidizing a union violates their rights to free speech and free association.
The ruling also made it clear that before union officials can collect any dues or fees from them, public employees must affirmatively opt in for such payments and must knowingly waive their First Amendment right not to pay. The Supreme Court’s Janus ruling also observed that public sector unions have been “on notice” since at least the 2012 Knox v. SEIU decision – also argued and won by Foundation staff attorneys – that forced union fees were likely incompatible with the First Amendment.
«For years, New Hampshire union bosses violated the First Amendment rights of the very public employees they claimed to represent,» said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. «Just as a bank robber caught red-handed would never be allowed to keep the proceeds of such criminal behavior, union officials must also return the money they’ve pilfered from the paychecks of hundreds of thousands of workers across the country in violation of the Constitution, the supreme law of the land.»
Michigan Workers Pursue Federal Unfair Labor Practice Charges against Unions for Illegal Dues Seizures
Grand Rapids worker files NLRB charge against Teamsters, while Dearborn worker wins settlement with Ford Motor Company in ongoing case with UAW
Grand Rapids, MI (January 29, 2019) – A Michigan worker has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys because his employer has continued unlawfully deducting union dues from his paycheck for union officials, even after he instructed the union to cease taking dues from his wages.
Parnell White, employed as a driver by Head Start of Kent County in Walker, Michigan, sent a letter to International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 406 in Grand Rapids, resigning his union membership and revoking his authorization for Teamsters union officials to deduct any further union membership dues.
The letter was received by union officials on November 27, 2018, during the union’s prescribed annual 15-day “window period” to revoke dues authorization. However, the union refused to acknowledge his letter, and dues continue to be taken out of White’s paycheck and received by union officials without his permission.
White’s charge alleges that the union officials’ actions violate his rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Those illegal actions are preventing him from enjoying the protections of Michigan’s Right to Work Law which prohibits union officials from forcing workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment.
This charge is similar to another ongoing case in Dearborn, Michigan. There Lloyd Stoner filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and his employer, the Ford Motor Company, with free legal assistance from Foundation staff attorneys.
UAW union officials refused to acknowledge Stoner’s March 2018 request to stop all deductions of union dues from his paycheck. Instead, his employer continued to take union dues from his hard-earned wages and continued sending the dues to the union.
Earlier this month, Stoner won a settlement with Ford Motor Company, although the charge against UAW is still outstanding. Along with other conditions, Ford will refund any outstanding deducted dues with interest to Stoner. The company also must post public notices to employees informing them of their rights to abstain from supporting union activities. The case against the UAW continues.
«Union officials have repeatedly refused to respect workers’ legal rights in the Great Lakes State, as demonstrated by the more than 100 cases workers have filed in Michigan since Right to Work was enacted there six years ago,» said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. «Rather than win the voluntary support of rank-and-file workers, in their efforts to stuff their pockets Michigan union bosses continue to systematically violate the rights of the very workers they claim to represent.»
Right to Work Foundation Issues Special Legal Notice to Chattanooga Volkswagen Employees
Right to Work Foundation Issues Special Legal Notice to Chattanooga Volkswagen Employees
UAW union bosses target Volkswagen workers for unionization
Springfield, VA (September 5, 2013) – The National Right to Work Foundation has issued a special legal notice regarding Chattanooga, Tennessee Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers targeted by United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials for unionization. The notice can be viewed here: https://nrtw.org/en/vw-chattanooga.
Recent media reports suggest that Volkswagen and UAW union officials are in talks about unionization of the VW workers at the Chattanooga plant. The Foundation’s notice debunks UAW union boss Bob King’s remarks that Volkswagen workers must unionize with the UAW union in order to discuss wages and working conditions with their employer. The notice also informs workers about what they can legally do if they oppose, or change their minds about their support of, the unionization scheme.
Right to Work Foundation Issues Special Legal Notice to Alabama Mercedes Employees
Right to Work Foundation Issues Special Legal Notice to Alabama Mercedes Employees
UAW union bosses target Mercedes-Benz workers for unionization
Springfield, VA (September 18, 2014) – The National Right to Work Foundation has issued a special legal notice regarding Vance, Alabama Mercedes-Benz workers targeted by United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials for unionization. The notice can be viewed here: https://nrtw.org/en/special-notice-alabama-mercedes-benz.
