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Feds to Prosecute Freightliner for Retaliation Against Worker

IN THIS ISSUE

Vol. XXVI, No. 4 8001 Braddock Road • Springfield, Virginia 22160 www.nrtw.org July/August 2006

The bi-monthly newsletter

of the National Right to Work

Legal Defense Foundation, Inc.

Foundation SuesNLRB for 17 YearDelay in CaseWorkers have awaited a final decision since beforethe fall of the Berlin Wall

WASHINGTON, DC – Although theAmerican legal system has been criticizedas a slow-moving creature, a recent law-suit brought against the National LaborRelations Board (NLRB) demonstratesthat the dilatory federal agency is farworse than the courts.

Raising embarassing questions ofnegligence and incompetence, theNLRB has failed to issue a final ruling ina case brought in 1989 by the NationalRight to Work Foundation for twoSchreiber Foods employees from GreenBay. Accordingly, the employees haveasked a federal appellate court inWashington, DC to order the NLRB todecide the case immediately.

The complaint—originally filed byDavid and Sherry Pirlott more than 17years ago against the Teamsters Local 75union in Wisconsin—is the oldest ofscores of cases in which Foundation-assisted employees are trying to reclaimtheir forced union dues used for non-bargaining activities.

As a matter of historical context,since the Pirlotts filed their originalcharges, the Berlin Wall fell, theAmerican public voted in four presidential

elections, and presidents have appointedsix new justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,”said Stefan Gleason, vice president ofthe National Right to Work Foundation.“By failing to do its job, the NLRB is, ineffect, helping union officials fill theircoffers with forced dues seized from thepaychecks of countless Americans.”

Federal labor board’s inaction denies basicemployee rights

The NLRB, which has long beenplagued by political in-fighting andinstitutional pro-union bias, faced simi-lar appellate court scrutiny in the Pirlott

David and Sherry Pirlott filed unfair labor practice charges the day before the BerlinWall fell, but they still await justice from the NLRB bureaucracy over 17 years later.

see NLRB, page 5

Foundation Defends GroceryWorkers from Coast-to-Coast

Foundation Aids Workers inFending Off Illegal Fines

Judge Blocks Illegal Dues Seizuresfrom Cincinnati Firefighters

Foundation Pressures TSA toOppose Compulsory Unionism

2 Foundation Action July/August 2006

there was already an ongoing pattern ofspecial treatment for union officials atFreightliner – including the exemptionsof union stewards from ten-minuteteam “huddle meetings” and from arequirement that workers formally signin when working overtime. For raisingconcerns about this illegal favoritism, shewas suspended, demoted, threatened,and stripped of her leadership position.

“UAW officials have enlistedFreightliner to do their dirty work by

Feds to Prosecute Freightliner for Retaliation Against WorkerWorker suspended for questioning special treatment of union officials

retaliating against employees that refuseto toe the union line,” said RayLaJeunesse, National Right to WorkFoundation Vice President and LegalDirector. “The bullying of employeeswho do not support a monopoly unionrequires swift legal action.”

The NLRB has scheduled a hearingbefore an administrative law judge toprosecute Freightliner and remedy theallegations set forth in Jones’ complaint.

“I would like my team leader statusreinstated and I want the the union toknow they can’t push us around,” saidJones.

Retaliation follows workers’federal racketeering suit

The illegal retaliation against Jones is only the latest in a history ofillegal collusion between UAW andFreightliner officials that systematicallyundermines employees’ rights.

In recent months, employees assistedby the Foundation filed a federal racket-eering lawsuit against Freightliner andthe UAW union in U.S. District Courtseeking significant damages. And inanother related case, UAW union offi-cials had already been found by NLRBinvestigators to be in illegal collusionwith Freightliner management.

The pending racketeering complaintoutlines a secret quid pro quo arrangementbetween Freightliner and the union inwhich UAW officials agreed in advanceto significant concessions at the expenseof Freightliner’s workers at its nonunionfacilities in the state in exchange for valu-able company assistance in coercingthose employees into union ranks.

“UAW bosses want to make an example of Kristi Jones so that hercoworkers think twice before defyingtheir edicts,” said LaJeunesse.

