Washington, D.C. (September 8, 2004)<\/b> \u2013 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\u2019s predominant organizing method known as \u201ccard check.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under \u201ccard check\u201d or so-called \u201cneutrality agreements,\u201d employers are induced to waive their employees\u2019 ability to vote in a secret ballot election and agree to provide other assistance to the union in pressuring employees to unionize. These pacts \u2013 which are sometimes characterized as sweetheart deals \u2013 often include unlawful pre-arrangements over substantive terms and conditions of employment, such as health care, wages, or compulsory union dues.<\/p>\n
Replacing the less-abusive secret ballot election process with \u201ccard check\u201d has become the number one requirement for candidates to obtain Big Labor\u2019s support in the 2004 elections. According to the AFL-CIO\u2019s recent statement to BNA\u2019s Daily Labor Report, \u201cwe don\u2019t have any issue that\u2019s a litmus test, but this is as close as it gets.\u201d <\/p>\n
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\u2019 employees wanted anything to do with the union.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Gaffney, South Carolina, facility as well as Dana Corporation\u2019s plants in Bristol, Virginia, and St. Johns, Michigan.<\/p>\n
The lead cases directly impact the enforceability of these \u201cneutrality\u201d or \u201ccard check\u201d agreements, in which employers typically grant union operatives sweeping access to their workplaces and employees\u2019 personal information, strip workers of the opportunity to a secret ballot representation election, and hold mandatory \u201ccaptive audience\u201d speeches about why employees should be unionized. Workers are subjected to \u201ccard check\u201d drives in which union operatives bully workers face-to-face to sign union authorization cards that count as a \u201cvote\u201d in favor of unionization.<\/p>\n