NLRB Cases Challenge Coercive ‘Neutrality Agreements’ Used to Impose Forced Unionism
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, March/April 2020 edition. To view other editions or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Housekeepers demand NLRB block unionization resulting from back-room “Card Check” deals
From left, housekeepers Lady Laura Javier, Cindy J. Alarcon Vasquez, and Yesica Perez Barrios are charging hotel officials and union bosses with illegally corralling workers into union ranks with a corrupted “Card Check” recognition.
SEATTLE, WA – Housekeeper Gladys Bryant was granted an appeal by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel in her case challenging the use of a so-called “neutrality agreement” between UNITE HERE union officials and her employer to impose a union on the hotel’s workers.
Meanwhile, four Boston housekeepers have filed similar NLRB charges against their employer Yotel Boston and UNITE HERE Local 26, alleging that union officials violated federal law by imposing union representation on workers through a coercive “Card Check” drive with their employer’s assistance.
General Counsel Finds That UNITE HERE “Card Check” Unionization Was Tainted
Bryant filed the unfair labor practice charges after the UNITE HERE Local 8 union was installed at the Embassy Suites hotel in May 2018 through an oft-abused “Card Check” drive which bypassed the NLRB’s secret ballot election process.
As part of its so-called “neutrality agreement,” Embassy Suites agreed to give union organizers access to the hotel to meet and solicit employees. The agreement also provided union officials with a list of all employees’ names, jobs, and contact information to assist the union in collecting authorization cards from employees.
After NLRB Region 19 officials declined to prosecute the union or employer for violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Bryant appealed the case to the NLRB General Counsel in January 2019. The NLRB General Counsel agreed with Bryant’s Foundation attorneys that Embassy Suites provided UNITE HERE’s organizing campaign with more than “ministerial aid” and thus violated the NLRA.
The NLRB has long held that an employer taints employees’ efforts to remove a union if it gives the employees support such as providing a list of bargaining unit employees or use of company resources. Bryant’s appeal successfully argued that the “ministerial aid” standard must also apply when an employer aids union officials’ efforts to gain monopoly bargaining power over workers.
Boston Housekeepers Argue Union “Card Check” Must Be Overturned
Faced with a similar situation, Boston-area housekeepers Cindy J. Alarcon Vasquez, Lady Laura Javier, Yesica Perez Barrios, and Danela Guzman filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, the housekeepers argue that UNITE HERE union officials violated federal law by imposing union representation on workers through a coercive “Card Check” drive with the assistance of their employer, Yotel Boston.
As in the Seattle case, they charge that Yotel Boston company officials provided UNITE HERE’s organizing campaign with more than “ministerial aid” and therefore illegally tainted the union’s installation as the employees’ exclusive representative in the workplace. The housekeepers charge union officials with violating the NLRA by requesting and accepting the illegal assistance, and the hotel for providing it.
“It is long past time that the NLRB put an end to this biased double standard that allows union bosses to abuse workers’ rights,” said National Right to Work Foundation Vice President and Legal Director Ray LaJeunesse. “The General Counsel is correct to finally recognize that what qualifies as more than ‘ministerial assistance and support,’ and thus violates the National Labor Relations Act, cannot depend on whether the employer is helping outside union organizers impose unionization on workers or assisting workers in exercising their right to remove an unwanted union.”
“These cases represent another breakthrough in the Foundation’s challenges to the pro-forced unionism skew at the NLRB,” added LaJeunesse.
Milwaukee Worker Wins Refund of Union Dues in Settlement of Case Against Teamsters Union
Teamsters Local 200 union officials agree to repay money siphoned from factory workers’ pay after he exercised rights under Wisconsin Right to Work law
Milwaukee, WI (April 27, 2020) – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an employee at a Milwaukee factory has secured a settlement with Teamsters “General” Local Union No. 200. Union officials denied his right under Wisconsin’s Right to Work law and the National Labor Relations Act to cut off union financial support.
Under the terms of the settlement, Teamsters Local 200 officials will repay Tyler Lewis union dues, plus interest, seized from his paycheck after he resigned his union membership and revoked his dues deduction authorization (“checkoff”).