CHARLOTTE, NC – The RegionalDirector for the National LaborRelations Board (NLRB) has filed a for-mal complaint and agreed to prosecuteFreightliner for federal unfair laborpractices after an autoworker sufferedharsh retaliation for questioning a pattern of special treatment of UnitedAuto Workers (UAW) union membersby company officials.

Kristi Jones, a Freightliner employeeat the company’s Gastonia facility,sought free legal assistance from theNational Right to Work Foundation infiling unfair labor practice charges inearly April after she was punished forposing a simple inquiry over a new workrule.

Company officials retaliated againstJones in response to an email she sent inDecember 2005 that simply questionedwhether a new shop policy applied toUAW union officials as well asnonunion workers. The rule in questionspecified that workers on the facilityfloor must wear safety glasses with clearlenses.

Jones sought the clarification of howthe new rule would be enforced because

Rev. Fred Fowler Chairman, Board of Trustees

Reed Larson Executive Committee Chairman

Mark Mix President

Stefan Gleason Vice President and Editor in Chief

Ray LaJeunesse, Jr. Vice President and Legal Director

The Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees

whose human or civil rights have been violated by abuses of compulsory unionism. All contributions

to the Foundation are tax deductible under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Distributed by theNational Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Inc.

8001 Braddock Road, Springfield, Virginia 22160www.nrtw.org • 1-800-336-3600

Foundation Action

Kristi Jones is facing union retaliation forfiling a federal racketeering lawsuit. Herco-plaintiffs Tim Cochrane (at podium) andKatherine Ivey (right) traveled to the UAW’sDetroit headquarters to speak to the media.

July/August 2006 Foundation Action 3

As a devoutChristian, Gautschibelieves that sup-porting the UFCWunion violates hissincerely held reli-gious beliefs due tothe union hier-archy’s politicalsupport for causescompletely unrelatedto monopoly bar-gaining such as special rights forh o m o s e x u a l s .Under Title VII of the Civil RightsAct, union officialsmay not force anyemployee to financially support a unionif doing so violates the employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs.

Law allows employees todivert forced dues to charity

To avoid this conflict, the lawrequires union officials to accommodatethe employee – most often by designatinga mutually acceptable charity to receivethe funds. However, union officialsoften stack the deck against suchemployees of faith by inserting restric-tive language into monopoly bargainingcontracts that make it difficult and enormously costly for employees toassert their Title VII rights.

Union bosses bully teenagerto collect forced dues

Meanwhile, in Annandale, VA, GiantFoods worker Kevin Nguyen filed unfairlabor practice charges against UFCW

SPRINGFIELD, VA – A pair of NationalRight to Work Foundation cases arehelping beat back widespread practicesby United Food and CommercialWorkers (UFCW) union officials to corralworkers into forced-dues-paying ranksin violation of their basic civil rights.

The cases, filed only weeks apart inVirginia and Washington State, demon-strate UFCW officials’ hostility towardsworkers’ rights – from the right toresign from formal union membership,to the right not to pay forced dues to aunion when doing so conflicts withone’s sincerely-held religious beliefs.

Washington UFCW unionbosses violate workers’religious liberties

In Washington State, the Foundationcame to the assistance of Safewayemployee Daniel Gautschi who sufferedillegal discrimination at the hands ofUFCW officials. Gautschi filed a lawsuitin U.S. District Court for the WesternDistrict of Washington after union offi-cials set forth unlawful conditions thatforce him to affiliate with – and payadditional money to – a union he findsmorally offensive if he should ever havean employment grievance.

The illegal scheme forces onlyemployees who file religious objectionsto pay the union all costs associated withuse of grievance procedures – eventhough union officials tightly controlthe process and employees are com-pletely barred from filing grievances ontheir own.

“UFCW officials seem to think paying tribute to a union is moreimportant than paying tribute to yourfaith,” said Foundation President MarkMix.

Foundation Defends Grocery Workers from Coast-to-Coast Cases seek to force union officials to stop trampling workers’ basic rights

Local 400 after a UFCW official misledNguyen into paying forced dues andcontinued to seize the forced dues from hispaycheck despite repeated requests thatthey stop. Foundation attorneys helpedNguyen file the charges at the NationalLabor Relations Board (NLRB).

