Philly Gets Rocky
National Right to Work attorneys’ recent victory for employee free choice at the NLRB was the topic of much debate at a meeting of the pro-forced unionism American Bar Association, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Union partisans typically condemned the newly established rights for employees. Once again, however, the meeting attendees did not get to hear from any representative from the National Right to Work Foundation, the group actually winning the main cases at issue and leading the charge to protect employees from "card check" organizing abuses.
Despite the hue and cry of union officials, the actions of the Bush NLRB to correct literally dozens of activist, pro-compulsory unionism rulings issued by the Clinton NLRB have been limited, delayed, and sparse. The Bush NLRB has a lot of work left to do and little time to do it.
Union Officials Receive the “Benefit”…Cash in the Coffer
Following up with 10-year veteran timber trucker Michael Weller was a statement in this article in the Flathead Beacon today that might have mislead some readers:
“As a non-union member in an industry where many of his colleagues join the union, Weller receives the benefits of increased pay when wage agreements are worked out through collective bargaining by the union.”
The Flathead Beacon misses the point. Weller, who works in a forced unionism state, is required to pay for the cost of unwanted monopoly bargaining – despite the fact he doesn’t formally belong to the union in the first place. The article did highlight, however:
“Weller paid the charges out of fear of losing his job…”
All too often, workers in states without Right to Work laws are forced to pay for monopoly bargaining.
When an employee is forced to pay dues to a union in order to get or keep a job, it’s hardly accurate to call that a “benefit.”
Writing off the strike?
ABC has apparently issued a memo advising writers wishing to continue working during the ongoing strike of their right to do so after resigning from formal union membership. States the memo:
"The decision whether to join or not join the strike is an individual decision for each person to make."
Unfortunately, many employees across America do not know about these rights or are stonewalled in excercising them by union officials. Anyone that does not want to walk off the job during a union-ordered strike can learn more about their right to continue working here.
“I’m not real big on people threatening me”
Right to Work attorneys helped Montana timber trucker Michael Weller file federal charges against the Teamsters Local 2 after union officials unlawfully ordered him to pay hundreds of dollars in forced dues.
When Weller exercised his rights under Beck, Teamsters union officials responded by illegally threatening to have him fired from his job.
The Daily Inter Lake quoted Weller:
“It’s the principle of the matter. What prompted this was them threatening my job. I’m not real big on people threatening me.”
More on Pomona Nurses…
As Right to Work attorneys’ efforts on behalf of Pomona nurses grab headlines, one noteworthy comment comes from SEIU union official Sue Weinstein. Aside from the issues of threats of fines, arrests, and jail:
As for the dues, Weinstein said the local has a policy not to collect dues retroactively.
The union operatives that widely distributed this flier (see underlined portion) must be unfamiliar with that policy.
Transit Union Slapped With Federal Labor Charges for Muscling Back into a Facility After Employees’ Revolt Forced it Out
**Batavia, IL (November 2, 2007)** – The bus company First Group, Inc. and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1028 have been hit with federal labor board charges for illegally bargaining over employees who the union does not even represent. First Group employee Russell Haasch filed the charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) earlier this week with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys.
As Haasch details in his charges, ATU union officials have been negotiating a contract with First Group, despite the fact that Haasch and his coworkers had successfully ousted the union earlier this year. According to First Group’s website, on October 1 the UK-based transit company completed the purchase of Haasch’s employer, Laidlaw Transit.
In Spring 2007, Haasch collected signatures from an overwhelming majority of his co-workers and in June presented the petition to their employer Laidlaw Transit, which legally and properly ended its recognition of the ATU union as the monopoly bargaining agent for the approximately 160 employees. Only recently did Haasch and his co-workers realize that their new employer, First Group, was negotiating a contract with ATU officials, despite the fact that the employees had successfully shown that the union did not have their support.