Lewis works for Snap-on Logistics Company. After he was hired, a union official told him that he must become a union member and sign a checkoff authorizing the deduction of union dues from his paycheck. That union demand violated longstanding law going back to 1963.
In September 2019, Lewis resigned from the union and revoked his checkoff. Local 200 union officials refused to honor Lewis’s request to stop union dues deductions and continued to deduct them from his paycheck, despite Wisconsin’s Right to Work law making union payments strictly voluntary.
Consequently, Lewis filed an unfair labor charge with the National Labor Relations Board with the help of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys. The favorable settlement for Lewis resolves his charge.
“This settlement for Mr. Lewis is yet another victory for the rights of all Wisconsin workers, although it should not take federal labor charges for union bosses to acknowledge the basic rights of employees in the Badger State,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Clearly Wisconsin’s Right to Work law mandates that union membership and dues payment must be strictly voluntary, but union bosses regularly attempt to trap workers in forced fee ‘agreements,’ rather than respect workers’ rights and vie to win their uncoerced support.”
“This case demonstrates, yet again, why Teamsters union bosses have a well-earned reputation for using coercive tactics against workers who refuse to toe the union line,” Mix added.
Paramedic Files Appeal after NLRB Disregards Illegal Union Retaliation
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, January/February 2020 edition. To view other editions or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Appeal to NLRB General Counsel comes just months after Region 14 was reversed in similar case
Paramedic Jarod Aubuchon is appealing his case against Teamsters officials after they punished him for informing his coworkers of their rights to resign union membership and pay reduced dues.
St. LOUIS, MO – Jarod Aubuchon, a St. Louis-area paramedic who charged Teamsters Local 610 union officials with illegal retaliation after he tried to inform his coworkers of their right to pay reduced union dues, is filing an appeal in his case to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel in Washington, D.C. He is represented free of charge by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
Aubuchon’s appeal comes after the October 2019 dismissal of his case by NLRB Region 14 officials in St. Louis. Region 14 was reversed by the NLRB General Counsel in a similar union retaliation case this summer, which was also brought by Foundation staff attorneys.
Union Officials Vow Punishments after Worker Posted Rights Notices
Aubuchon discovered the right of private sector workers under the Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision to resign union membership and pay a reduced portion of union dues. Because Missouri is not a Right to Work state, private sector workers can still be compelled to pay part of union dues as a condition of employment.
Beck, won by Foundation staff attorneys in 1988, guarantees that employees who are not union members can only be required to pay fees to a union for expenses that are directly germane to bargaining, such as contract administration.
Armed with this new knowledge, Aubuchon posted flyers in common areas of his workplace informing his coworkers of their Beck rights. According to his charge, Teamsters agents responded by tearing down these notices and later demanding that his employer, Medic One, discipline him for the postings. Actions by union officials that cause an employer to discriminate against workers on such grounds are prohibited by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Aubuchon resigned his own union membership and asserted his Beck rights. Aubuchon’s charge states that neither his resignation nor his Beck rights have been acknowledged by Teamsters bosses, and full dues are still being seized from his paychecks.
Employee Appeals to NLRB General Counsel with Free Foundation Legal Aid
After NLRB Region 14 officials rejected his case, Aubuchon petitioned the NLRB General Counsel to overturn the decision and order remedies for the retaliation he experienced from Teamsters officials.
“They spend union money on political activism without consideration of its members,” Aubuchon said of Teamsters officials to the St. Louis Record after his appeal was filed. “We have a right to not have our money used in that manner and in the end I hope employees are better educated on their rights and how to exercise them.”
In July 2019, the General Counsel reversed Region 14 officials’ dismissal of a similar case brought by Foundation staff attorneys for Kansas City-area hospital worker Kacy Warner. Warner charged officials of the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) union with illegally interfering with a petition she was circulating for a vote to remove the union. That included tearing down flyers she had hung in bathrooms and other common areas in her workplace informing employees of the petition. In her case the NLRB General Counsel reversed Region 14’s dismissal and ordered region officials to prosecute the charge.
