25 Sep 2021

Labor Board Rejects Biden Appointee’s Attempt to Scuttle Case Against Union

The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, July/August 2021 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.

Texas nurse challenges concealment of secret union-employer deal which stifles decertification

With Foundation legal aid, Texas nurse Marissa Zamora shut down NLRB “Acting” General Counsel Ohr’s attempt to block her case.

With Foundation legal aid, Texas nurse Marissa Zamora shut down NLRB “Acting” General Counsel Ohr’s attempt to block her case.

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently rejected a move by NLRB Acting General Counsel Peter Ohr to prematurely end Texas nurse Marissa Zamora’s case before the Board could rule. The case challenges National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) union officials’ refusal to disclose a secret agreement they signed with the parent company of her hospital that limits Zamora’s ability to remove the union from her workplace.

Ohr is a career NLRB bureaucrat, who was installed as General Counsel by President Biden this January after Biden made the unprecedented move of removing Trump-appointed NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb before his Senate-confirmed four-year term expired. Ohr filed a motion in February seeking unilaterally to send Zamora’s complaint back to the NLRB’s Fort Worth regional office to be dismissed — after Zamora’s case had already been fully briefed at the full Board in Washington.

Zamora is represented for free by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, who in March opposed Ohr’s attempted maneuver. Their brief argued that snuffing

the case out now would jeopardize the NLRB’s power to decide cases involving violations of federal labor law, and also contended that Ohr lacked any authority to make his motion because of Biden’s illegal ouster of Robb. In a May decision, the NLRB agreed with Zamora’s Foundation staff attorneys that the case should continue, observing that the matter “has been fully litigated, and the controversy at issue, which remains active, is ripe for Board adjudication.” The case began when Zamora demanded a copy of the secret so-called “neutrality agreement.” Such agreements are deals between union officials and employers — usually without the knowledge of employees in a workplace — that seek to assist the union in gaining monopoly bargaining powers over rank-and-file workers.

NNOC Agents Shrouded, Lied About Deal Which Stymied Info about Decertification

“The Board correctly rejected Peter Ohr’s attempt to scuttle this case so he could let union officials off scot-free despite their secret backroom deal to undermine the rights of nurses like Marissa Zamora who are subjected to unwanted union representation,” National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix said about the decision to let the case move forward. These controversial top-down organizing deals frequently contain provisions that require employers to silence opposition to unionization, hand over workers’ personal information for coercive “card check” drives that bypass the protections of a secret-ballot election, provide union organizers with preferential access to the workplace and even ensure employers will help stifle workers’ efforts to decertify, i.e. remove, the union.

In Zamora’s case, she began circulating fliers and other materials in June 2018 to educate her coworkers on how they could obtain a vote to decertify the union. Legal documents she filed in her case explain that union agents “repeatedly ripp[ed] down her fliers” and that hospital officials referenced a secret agreement with the union when they denied “her access to post material on protected bulletin boards, where her material would be shielded from vandalism.”

Zamora subsequently asked both NNOC and hospital officials to show her any “neutrality agreement” that might have triggered those efforts to block her and her coworkers’ rights. All her requests were denied, and NNOC even denied that such an agreement exists. This was despite statements by hospital agents to her that indicated a “neutrality agreement” was indeed in effect.

Trump-Appointed NLRB GC Robb Backed Nurse’s Case Until Unprecedented Firing

Zamora filed federal unfair labor practice charges at the NLRB, challenging NNOC bosses’ refusal to disclose the secret agreement. Then- NLRB General Counsel Robb issued a complaint supporting the claims in Zamora’s charges.

Nevertheless, a Labor Board Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) dismissed the complaint Robb issued, even revoking subpoenas that would have compelled NNOC union bosses to reveal the covert deal.

Zamora challenged the ALJ’s dismissal, filing exceptions at the full Board in Washington. Briefs she filed supporting those exceptions pointed out that, during a two-day trial, it came out that the “neutrality agreement” existed, but it was a closely guarded secret between the hospital and union officials “to be kept strictly confidential from employees and all third parties.” Robb also submitted exceptions buttressing Zamora’s exceptions.

Robb’s pro-employee decisions preceded Ohr’s controversial installation by Biden in January, and Ohr’s subsequent attempt to remand or dismiss the case, which the NLRB has now rejected.

“The Board should now promptly rule for Ms. Zamora on the merits of the case so union bosses cannot keep secret pacts with employers to the detriment of rank-and-file employees’ protected rights,” Mix said.

