With Foundation Aid, Mayo Clinic Nurses Defeat Forced Union Dues Requirement
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, March/April 2023 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Nurses’ ultimate goal is to end Steelworkers union bosses’ so-called ‘representation’ completely
Austin, MN, Mayo nurse Erin Krulish and her coworkers hope to soon join Mankato, MN, Mayo nurses (above) in removing unwanted union “representation” from their facility.
AUSTIN, MN – Nurses at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin, Minnesota, recently voted overwhelmingly in a deauthorization election to end the power of United Steelworkers (USW) union officials to require nurses to pay up or be fired. The workers filed the deauthorization petition with National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 18 with free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
“We are so happy with the way the election turned out,” Mayo Clinic Austin nurse Erin Krulish commented. “I think it really shows that all of us came together to show the union that we don’t want to keep paying them when they are doing nothing for us.”
Krulish filed the deauthorization petition for her coworkers seeking to end the so-called “union security clause” that authorizes USW union bosses to have nurses fired for refusing to financially support union activities. The request seeking the vote to end United Steelworkers union officials’ forced-dues powers at Mayo Clinic Austin was signed by 49 of the 66 workers, well over the number required to trigger the NLRB-supervised election.
Ending Forced Dues Comes as Nurses Wait for Vote to Formally Remove Union
Minnesota is not a Right to Work state, meaning all workers in a unionized workplace can be required to pay dues or fees to a union as a condition of keeping their jobs. However, federal law does allow workers to hold deauthorization votes to end union officials’ legal authority to force workers to “pay up or be fired,” although winning such a vote can often be an uphill battle as independent workers have to take on professional forced-dues-funded union organizers.
The overwhelming 49-17 vote against mandatory union payments came as the nurses wait for the opportunity to end USW officials’ so-called “representation” at the facility completely, a process known as decertification. “We plan to decertify come next December when our contract is up and we are ready for another fight!” Krulish said following the deauthorization victory.
Currently, the non-statutory NLRB-invented “contract bar” doctrine blocks workers from holding a decertification vote to remove a union’s monopoly representation powers for up to three years when a union boss-imposed contract is in effect. Consequently, a deauthorization vote, which isn’t limited by the contract bar, was the nurses’ only option. If the nurses at the Austin Mayo Clinic do decertify as they plan, they will join Minnesota nurses at Mayo Clinic Mankato and Mayo Clinic St. James who voted to oust union officials from their hospitals in the last six months.
“No worker anywhere should be forced under so-called union ‘representation’ they oppose,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “So while we’re pleased Ms. Krulish and her coworkers were victorious against the Steelworkers union, this case also shows why it is past time to end the NLRB-sanctioned ‘contract bar’ which traps workers in union ranks they oppose for years at a time.”
“Ultimately, Minnesota needs a state Right to Work law to ensure that every individual worker has the freedom to decide whether or not to financially support a union, even those who can’t overcome the hurdles required to successfully navigate the complicated deauthorization process,” added Mix.
Virginia, Kentucky Workers Slam Union Officials with Charges for Illegal Dues Deductions
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, January/February 2023 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Union bosses seized full dues over employees’ clear objections, despite state Right to Work laws
“[I]t is time union officials accept that ‘no means no,’” said Buitoni employee Steven Ricketts, who is fighting to stop all dues as provided by Virginia’s Right to Work law.
DANVILLE, VA – For workers under the protection of Right to Work laws, union membership and financial support are supposed to be strictly voluntary. However, as recent cases brought with Foundation legal aid for workers in Kentucky and Virginia demonstrate, even in the 27 states that currently have Right to Work laws, union bosses will often attempt to illegally seize dues over workers’ objections.
“Living in Right to Work Virginia, it is outrageous that we need to take legal action just to stop union dues from being seized against our will,” commented Steven Ricketts, one of two employees at Buitoni Food Company who recently filed charges against United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9555. “I don’t want my money supporting the United Steelworkers union, and it is time union officials accept that ‘no means no’ when a worker resigns from the union and revokes their dues authorization.”
