Phoenix, AZ (June 15, 2009)<\/b> \u2013 With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, three U.S. Foodservice employees have filed unfair labor practice charges against the company and Teamster union officials for illegal collusion. <\/p>\n
\nCompany and union officials disregarded the results of a secret ballot election where employees clearly chose not to be represented by the union.<\/p>\n
\nThe workers, Felix Alvarado and Emilio Lamar of Phoenix and Dennis Dickey of Casa Grande, turned to staff attorneys at the Foundation after they received a memo from U.S. Foodservice management informing them that the company had accepted Teamsters Local 104 as the monopoly bargaining agent of all drivers, warehouse workers, and mechanics at the Phoenix facility and would soon begin contract negotiations with Teamster union bosses.<\/p>\n
\nBut the union lost a secret ballot election run by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in September 2008. Moreover, in July 2008, workers collected petitions from a majority of workers stating that they did not want the union\u2019s \u201crepresentation.\u201d Without demonstrated support of the union by a majority of workers, it is illegal for the company to recognize and bargain with the union.<\/p>\n
\nFoundation attorneys have filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB and are also seeking immediate injunctive relief to halt the unlawful bargaining. In addition, workers are asking the NLRB to conduct a decertification election to remove Teamsters Local 104 as their monopoly bargaining agent. A prior Foundation-won NLRB precedent determined that workers may demand a secret ballot vote within 45 days of company recognition of a union through the abusive \u201ccard check\u201d organizing process.<\/p>\n
\nBecause Arizona is one of 22 states with Right to Work laws, no employees at the facility can legally be forced to join or pay any dues or fees to the union as a condition of employment. Federal labor law, however, compels all workers in a bargaining unit to accept the \u201crepresentation\u201d of a union that the company has recognized with demonstrated support from a majority of the unit\u2019s workers. Under these circumstances, it becomes illegal for individual employees to negotiate terms of employment directly with the company.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cConcerned Americans are increasingly aware of Big Labor\u2019s war on the secret ballot in union certification elections,\u201d said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. \u201cThe company and the Teamster union should be ashamed of themselves for thumbing their noses at employees\u2019 right to be free of union-boss interference in their workplace lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Phoenix, AZ (June 15, 2009)<\/b> \u2013 With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, three U.S. Foodservice employees have filed unfair labor practice charges against the company and Teamster union officials for illegal collusion. <\/p>\n
\nCompany and union officials disregarded the results of a secret ballot election where employees clearly chose not to be represented by the union.<\/p>\n
\nThe workers, Felix Alvarado and Emilio Lamar of Phoenix and Dennis Dickey of Casa Grande, turned to staff attorneys at the Foundation after they received a memo from U.S. Foodservice management informing them that the company had accepted Teamsters Local 104 as the monopoly bargaining agent of all drivers, warehouse workers, and mechanics at the Phoenix facility and would soon begin contract negotiations with Teamster union bosses.<\/p>\n
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