4 Jul 2021

WV, TX Employees Defend Rights as Biden NLRB Appointee Attempts to Block Cases

The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, May/June 2021 edition. To view other editions or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.

‘Acting’ GC tries to stop prosecution of union bosses for illegal dues, secret-organizing deal

Marissa Zamora is challenging the authority of NLRB “Acting” General Counsel Peter Ohr, who was installed by Pres. Biden in an unprecedented power grab and began attacking the rights of workers opposed to associating with union officials

Marissa Zamora is challenging the authority of NLRB “Acting” General Counsel Peter Ohr, who was installed by Pres. Biden in an unprecedented power grab and began attacking the rights of workers opposed to associating with union officials.

WASHINGTON, DC – President Biden’s unprecedented removal of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Peter Robb, and subsequent installation of forced-unionism zealot Peter S. Ohr as Robb’s “Acting” replacement, quickly threatened workers’ individual rights. It also threatened the independence of the Board itself, including in multiple ongoing cases brought with National Right to Work Foundation legal aid.

In two cases brought by Foundation staff attorneys that are already before the NLRB, Ohr is attempting to stop the Board from ruling against union officials. One is a case for Texas-based nurse Marissa Zamora, which challenges union officials’ ability to hide secret “neutrality agreements” that limit workers’ rights. The other, brought for West Virginia Kroger employee Shelby Krocker, seeks to prosecute union officials for coercing workers into signing dues checkoff authorizations that are supposed to be voluntary.

Former NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb, who supported the workers in both of these cases, was removed by President Biden just minutes after his inauguration, despite the fact that Robb still had nearly 11 months remaining in his Senate-confirmed four-year term.

This unprecedented and possibly illegal maneuver flies in the face of the law creating the NLRB, which envisioned an independent General Counsel. Since the office of NLRB General Counsel was established in 1947, no sitting General Counsel of the NLRB has ever been fired by a president before the end of their term, even when the White House changed hands.

Zamora’s case progressed to the full NLRB in Washington, D.C., after an NLRB Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) dismissed a complaint that former NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb had issued, prosecuting the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) for refusing to disclose to represented employees its secret “neutrality agreement.”

TX Nurse Fights Biden Appointee Move to Shield Union’s Secret Deal

Though Zamora’s Foundation-provided attorneys and Robb had both filed exceptions urging the full Board to reverse the ALJ’s decision, NLRB Acting General Counsel Peter Ohr filed a motion on February 23, 2021, seeking unilaterally to send the complaint back to the NLRB Fort Worth regional office to be dismissed.

So-called “neutrality agreements” are organizing deals struck between union officials and employers, usually without the knowledge of employees in a workplace. They frequently contain provisions that require employers to silence opposition to unionization. In Zamora’s situation, the neutrality agreement was used to limit her ability to inform her coworkers about their right to vote out the union.

Zamora’s opposition brief challenges Ohr’s attempt to kill the case. It argues that the case is already before the full Board, and she “is a full party with a right to have her pending exceptions decided by the Board.” It notes that letting Ohr shut her out at this stage would “infringe on the Board’s exclusive power to adjudicate violations of” federal labor law.

Further, the brief contends that because of Robb’s unlawful removal, Ohr lacks the legal authority to even ask the NLRB to end the case. Allowing “the President to fire the General Counsel at will would do irreparable damage to the NLRB’s function as an independent agency,” the brief says.

In Krocker’s case, NLRB Region 6 in Pittsburgh initially dismissed Krocker’s charge challenging United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) checkoff cards which falsely stated that they “MUST BE SIGNED.”

West Virginia Kroger Employee Stands Up to Union-Allied Ohr

Foundation attorneys successfully appealed this dismissal to General Counsel Peter Robb, who sustained the charge and ordered NLRB Region 6 to issue a complaint prosecuting UFCW Local 400 for the violation.

In fact, Robb ordered Region 6 to issue the complaint on several additional grounds, including maintenance of a checkoff that prohibited employees from ending dues deductions after the expiration of a contract.

After an ALJ declined to rule that UFCW Local 400 officials violated the law with their “MUST BE SIGNED” demands and other unlawful provisions, Krocker’s Foundation staff attorneys and General Counsel Robb both appealed the case to the NLRB. Their appeals have been fully briefed before the Board since September.

After Ohr’s appointment, Region 6 entered into an inadequate informal settlement over Krocker’s objection and filed a motion to send the case back to Region 6.