Region 14 officials were also overturned by the full Labor Board in October 2019 after the Region dismissed a petition for a vote to remove the union from St. Elmo, Illinois-based ConAgra Foods worker Robert Gentry’s workplace. United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union bosses had attempted multiple times to stop workers at the plant from exercising the right to vote out the union.
“The NLRB is charged with enforcing workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act, yet there is a disturbing pattern of Region 14 failing to enforce the rights of rank-and-file workers when doing so advances the interests of union bosses,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens. “It should not take an appeal to Washington, D.C., for workers to have their rights fully protected against union boss abuses.”
Milwaukee Worker Files Federal Charges Against Teamsters Union for Violating His Rights under State and Federal Law
NLRB Charge: Despite Right to Work law, union bosses coerced worker into becoming a union member and then blocked attempts to cut off dues payments
Milwaukee, WI (March 3, 2020) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, an employee at a Milwaukee factory has filed federal charges against Teamsters “General” Local Union No. 200 for violating his rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and Wisconsin’s Right to Work law.
Tyler Lewis, employed by Snap-on Logistics Company, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after union officials told him that he must become a union member and pay membership dues as a condition of employment in violation of longstanding federal law.
Teamsters union officials further refused to allow Lewis to stop union dues from being seized from his paycheck even after he learned of his rights and resigned his union membership in September 2019. Moreover, union officials continue to deduct dues from his paycheck and refuse to refund Lewis any of the dues unlawfully seized from him.
Forcing workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment is prohibited under Wisconsin’s Right to Work law, which went into effect in March 2015. However, union officials continued to accept and retain union dues seized from Lewis because they claimed he could only cut off union dues deductions during a narrow union-created “window period.” Even as they made that claim, they failed to provide Lewis with specific dates when his request would be accepted under their rules.
As his charge details, the union monopoly bargaining agreement in Lewis’ workplace, which was signed after the state Right to Work law went into effect, contained language prohibited by the Right to Work law that workers must pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. Moreover, even if the agreement was actually in place prior to the law’s effective date, Lewis’ Foundation-provided attorneys state in the filing that the passage of the Right to Work law invalidated the union’s claim that Lewis’ right to stop dues payments was limited to a brief union window period.
“Once again, Teamsters union bosses are using coercive tactics to force workers they claim to ‘represent’ to pay union dues and fees against their wishes,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Wisconsin’s Right to Work law should mean union membership and dues payment are strictly voluntary, but rather than respect workers’ rights and work to win their uncoerced support, union bosses are again attempting to trap workers in forced dues in violation of federal law.”
SAG-AFTRA Union Officials Slammed with Federal Labor Charges After Threatening Unlawful Union ‘Discipline’ against 12-Year-Old Girl
Union officials violate girl’s legal rights by initiating proceedings against her for filming a nonunion commercial, even though she was not a union member
Los Angeles, CA (January 28, 2020) – With free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, 12-year-old actress Aundrea Smith filed unfair labor practice charges against the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union for violating her legal rights under federal labor law.
Smith filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after union officials initiated internal union proceedings and threatened to impose union “discipline” – likely a fine – on Smith for filming a nonunion commercial, even though she was not a union member at the time. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prohibits union officials from imposing union “discipline” on nonmembers.
Smith did join SAG-AFTRA in April 2019, one month after filming the commercial, but subsequently resigned her union membership upon learning of her rights under the NLRA in August 2019. The NLRA provides that an individual cannot be forced to join a union just to get or keep a job and guarantees individuals the absolute right to resign their union membership whenever they choose.
Earlier this month, Communication Workers of America (CWA) union officials were forced to settle a similar case with Florida worker Jared Brewer, who is employed by AT&T. Union officials refused to acknowledge Brewer’s union membership resignation while on military leave. Then union officials unlawfully attempted to impose union “discipline” on Brewer for returning to work during a work stoppage, even though he had already resigned as a union member.
“The NLRB must intervene to halt this blatant and unlawful abuse of power by SAG-AFTRA union officials against this young actress,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “We’re proud to stand with Aundrea who is standing up for her rights against this shameful bullying by union bosses.”