UAW union officials are waging an aggressive unionization campaign targeting Mercedes-Benz workers at the Vance plant. The Foundation’s notice debunks UAW union boss Dennis Williams’s claims that Mercedes-Benz workers must unionize with the UAW union in order to discuss wages and working conditions with their employer. The notice informs workers about what they can legally do if they oppose, or change their minds about their support of, the unionization scheme.
The notice also addresses workers’ legal rights during a card check unionization campaign, similar to what UAW union officials attempted in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in case UAW union organizers resort to the coercive unionization tactic.
Worker Advocate Issues Special Legal Notice to Post Brothers Employees, Other Philadelphia Construction Workers
Philadelphia, PA (August 22, 2013) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which helps victims of union coercion, just released a special legal notice geared to informing Philadelphia-area construction workers of their rights.
The Foundation issued the legal notice in the wake of extensive media reports of union violence and harassment perpetrated against Post Brothers Construction and other nonunion construction employers’ work sites in the Philadelphia area. The reports allege that Philadelphia Building Trades Union militants are at the heart of this despicable activity.
The Foundation encourages Philadelphia construction workers to learn about their rights from independent sources and posted the special legal notice for workers on its website at https://nrtw.org.
The Foundation notes that employees have the right under federal labor law, and local criminal and civil laws, to work in an environment free from union threats, violence, and coercion. And the Foundation is offering free legal aid to Philadelphia construction employees targeted by union violence and harassment.
«The National Right to Work Foundation stands ready to defend the rights of workers who want to work to support themselves and their families free from union thuggery and intimidation,» said Patrick Semmens, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «No worker should ever be forced to join or pay dues to an unwanted union just to get or keep a job.»
Right to Work Foundation Issues Special Legal Notice to Chattanooga Volkswagen Employees
Springfield, VA (September 5, 2013) – The National Right to Work Foundation has issued a special legal notice regarding Chattanooga, Tennessee Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers targeted by United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials for unionization. The notice can be viewed here: https://nrtw.org/en/vw-chattanooga.
Recent media reports suggest that Volkswagen and UAW union officials are in talks about unionization of the VW workers at the Chattanooga plant. The Foundation’s notice debunks UAW union boss Bob King’s remarks that Volkswagen workers must unionize with the UAW union in order to discuss wages and working conditions with their employer. The notice also informs workers about what they can legally do if they oppose, or change their minds about their support of, the unionization scheme.
«Volkswagen workers can discuss their work with their employer without UAW unionization,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «The UAW’s campaign of misrepresentation is meant only to misinform workers into thinking that they have no choice but to unionize.»
«National Right to Work attorneys have assisted workers across the country who have suffered the consequences of these top-down organizing campaigns designed by UAW union officials,» added Mix. «Workers who feel they are being unfairly pressured when deciding whether or not to associate with the UAW union may request free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys by calling 1-800-336-3600 or contacting us on the Foundation’s website at www.nrtw.org.»
Right to Work Foundation Issues Special Legal Notice to Alabama Mercedes Employees
Springfield, VA (September 18, 2014) – The National Right to Work Foundation has issued a special legal notice regarding Vance, Alabama Mercedes-Benz workers targeted by United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials for unionization. The notice can be viewed here: https://nrtw.org/en/special-notice-alabama-mercedes-benz.
UAW union officials are waging an aggressive unionization campaign targeting Mercedes-Benz workers at the Vance plant. The Foundation’s notice debunks UAW union boss Dennis Williams’s claims that Mercedes-Benz workers must unionize with the UAW union in order to discuss wages and working conditions with their employer. The notice informs workers about what they can legally do if they oppose, or change their minds about their support of, the unionization scheme.
The notice also addresses workers’ legal rights during a card check unionization campaign, similar to what UAW union officials attempted in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in case UAW union organizers resort to the coercive unionization tactic.
«Mercedes-Benz workers can discuss their work with their employer without UAW unionization,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «UAW union officials are misleading workers into thinking that they have no choice but to unionize in order to have a voice in the workplace.»
«National Right to Work attorneys have assisted workers across the country who have suffered the consequences of these top-down organizing campaigns designed by UAW union officials, most recently in Chattanooga,» added Mix. «Workers who feel they are being unfairly pressured when deciding whether or not to associate with the UAW union may request free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys by calling 1-800-336-3600 or contacting us on the Foundation’s website at www.nrtw.org.»