Nguyen – a teenager who works part-time at the grocery store as anafter-school job–was approached by amenacing UFCW union official whosaid that he was “from Giant” and hadadditional paperwork “from Giant” thatNguyen needed to sign. Through thisdeceit and coercion, the union unlawfullyobtained Nguyen’s signature on a uniondues deduction card authorizing theautomatic seizure of a significantamount in union dues from his smallpaycheck. Federal law provides that private sector employees cannot berequired to sign payroll dues deductioncards as a condition of employment.

In addition to violating federal law,the union hierarchy’s actions violate thespirit of Virginia’s highly-popular Right

UFCW top dog Joe Hansen guides the union in its charge tocorral workers into its forced dues-paying ranks.

see GROCERY UNION, page 7

4 Foundation Action July/August 2006

they are not protected by a Right toWork law and, therefore, can be forcedto pay certain dues to a union to get orkeep a job – union officials have nolegal basis for enforcing internal union“discipline” against them.

“It is despicable for union bosses totry to put employees into the poorhousefor refusing to abandon their jobs,” saidStefan Gleason, vice president of theNational Right to Work Legal DefenseFoundation.

The NLRB will now investigate theworkers’ charges and decide whether toissue a formal complaint and prosecutethe IAM union.

Teamsters union forced toforfeit $100,000 in illegalstrike fines

Meanwhile, Foundation attorneysjust won a significant victory against theTeamsters union for similar workers’

Foundation Aids Workers in Fending Off Illegal FinesUnion officials nationwide issue retaliatory fines of up to $7,400 per worker to stifle dissent

DECATUR, AL – Working to rein in a menacing national pattern of unionabuse, Right to Work attorneys are taking union officials to court for slapping workers with retaliatoryfines for refusing to strike against theiremployers.

With free legal assistance from theNational Right to Work Foundation,eight Boeing employees have filed federal charges against InternationalAssociation of Machinists (IAM) localofficials for the illegal fines leviedagainst them for refusing to abandontheir jobs during a strike that lastedfrom November 2, 2005 to February 1,2006.

In a thuggish attempt to stifle dissent,IAM union officials fined employees atthe rocket manufacturing facility inAlabama $4,500 apiece for working tofeed their families.

The employees, led by Larry Bonner,filed the federal unfair labor practicecharges at the National Labor RelationsBoard (NLRB) against IAM union LocalLodge 44.

Nonunion workers avoidinternal union discipline

Foundation attorneys point out thatthe eight Boeing employees cannot belawfully fined because they resignedtheir formal union memberships (andthus were no longer subject to internalunion rules) before continuing to work– their right under the Foundation-supported Patternmakers v. NLRB U.S.Supreme Court decision.

Because Alabama has been a Right to Work state since 1953, IAM union officials’ actions also run contrary to thespirit of that highly-popular state law.

Additionally, once an employeebecomes a nonmember – even where

rights violations in the Golden State.Responding to federal charges filed

by over 60 employees of Albertsons andRalphs grocery chains who were subjected to retaliatory fines for refusalto engage in “sympathy strike” activitiesduring the California grocery strike in2003, the NLRB has ordered theTeamsters union to allow the workers torescind and void the unlawful fines.

In the wake of the grocery strike,Teamsters Local 952 union officialssocked employees with confiscatoryfines – ranging up to $7,400 per employeeand totaling over $100,000 – simply forobserving the union’s own “no strike”contract with their employers.The targeted employees had continuedto report to work during the cripplinggrocery strike ordered againstAlbertsons, Vons, and Ralphs by UnitedFood and Commercial Workers unionofficials.

California's ugly grocery strike involved harassment of customers, confiscatory finesagainst non-strikers, and bloody violence.

see STRIKE FINES, page 8

July/August 2006 Foundation Action 5

NLRB Perceived by Some as Laughing Stock among Federal Agencies

case in 1998. But rather than fully decidethe case that had long been pending onthe docket, the Board sent it back to anadministrative law judge for further factfinding. The case returned to the nation’scapital in 2001 where it has since collecteddust for five years awaiting a final decision.

The Pirlott’s writ of mandamus peti-tion, filed with the U.S. Court of Appealsfor the District of Columbia, points outthe Board’s egregious and unjustifiabledelay in issuing a decision should resultin judicial intervention.

A writ of mandamus, from the Latinmeaning “we command,” would compelthe recalcitrant federal labor board to

continued from cover

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issue a decision in the case. A mandamusaction is extremely unusual.