Ricketts and fellow employee Donald Hale each hand-delivered letters to both USW union officials and to their employer, formally resigning their union memberships and revoking their dues check-off authorizations.
Steelworkers Bosses Ignore 75-Year-Old Virginia Right to Work Law
After the workers’ letters were delivered, dues deductions briefly stopped only to quickly resume. In the case of Ricketts, Buitoni Food Company not only restarted union dues deductions but also deducted double the dues amount in a subsequent paycheck. Deductions from Mr. Hale’s paycheck also resumed without his authorization after a short period.
Mr. Ricketts sent an email to the company’s human resources department after the dues seizures restarted and was told to contact union officials about it. Each employee sent another letter to the United Steelworkers union, specifically requesting copies of their dues check-off authorizations. However, money continues to be deducted without their consent and without the union officials producing copies of the authorizations that are legally required before any such deductions can occur.
Eventually the workers filed unfair labor practice charges against both the USW and their employer for their respective roles in the unauthorized union dues deductions.
Regarding the Foundationbacked charges, Hale noted: “I’m grateful for the National Right to Work Foundation assistance in enforcing my legal rights, but it really shouldn’t take a federal case to cease the collection of union dues.”
Meanwhile in neighboring Kentucky, Shiphrah Green, who works at Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant, filed similar charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the United Automobile Workers (UAW) Local 862 union, as well as the UAW international union and Ford, for illegal union dues deductions.
Kentucky Autoworker Hits UAW Union with Federal Charges
Green notified both Ford and UAW union officials in April 2022 that she was resigning her union membership and cutting off all union dues deductions from her wages, as is her right under Kentucky’s Right to Work law. Instead of honoring her request, Green instead received an email from UAW Local 862’s president notifying her that Green needed to be shown the allegedly “correct” method to leave the union.
During a subsequent meeting with union officials at the UAW union hall, UAW officials subjected Green to interrogation about why she wanted to leave the union, and also demanded she sign a letter listing “benefits” Green would supposedly forgo if she went through with exiting the union. Longstanding NLRB precedent makes such restrictions on resignation illegal, as was the UAW Local 862 president’s coercive statement to Green that “if it were up to me, you’d lose your job for leaving the union.”
Despite Green’s resignation and requests to cut off union dues, UAW and Ford did not stop dues deductions. While Green continued trying to get Ford management to end the dues deductions, her efforts proved futile, as Ford officials gave her several confusing responses and even told her that she could only cease dues deductions in February 2023, even though the previously authorized dues deduction document could be revoked at will.
Finally, after getting the runaround from both Ford and the UAW, Green filed charges with the NLRB in October using free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation. As this issue went to print, Labor Board regional officials were conducting an investigation to see if Ford and the union should be prosecuted for illegal dues seizures.
Foundation Attorneys Play Essential Role in Limiting Union Boss Power
“As thousands of Foundation cases have demonstrated — whether in Right to Work states or forceddues jurisdictions, or whether litigated for government employees or private sector workers — limits on union bosses’ power to seize money from workers mean little if they aren’t enforced,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens.
“Virginia has had a Right to Work law on the books for over 75 years, while Kentucky’s Right to Work law is barely over five years old, but in both commonwealths, union bosses are illegally seizing union dues,” added Semmens. “These cases show why defending and enforcing workers’ Right to Work protections has been and will remain a top priority of the Foundation.”
Workers Nationwide Continue Efforts to Oust Steelworkers Officials
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, January/February 2023 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Successful ousters in Louisiana and New Jersey emphasize importance of protecting worker votes
Michael Cobourn and his coworkers were forced to pay union dues while USW union bosses seemed to be loafing it at their workplace. With Foundation aid, they ousted the union.