Biden Appointee Shielding Union Boss Privileges

Krocker’s opposition to that motion argues, as does Zamora’s, that her case is already pending before the full NLRB and that Ohr lacks the authority to divert it away from the Board’s judgment.

“‘Acting’ NLRB General Counsel Peter Ohr’s unabated attacks on Foundation cases seeking to defend workers’ individual rights clearly show how imminent a threat our cases are to union bosses’ coercive and greedy behavior,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens. “Ohr demonstrates repeatedly that he has no problem with turning the NLRB into the Biden Administration’s tool for stifling the rights of independent-minded workers who dare to stand up to Biden’s union boss allies.”

1 Mar 2021

Union-Label Biden Labor Board Appointee Moves to Scuttle Foundation Cases

The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, March/April 2021 edition. To view other editions or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.

Unprecedented: Biden removes NLRB top prosecutor despite 11 months left on his term

WASHINGTON, DC – With National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys having won numerous National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) cases in recent years curtailing coercive union practices, union bosses pushed the Biden Administration to take unprecedented measures to protect Big Labor’s power over rank-and-file workers.

In January, top union bosses, including Service Employees International Union (SEIU) chief Mary Kay Henry, formally demanded that upon taking office President Biden make the unprecedented move of removing NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb, despite nearly a year remaining on his term. Union officials were furious Robb had frequently sided with Foundation-backed employees in many cases during his tenure, including cases in which workers successfully challenged union boss demands that workers subsidize their spending to put Biden in the White House.

Just 23 minutes after taking office on January 20, in response to Big Labor’s demands, Biden took the legally dubious action of removing Robb. Robb’s Senate-confirmed term runs through November 2021.

In the 85-year history of the NLRB, no previous NLRB General Counsel had ever been fired before their four-year term — meant to protect the office from political pressure — expired. For example, Robb’s predecessor, Obama-era NLRB General Counsel Richard Griffin, served almost a full year into Trump’s presidency to complete his term.

Following Robb’s unprecedented removal, Biden designated union partisan Peter Ohr as “Acting General Counsel.” Within days of his installation, the ersatz General Counsel moved to undo actions taken by Robb in Foundation-backed cases, in each instance reversing course to the benefit of Big Labor officials.

On January 29, Ohr ordered Seattle NLRB officials to stop prosecuting the Embassy Suites Pioneer Square hotel and UNITE HERE Local 8 union officials for making a backroom agreement designed to unionize housekeepers through a coercive “Card Check.” The “Card Check” bypassed an NLRB-supervised secret-ballot election. The very next day after Ohr’s order, Boston NLRB officials also pulled their prosecution of Boston Yotel and UNITE HERE Local 26 officials in a similar case brought by four Foundation-represented housekeepers.

Biden’s “Acting” Appointee Targets Foundation Cases Scheduled for Trial

In each case, Foundation staff attorneys were prepared to argue at trial that the “top-down” agreements for “Card Check” were illegal and tainted the installation of the union. But by pulling complaints weeks prior to when trials were set to begin before Administrative Law Judges (ALJs), Ohr blocked the cases from even being heard.

Those orders were then followed by a flurry of other activity by Ohr that included instructing local NLRB officials not to move forward with cases related to enforcing workers’ Beck rights, which protect them from being required to fund union political activities.

“Biden’s intent in firing Robb was obvious: So his handpicked NLRB replacement could move unimpeded to protect the privileges of his union boss political allies at the expense of individual workers’ rights,” observed National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens. “Robb often sided with Foundation-backed workers, which made him a threat to Big Labor that needed to be eliminated.”

Though Ohr, at Biden’s behest, is weaponizing the NLRB against independent-minded workers’ rights so the union elite can escape scrutiny, are already before the full Board and by law out of the General Counsel’s control.

Through August 27, 2021, the Trump-appointed Board majority will retain their seats and are immune to Biden’s whims. That means these cases for workers still could take down erroneous union boss-friendly precedents that have harmed workers for decades.

Groundbreaking Foundation Cases Still Advancing to Full Labor Board

Among the Foundation cases pending at the full NLRB in Washington are challenges by three separate groups of workers to the pernicious “contract bar” doctrine (see page 1), a separate case about “neutrality agreements” for Corpus Christi, TX-based nurse Marissa Zamora and Michigan AT&T employee Veronica Rolader’s challenge to restrictive “window period” policies which let union bosses collect forced dues even after a contract has expired.

Semmens added: “The Foundation is proud to stand with workers challenging all types of union coercion, and will continue to stand ready to defend workers against Big Labor and, when necessary, the Biden-Harris Administration.”