The employees are simply asking theNLRB to follow U.S. Supreme Courtrulings that uphold workers’ rights notto pay for recruiting more dues-payingworkers into organized labor’s ideologicalmovement.

Under the Supreme Court’s rulingsin Communications Workers v. Beck andEllis v. Railway Clerks, cases brought byemployees represented by Foundationattorneys, workers may not be lawfullyforced to pay for any union activitiesunrelated to collective bargaining,contract negotiation, or grievance

adjustment such as union organizing,politics, extra-unit litigation, and member-only programs.

World Events Since David and Sherry Pirlott Sought Justice from the NLRB:

November 9:

Berlin Wall

falls

1989 February 11:Nelson

Mandela

freed

1990

January 17:

Operation

Desert Storm

begins

1991

February 26:

World Trade

Center

bombed

1993

April 19:

Oklahoma

City

bombing

1995 July 1:Hong Kong

returned

to China

1997

November 8:

Pirlotts file

unfair labor

practice

charges

1989

December 19:

President

Clinton

impeached

1998

October 12:

USS Cole

attacked by

terrorists

2000

September 11:

U.S. attacked

by terrorists

2001

March 19:

Operation

Iraqi

Freedom

begins

2003

November 3:

President

Bush

re-elected

2004 August 29:Hurricane

Katrina

hits New

Orleans

2005

l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l1989 1990’s 2000’s

6 Foundation Action July/August 2006

City chiefs named for backing union officials

The original complaint, filed in summer 2004, also named then-Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken,among other top City officials, for sign-ing the agreement with the union andenforcing the unconstitutional feeseizures. In the firefighters’complaint, they alleged thatIAFF Local 48 union offi-cials acted in concertwith the City ofCincinnati to illegallyseize compulsoryunion dues from non-members without first providing therequired independentaudit of union e x p e n d i t u r e s .Additionally thecomplaint laid outhow union officials subjected workers challengingthe fee to unlawful appeal procedures.

In the Foundation-won U.S.Supreme Court Chicago Teachers Unionv. Hudson decision, the Court ruled thatbefore collecting any forced dues, unionofficials must provide an audited disclo-sure of the union’s expenses. Suchaudits are intended to ensure that forcedunion dues seized from nonunion pub-lic employees do not fund union activi-ties unrelated to collective bargaining.

“These IAFF union bosses continueto trample the basic constitutionalrights of the very firefighters whoseinterests they claim to ‘represent,’” saidStefan Gleason, Vice President of theNational Right to Work Foundation.“Until Ohio’s employees are given theprotections of a Right to Work law, suchabuses will inevitably continue.”

CINCINNATI, OHIO – A group ofnonunion Cincinnati firefighters wonanother victory in their protracted legalbattle with International Association ofFirefighters (IAFF) union officials.National Right to Work Legal DefenseFoundation attorneys persuaded U.S.District Court Judge Walter HerbertRice to issue a temporary restrainingorder against the union and city officialsto block the seizure of forced uniondues.

The order, confirming a ruling handeddown in November, stems from a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District ofOhio by five local members of theCincinnati African-American Fire-fighters Association. The firefightershave also had ongoing disputes withIAFF union bosses whom the firefighterscharge have engaged in racist treatmentof minority firefighters.

Judge finds violations ofnonunion firefighters’ rights

In renewing the temporary restrainingorder, Judge Rice wrote that thenonunion firefighters are likely to wintheir case on the merits, and that thecourt will likely protect the constitu-tional rights of all of the approximately100 nonunion firefighters in Cincinnatiby certifying the five plaintiffs’request to make their suit a class actioncomplaint.

This latest development comes afterCity and union officials renewed theircontract but failed to rectify the illegaldues seizures and appeals procedure.This prompted Foundation attorneys tofile a new request for a temporaryrestraining order.

Minority firefighters getshort shrift from union

Independent black firefighter groupsare typically Right to Work allies, as theyoften find that the “old boys” networkrunning the IAFF union hierarchy hasacted discriminatorily toward minorities.A history of racism has plagued organizedlabor for more than 100 years, as

union officials have frequentlybarred minorities from job

opportunities.