AT&T Employee Wins Settlement from CWA Union after Facing Union Retaliation for Exercising Legal Rights
Union officials refused to allow worker to resign his union membership while on military leave and attempted to fine him in violation of federal labor law
Jacksonville, FL (January 24, 2020) – AT&T employee Jared Brewer has won a favorable settlement from Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 3106 union with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation after union officials violated his legal rights under federal law.
To end the case, union officials rescinded their threat to subject Brewer to internal union “discipline” and fine him for exercising his legal rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). They also were required to notify other workers of their legal rights by posting notices on the union’s bulletin boards at 22 AT&T Jacksonville facilities.
Brewer was on military leave when union officials called a strike in August 2019. He sent an email to them in which he resigned his union membership. Even though the NLRA guarantees employees the right to resign their union membership at any time, union officials refused to honor Brewer’s request. One union representative falsely claimed that his resignation letter was “untimely.”
After sending a certified letter containing the same resignation language, Brewer returned to work. Despite his resignation, union officials told Brewer in an October letter that they were bringing charges against him in an internal union “trial” for working during the union-initiated work stoppage. Brewer did not attend the November 7 “trial” because he had already resigned his union membership and, therefore, could not legally be subject to union disciplinary procedures.
Union officials notified Brewer on November 15 that the union found him guilty at its “trial” and imposed a monetary fine of more. They threatened him with legal action if he did not pay the fine within 21 days.
In response, Brewer filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board with free legal aid from Foundation staff attorneys. Brewer charged that union officials violated his legal rights under the NLRA by disciplining and fining him as a nonmember, and by denying his resignation. Union officials are prohibited from requiring formal union membership as a condition of employment by both Florida’s Right to Work law and the NLRA, and under the NLRA workers are free to resign their union membership at any time.
Brewer’s unfair labor practice charges drove union officials to settle. This requires union officials to honor Brewer’s resignation and rescind the fine and union “discipline” against him. Union officials also must post for 60 days in its union hall and numerous AT&T facilities a notice in which the union promises not to “restrain or coerce” workers from exercising their legal rights to resign and work during strikes.
“Faced with legal action from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, CWA union officials backed down from their blatant violations of longstanding labor law and were forced to settle with Mr. Brewer,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Federal labor law is crystal clear: Workers have an absolute right to resign their union membership if they choose, and once a worker has exercised that right they cannot be subject to fines levied by any internal union boss kangaroo court.”
Alaska School Bus Drivers Win Three Year Battle to Kick Unpopular Teamsters Union Bosses Out of Their Workplace
Multi-year legal fight to remove union opposed by majority of workers shows need for reform of NLRB rules that allow unions to block workers’ from holding decertification votes
Anchorage, AK (December 9, 2019) – A group of Alaskan school bus drivers have just prevailed in their years-long effort to remove an unpopular Teamsters union from their workplace. The union’s ouster comes after National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys provided free legal aid to Elizabeth Chase, the bus driver leading the charge to hold a decertification election so workers could vote out the union.
After workers sought for almost three years to remove the union, Teamsters Local 959 union officials finally stopped fighting the workers’ efforts by filing a disclaimer of interest with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 19 in Seattle. The disclaimer came after the Region dismissed the union’s latest unfair labor practice charge following Chase’s fifth request for review to the full NLRB in Washington, DC, contesting the Regional Director’s continued block of a decertification vote at the behest of Teamsters bosses.
Chase is an employee of Apple Bus Company near Anchorage, Alaska. In July 2017, she submitted a decertification petition to NLRB Region 19 asking for a secret ballot election to remove the Teamsters as the monopoly bargaining representative in her workplace. Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), if a decertification petition garners signatures from at least 30 percent of the employees in a bargaining unit, the NLRB is supposed to conduct a secret-ballot election to determine whether a majority of the employees wish to decertify the union. Chase’s initial petition was signed by more than 50 percent of the workers in the bargaining unit, far more than necessary to trigger a decertification vote.