WASHINGTON, DC – In the space of just a month, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys successfully aided groups of workers in New Jersey and Louisiana in voting out United Steelworkers (USW) union officials they opposed. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certified both votes.
In Louisiana, Ryne Fox led his coworkers at GEO Specialty Chemicals to a decisive victory over USW officials, while Michael Cobourn did the same with his fellow workers at Gold Bond Building Products in New Jersey.
Both cases demonstrated the struggles workers face when seeking to “decertify” union officials whom they no longer want in power. In Louisiana, Fox had to time the filing of his coworkers’ petition seeking a decertification vote to fall within a tiny window of days imposed by the “contract bar,” a union boss-friendly NLRB policy that protects union officials from being voted out of a workplace for up to three years after union bosses and management finalize a contract.
Cobourn and his colleagues, in addition to having to deal with the “contract bar,” work in the non-Right to Work state of New Jersey — meaning they were forced to pay money to the union just to keep their jobs during the entire time they were forbidden by the “contract bar” from ejecting the union. In contrast, Right to Work states protect private sector workers from being fired merely for refusal to pay dues or fees to union officials of whom they disapprove. “My coworkers and I were paying money to the Steelworkers union constantly, yet the union didn’t seem to be doing anything for us,” commented Mr. Cobourn.
Although the efforts in Cobourn’s and Fox’s workplaces are evidence that Steelworkers union officials nationwide place their own interests above the workers they claim to “represent,” the most heinous example of such behavior is ongoing in Franklin, Pennsylvania.
There, Foundation-assisted metal workers at Latrobe Specialty Metals/Carpenter Technology are holding their own in defending their decertification petition against Steelworkers officials’ claims that the “contract bar” should invalidate the petition.
PA Workers Score Victory in Fight Against Election-Blocking Steelworkers Chiefs
While invoking the “contract bar” alone is anti-worker, Steelworkers officials in Pennsylvania claimed that a contract they unilaterally “ratified” this past summer after workers had voted against it twice should trigger the “contract bar.” Steelworkers officials had even told workers that the contract would only be “activated” if workers voted for it. But once they got wind of the workers’ decertification push, the officials “ratified” the unpopular contract secretly so they could, as one union official outrageously said during a hearing, “protect the integrity of the union.
Foundation staff attorneys representing the employee who submitted the petition, Kerry Hunsberger, have so far beaten back union officials’ attack on worker free choice. On November 18, 2021, an NLRB Regional Director rejected union bosses’ attempt to block the vote and ordered that an election proceed.
‘Contract Bar’ Encourages Union Officials to Impose Unpopular Contracts
“Workers across the country are increasingly exercising their right to vote out union officials they oppose, and we at the Foundation are happy to aid them,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “However, we’re also acutely aware of the obstacles that stand in the way of this freedom, and one of those, which Steelworkers officials seem to have no reservations about exploiting, is the ‘contract bar.’”
“The unjustified ‘contract bar’ is always wrong because it prevents workers from voting out unions they oppose when they want. But even worse, this NLRB-invented doctrine actually incentivizes union officials to rush and impose unpopular, self-serving contracts for the very purpose of insulating the union’s forced representation powers from a vote of the workers union officials claim to ‘represent,’” Mix added.
Food Company Employees File Charges Alleging Union Dues Are Being Illegally Deducted From Their Paychecks
Buitoni Food Company aided United Steelworkers bosses by deducting dues after workers revoked authorization and resigned from the union
Danville, VA (November 3, 2022) – Employees at Buitoni Food Company have filed charges against their employer and United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9555 after union dues deductions resumed despite the workers having revoked their authorization for such payments to be taken out of their paychecks. The federal unfair labor practice charges were filed with National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 5 with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys.
The charging workers, Steven Ricketts and Donald Hale, each hand-delivered letters to both USW union officials and to their employer formally resigning their union memberships and revoking their dues check-off authorizations. Because Virginia is one of 27 states with a Right to Work law, union membership and dues payments must be voluntary and cannot be required as a condition of employment. In states without Right to Work laws, workers can legally be fired if they refuse to pay union dues or fees.