According to the National Labor Relations Act, by bargaining over the contracts of employees that the union does not legally represent, the union and First Group are engaging in illegal “pre-recognition” bargaining. As part of their negotiations, the union is once again seeking a forced-dues clause in the contract that makes payment of union dues a job requirement. Indeed, union officials have been given access to First Group facilities and are now demanding that employees pay union dues or be fired.
“Union officials and First Group management are illegally attempting to force this unpopular union down employees’ throats,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “With the lack of respect these union officials have for the employees, it is not surprising that workers rejected the union last June.”
The unfair labor practice charges ask the NLRB to seek an injunction to immediately stop First Group from continuing to negotiate a contract with the rogue ATU union and to cease all demands for union dues. The NLRB Regional Director will now investigate the charges and decide whether to prosecute the charges and seek injunctive relief.
Union officials to nurses: strike or face fines, jail, arrests
Union officials are threatening nurses in Pomona, California, with fines, arrests, and jail for refusal to walk off the job during a union ordered strike early in October. Right to Work attorneys helped a nurse challenge this coercion earlier this week at the National Labor Relations Board.
Employees that do not want to abandon their jobs during a strike can learn more here.
The arrest threats sound all too familiar.
Union Officials at Pomona Valley Hospital Illegally Threaten Non-striking Nurses with Arrest, Jail, and Fines
**Pomona, CA (October 31, 2007)** – A nurse at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center has filed unfair labor practice charges against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 121RN after SEIU union officials illegally threatened her and her coworkers with jail and fines. The nurses wished to resign from formal union membership, cut off union dues, and continue working during any union-ordered strike.
The charges come after the collective bargaining contract at the hospital expired and after union officials ordered a five day strike during October.
In response to the intimidation, nurse Carole Jean Badertscher filed the class action charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys. The charges detail how union officials misled and threatened employees in violation of the nurses’ rights under federal labor law. The charges also cite that union officials violated their so-called “duty of fair representation,” which is intended to prevent union discrimination against employees.
In a particularly egregious violation of the employees’ rights, a top local union official threatened that nurses who defied the union’s strike order could be subject to fines and criminal penalties, including 90 days in jail. The California law referenced by union officials is clearly pre-empted by federal labor law establishing that workers can remain at their jobs and avoid all union disciplinary fines if they first resign from formal union membership.
Union officials also distributed a flier illegally misleading the nurses, claiming that the NLRB requires employees to continue paying compulsory union dues after the expiration of a contract. The flier told nurses that, when a new contract goes into effect, union officials could require all employees to pay “back dues,” implying that they could be fired if they didn’t pay.
“Union officials are shamelessly flouting federal law in an effort to intimidate these nurses into heeding the union’s unpopular demands to turn their backs on their patients,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Unfortunately, in states like California where there is no Right to Work law prohibiting compulsory unionism, union officials face little accountability.”
The NLRB’s Regional Office will now investigate the charges and decide whether to issue a formal complaint and prosecute the union for unfair labor practices.
Right to Work Files Brief in Atlantic City Union Election Controversy
The Press of Atlantic City today wrote about the brief filed by Right to Work attorneys in the Trump Plaza union election dispute, which you can read more about here. The brief states that if the election is not set aside:
"…politicians can (and will) use the authority of their office to mislead employees that the government requires or favors a particular result in Board certification elections."
To watch video of the sham union "certification" event at issue, click here.
“Kryptonite for America’s Workers”
The AFL-CIO hierarchy has taken its latest beef with Right to Work attorneys’ victory for employees up with the International Labor Organization (ILO). About the complaint, AFL-CIO chief John Sweeney says:
"The Bush NLRB is kryptonite for America’s workers."
This is like Lex Luthor complaining that his kryptonite doesn’t work well enough. While the recent Dana victory was an encouraging step forward for employee freedom, the Bush NLRB still has lots of work left to do.
And as we see everyday, compulsory unionism abuse is the real kryptonite for America’s workers.
