Worker Advocate Challenges Constitutionality of Obama’s Controversial Labor Board Recess Appointments

Washington, DC (January 13, 2012) – Today, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys filed a motion in federal court challenging the legality of President Barack Obama's recent purported recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The legal challenge is part of a larger case attacking controversial new NLRB rules that require every employer to post incomplete information about employee rights online and in the workplace, even if they've never violated or been accused of breaking federal law. The NLRB's posting rules do not require union officials to issue information about workers' rights to refrain from union membership or opt out of union dues. Currently employers can only be required to post notices if the Board has ruled that a violation of labor law occurred.

Civil Servants File Brief Opposing Union Challenge to Public-Sector Unionism Reforms

Madison, WI (January 9, 2012) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, two Wisconsin public employees have filed an amicus curiae brief in favor of Scott Walker's government-sector monopoly bargaining reform. The reform protects the Right to Work for most Wisconsin public workers and bans automatic forced-union-dues seizures from public employees' paychecks. Christopher King, a social services specialist for Western Wisconsin Cares, and Carie Kendrick, a custodial lead at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, filed the brief with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Boeing Employees Hit Machinist Union with Charge for Discriminating against Workers in Right to Work States

Washington, DC (December 28, 2011) – Three Charleston-area Boeing company (NYSE: BA) employees filed a federal retaliation charge against the Washington State union behind the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) high-profile case against Boeing for building a new facility in South Carolina. The Charleston-area Boeing employees filed the unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB Wednesday with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation. The charge comes in the wake of the recent announcement of a backroom deal cut between IAM, its Local 751 union, and Boeing officials which led to the end of the NLRB's case. The Charleston Boeing employees, who were granted intervenor status in the case by the NLRB in Washington, D.C., were denied participation in the hearing concluding the case.

News Release: Worker Advocate Blasts Obama Labor Board Rule Change

Worker Advocate Blasts Obama Labor Board Rule Change New rule would allow union bosses to ambush workers into forced-dues-paying union ranks Washington, DC (December 22, 2011) – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced new guidelines that give union organizers the upper hand over independent-minded employees in representation elections which will be implemented on April 30, 2012.

News Release: Transcript Shows SC Boeing Employees Kept in Dark about Labor Board Sham Settlement

Transcript Shows SC Boeing Employees Kept in Dark about Labor Board Sham Settlement Washington, DC (December 14, 2011) – National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) documents show that workers who had intervened in the Board’s high-profile case against Boeing were instead shut out of the entire process by which the case ended with Boeing agreeing to locate production of its 737 MAX plane in forced-dues Washington State.

Transcript Shows SC Boeing Employees Kept in Dark about Labor Board Sham Settlement

Washington, DC (December 14, 2011) – National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) documents show that workers who had intervened in the Board’s high-profile case against Boeing were instead shut out of the entire process by which the case ended with Boeing agreeing to locate production of its 737 MAX plane in forced-dues Washington State. With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, North Charleston Boeing employees Dennis Murray, Cynthia Ramaker, and Meredith Going, Sr. moved to intervene in the NLRB's unprecedented case targeting the company for locating production of some of its 787 Dreamliner airplanes in South Carolina, in part due to its popular Right to Work law. In Right to Work states, workers cannot be compelled to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment.

WVU Hospital Employee Files Federal Charge after Union Ignores Her Rights

Morgantown, WV (November 23, 2011) – With aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, a West Virginia University Hospital employee has filed a second federal charge against a local union for refusing to honor her resignation from formal union membership, forcing her to pay full union dues against her will, and failing to provide the legally-required disclosure of how her forced dues are being spent. Kimberly Wright initially resigned formal union membership from the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 814 in December 2010. Wright exercised her rights under the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck, which allows workers to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership.

Auto Parts Manufacturing Workers Force Out Unwanted Union

Long Island, NY (November 9, 2011) – A group of automobile parts manufacturing workers have forced out an unwanted union despite the union and the company trying to keep the workers under union control. With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, Sterling Instruments, Inc. worker Charlie Shannon filed unfair labor practice charges for himself and his coworkers against the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine, and Furniture Workers-Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA) Local 463 union. He also filed a decertification petition to force out the union. In his charges, Shannon asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to halt an unpopular local union from forcing its representation on him and his colleagues after all but one of them signed a petition to remove the unwanted union from their workplace.

Worker Advocate Offers Legal Aid to Charlotte Employees Discriminated Against during Democrat Convention

Charlotte, NC (November 9, 2011) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which helps victims of forced unionism, is offering free legal aid to workers who refrain from union membership and may be ordered off their jobs or prevented to work during the 2012 Democratic National Convention scheduled for August 2012 in Charlotte. In response to media reports, the Right to Work Foundation is offering free legal assistance for nonunion Time Warner Cable Arena, surrounding venue, local hotel, and other area workers who may lose work in favor of unionized workers in the lead up to and during the convention. Discriminating against workers who exercise their right to refrain from union membership is a clear violation of North Carolina's Right to Work law and the federal National Labor Relations Act. The Foundation encourages workers to learn about their rights and request free legal advice and aid at its website: www.nrtw.org.

Coca-Cola Worker Wins Thousands in Settlement After Union Bosses Illegally Had Him Fired

Houston, PA (November 4, 2011) – A Coca-Cola employee has won a settlement for over $4,000 with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation. Keith Smiesko of Saxonburg won $3,356.46 from Teamster Local 585 union officials and $819.54 from Coca-Cola after he was illegally fired from his job for exercising his rights under the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck, which allows workers to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership. Earlier this year, Teamster Local 585 union officials ordered Smiesko – who had refrained from full union membership and dues payments – to immediately pay full union dues for the previous three years along with additional union initiation fees without ever notifying him that he was being charged for their so-called "representation." Union officials illegally threatened Smiesko with job termination if he did not pay.