The NLRB Regional Director blocked the decertification vote later that year, citing the Obama Labor Board-backed “successor bar,” which prohibits workers from removing an unwanted union simply because the ownership of an employer has changed hands. That “successor bar” is not mandated by the NLRA, which the NLRB is charged with enforcing.
Despite that setback, Chase and her coworkers continued their efforts to remove the Teamsters from their workplace, filing another decertification petition in 2018. This time, Teamsters officials moved to prevent the vote by filing successive “blocking charges” with the Regional Director, alleging unfair labor practices by Apple Bus. The Regional Director repeatedly allowed union officials to block a vote despite Chase’s pointing out that the Region failed to “explain specifically what causal connection(s) exist” between the petition and the union bosses’ allegations that made it necessary to stop the vote. All told, Chase requested five times that the full NLRB in Washington, DC, reverse the Regional Director’s decisions and let the vote proceed.
The NLRA, the federal law that the NLRB is tasked with enforcing, grants all workers the right to remove an unpopular union. Most restrictions manipulated by union bosses to halt decertification votes (such as the “successor bar” and “blocking charges”) are not established in its text but have been read into it by Big Labor-friendly Board Members under the Clinton and Obama administrations. Foundation staff attorneys have been fighting for workers for decades to eliminate these unfair, non-statutory limitations on workers’ rights to hold a vote to remove a union that has lost most workers’ support.
The NLRB is currently accepting comments on reforming the “blocking charge” doctrine and another non-statutory bar to decertification elections, the “voluntary recognition” bar. In comments to the Labor Board, Chase’s Apple Bus coworker Donald Johnson blasted the union’s ability to game the NLRB’s system to delay a decertification vote for years as “the most unfair and anti-democratic event I have been involved with in my entire life.” The window for submitting comments to the NLRB ends on January 9, 2020. Foundation attorneys have prepared comments they will file urging the Board to end both the “blocking charge” policy and “voluntary recognition” bar.
“The NLRB is tasked with protecting the right of employees to remove a union that is opposed by a majority of workers, but as this case shows us that right is undermined by non-statutory NLRB policies that allow workers to be trapped in union ranks for years at a time without even a decertification vote,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Though Ms. Chase and her coworkers are finally free from the coercive reign of a plainly unpopular Teamsters union, the NLRB must act quickly to roll back the undemocratic election bars and blocking charge policies that undermined their rights for almost three years.”
AT&T Employee Hits CWA Union with Unfair Labor Practices Charges for Violating Rights During Military Leave
Union officials refused to allow worker to resign his union membership and attempted to fine him for exercising his legal rights
Jacksonville, FL (November 25, 2019) – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, AT&T employee Jared Brewer has filed unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3106 for violating his legal rights. Brewer charges that CWA union officials illegally refused to accept Brewer’s legitimate request to resign his union membership and later used that as grounds to fine Brewer after he had resigned from the union.
Brewer was on military leave when union officials called for a strike in August 2019. He sent an email to union officials in which he resigned his union membership. Instead of respecting his legal right to resign at any time, a union representative falsely told him that his resignation letter was “untimely.” Brewer returned to work and sent a certified letter containing the same resignation language.
Then in an October letter, union officials told Brewer that they were bringing charges against him in an internal union “trial” for exercising his right to work despite the union-initiated work stoppage. Brewer did not attend the November 7 “trial” because he had already resigned his union membership and therefore could not legally be subject to union disciplinary procedures.
Union officials notified Brewer on November 15 that the union had found him guilty at its “trial” and imposed a fine of more than $700. Union officials threatened him with legal action if he did not pay the fine within 21 days.
Brewer’s unfair labor practice charge alleges that union officials violated his legal rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by attempting to discipline and fine him as a nonmember, in addition to denying his resignation of union membership. Under the NLRA, union officials are prohibited from requiring union membership as a condition of employment and workers are free to resign their union membership.
“CWA union bosses are blatantly violating longstanding law by denying Mr. Brewer’s request to resign his union membership,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Federal labor law is crystal clear: Workers have an absolute right to resign their union membership if they so choose and once a worker has exercised that right they cannot be subject to fines levied by any internal union boss kangaroo court.”
