According to numerous news stories, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) union officials have ordered around 15,000 nurses from five major New York City-area hospitals to strike. As part of this strike order, nurses are reportedly being threatened with massive fines for exercising their right not to abandon their patients or participate in the strike action.

The situation presents serious concerns for healthcare workers who believe there is much to lose from a union-ordered strike. That is why employees confronted with strike demands frequently contact the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to learn how they can avoid fines and union discipline for continuing to work during a strike to support themselves and their families.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is the nation’s premier organization exclusively dedicated to providing free legal assistance to employees victimized by forced-unionism abuse. The Foundation has a long history of defending workers against unlawful intimidation, threats, and punishment linked to strike actions. If you’re concerned about your rights to avoid a union-ordered strike, you should seek information from independent sources and not rely on what union officials tell you.

In short, nurses who want to work during a union-ordered strike should ensure that they are not members of the union before they work during a strike. The fact is, employees have a legal right not to be members of the NYSNA or any other union. Unions can only fine or discipline their members, so non-members escape this retribution. To avoid getting fined for working during a strike, it is critical that union members resign their union membership before returning to work. Union members can resign their membership at any time as a matter of established federal labor law.

Despite often-misleading claims by union officials, no employee can be required to be a member of a union. If an employee is not a member of a union, union officials have no power to fine or discipline him or her. In this way, employees have the right to rebuff union strike demands.

NYC NURSES SHOULD KNOW THEY HAVE THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS DURING A STRIKE:

1. You have the right not to be a union member. If you’re currently a union member, you can resign your union membership by sending the union a letter resigning your membership. If possible, use certified mail, return receipt requested, and save copies of your resignation letters and the return receipt to prove delivery. Email the letter too, so there will be further proof with dates. If you hand deliver a resignation and/or dues deduction revocation, make sure that you have a reliable witness to the delivery. In our experience, it is not uncommon for angry and dishonest union officials to pretend they did not actually receive resignations and initiate proceedings against non-striking workers anyway.

2. You have the right to go to work during a strike. Union officials can (and often do) fine union members who work during a strike. So, you should seriously consider resigning BEFORE you return to work during a strike, to avoid these union fines and discipline. See Union Discipline and Employee Rights.

3. If you are or become a nonmember, you have a right to opt out of paying dues for union politics and anything else unrelated to the union’s bargaining functions. Because New York is not a Right to Work state, NYSNA union officials have the right to enforce a so-called “union security clause” that mandates union dues payment as a condition of employment. However, as per the National Right to Work Foundation-won 1988 CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision, nonmembers can’t be forced to pay dues for so-called “nonchargeable” expenses like the union’s politics. Click here for a sample membership resignation letter that also invokes the protections of Beck.

4. If you wish to eject the NYSNA from your workplace, you have the right to circulate or sign a decertification petition to obtain a secret ballot election to do so. A decertification election would give nurses the ability to vote in a secret ballot election on whether they want NYSNA union officials to exclusively represent them. See Decertification Election.

Go to About Your Legal Rights: Private Sector Employee to learn more about your rights, and contact the NRTW Foundation at https://www.nrtw.org/free-legal-aid, legal@nrtw.org, or 800-336-3600 with any questions.