After the workers’ letters were delivered, dues deductions briefly stopped. However, union deductions quickly resumed. In the case of Mr. Ricketts, Buitoni Food Company not only restarted union dues deductions but also deducted double the dues amount in a subsequent paycheck. Deductions from Mr. Hale’s paycheck also resumed without his authorization after a short period.
Mr. Ricketts sent an email to the company’s human resources department after the dues seizures restarted and was told to contact union officals about it. Both employees sent another letter to United Steelworkers, specifically requesting a copy of their dues check-off authorization. However, money continues to be deducted without their consent and without the union officials producing a copy of the authorizations that are legally required before any such deductions can occur.
“Living in Right to Work Virginia, it is outrageous that we need to take legal action just to stop union dues from being seized against our will,” Steven Ricketts commented. “I don’t want my money supporting the United Steelworkers union, and it is time union officials accept that no means no when a worker resigns from the union and revokes their dues authorization.”
Donald Hale echoed a similar sentiment: “I’m grateful for the National Right to Work Foundation assistance in enforcing my legal rights, but it really shouldn’t take a federal case to cease the collection of union dues.”
“As this situation shows, arrogant union officials often seize money from a worker’s pockets, despite what the law says,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Despite repeatedly telling their employer and union officials to stop taking their hard-earned money, Buitoni Food Company and United Steelworkers apparently believe they can ignore these workers’ legal rights and get away with it.”
“Foundation staff attorneys will continue to aid Mr. Ricketts and Mr. Hale as they take legal action against Buitoni Food Company and United Steelworkers,” Mix added.
Oil Refinery Employee Wins Back Illegally Seized Union Dues
Case continues as employee challenges unlawful provision in United Steelworkers union contract
Anacortes, WA (October 12, 2022) – After filing federal charges against the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 12-591 union and his employer, HF Sinclair employee, Dustin Hoffman recovered illegally deducted union fees from his paycheck.
In March, Mr. Hoffman asked HF Sinclair to stop the union dues deduction from his paycheck. After HF Sinclair received Mr. Hoffman’s revocation, it complied with his request. On June 7, Mr. Hoffman exercised his legal right to resign his membership from the United Steelworkers union. Later that month, HF Sinclair resumed the deduction of dues from Mr. Hoffman’s paycheck without his consent—a blatant violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
Not only does the union contract between HF Sinclair and the United Steelworkers indicate only union members are required to pay dues, it also contains an unlawful provision restricting when employees can resign their membership.
Even though he has received back the money taken from him, Mr. Hoffman continues to challenge United Steelworkers union officials with the aid of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys. Because union officials refuse to admit wrongdoing, Mr. Hoffman is pushing for removal of the illegal provision restricting the right to resign membership in the union, and a notice to be posted to notify his coworkers that may not be aware of their rights.
“Although the dues were returned to me, union officials admitted no fault and offered no apology for their unethical behavior,” Mr. Hoffman remarked. “They should remove the illegal provision in the CBA [union contract] so this does not happen again to my fellow coworkers.”
Because Washington is not a Right to Work state, union-imposed contracts can include mandatory union dues or fees, with nonmember workers fired if they do not pay. However, it is unlawful to restrict when employees can resign union membership. Further, the USW contract at issue did not contain a valid forced-dues clause, only the illegal restriction on resigning from the union.
“We’re glad to see Mr. Hoffman has succeeded in challenging United Steelworkers and HF Sinclair for illegally seizing his dues,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “As this situation shows, greedy union officials often illegally seize money from a worker’s pockets, despite what the law says.”
“Foundation staff attorneys will continue to aid Mr. Hoffman as he continues to help his coworkers make sure they know how to exercise their rights to cut off unwanted union dues,” Mix added.