The injustice offorced unionismbecomes especially

clear in circum-stances where union

officials who may harborracist views are granted a mono-

poly on workplace representation of all employees. Employees under a monopoly bargaining structure aredenied the right of self-representation,even when the union brass may be activelydiscriminating against them.

This is one reason why groups likethe International Association of BlackProfessional Fire Fighters have partneredwith the Foundation. In fact, the grouprecently invited Foundation vice presidentStefan Gleason to speak at its internationalconference held in Los Angeles and aregional conference in Chicago.

Judge Blocks Illegal Dues Seizures from Cincinnati FirefightersBlack firefighters win restraining order against historically racist union

Visit our website for breaking news:

www.nrtw.org

Black firefightersassociations are oftenRight to Work alliesbecause of racismentrenched in theunion hierarchy.

July/August 2006 Foundation Action 7

“clarification” which is tantamount to a180 degree reversal of its position in thepending NLRB case. The agency nowapparently agrees with the Foundationthat the NLRB is precluded from allowingto have monopoly bargaining privilegesunion bosses.

TSA had undermined Bushdirective on national security

The closely watched Firstline caseinvolves efforts by union officials toforcibly unionize private airport screeners

Foundation Pressures TSA to Oppose Compulsory Unionism TSA bureaucrats caught undermining Bush policy against forced unionism

who are under direct TSA control atKansas City International Airport.Meanwhile, union officials have theirsights on all other airports under TSA’s pilot privatization program – SanFrancisco, Rochester (New York), Tupelo(Mississippi), and Jackson Hole (Wyoming).

The Foundation filed an amicus briefin the case arguing that federal law and an agency directive citing nationalsecurity concerns provide the rationalefor disallowing the forced unionizationof privately employed airport securityscreeners. The reasons are legion: notthe least of which are the increased likeli-hood of illegal strikes and inability to fireincompetent employees.

“Aside from violating workers’freedom ofassociation, history tells us that interjectingforced unionism into such sensitive areaswold undoubtedly have severe ramifica-tions for Americans,” Mix concluded.

WASHINGTON, DC – The cover articleof the September/October Issue ofFoundation Action (available for down-load at www.nrtw.org/foundation-action/)detailed how the National Right to WorkFoundation sprang into action to stopthe forced unionization of securityscreeners at America’s airports.

In a submission to the NationalLabor Relations Board (NLRB) aboutthe pending Firstline TransportationSecurity case, the TransportationSecurity Administration (TSA) tacitlyapproved imposing forced unionism onairport security workers employed byprivate contractors under an expandingpilot program.

More recently, after FoundationPresident Mark Mix wrote a stronglyworded letter to the White House andfocused the media spotlight on the rogueactions of the federal agency, TSA issued a

to Work law. Virginia is one of 22 stateswith a Right to Work law that protectsemployees from being forced to supporta union as a condition of employment.

UFCW union organizers preyon the vulnerable

The NLRB charge also alleges thatthis illegal misrepresentation was part ofa pattern in which UFCW union opera-tives prey on students, part-time workers,and non-English speaking employees toimproperly swindle them into payingunion dues.

Adding insult to injury, union officials continued to deduct forced

Grocery Union Drives Up Consumer Costs While Hurting Workerscontinued from page 3

union dues even after Nguyen realizedthat the he could not be legally forced topay the union dues and sent a letter tothe UFCW local treasurer, resigning hisso-called “membership” and asking thatthe dues seizures stop. Union officialshave so far ignored his demands andcontinue to deduct full dues from hispaycheck.

UFCW at the forefront of newcoercive organizing drives

The UFCW is one of the unions thatbroke away from the AFL-CIO to formthe so-called “Change to Win” Coalitionin 2005. The breakaway unions left the

AFL-CIO because they advocated theexpenditure of even greater resources oncoercive organizing drives. In a sadirony, these union officials exercised thesame freedom to disassociate with theAFL-CIO that they routinely work todeny countless thousands of Americanworkers wishing to refrain from com-pulsory unionism.

“Rather than working to preserveand expand their power to order workersto ‘pay up or be fired,’ union officialsshould work to improve their product inorder to attract workers’ voluntary support,” said Mix. “In the end, it doesn’t matter who is steering BigLabor’s ship so long as individual workersare strapped to the mast.”

Foundation pressureforced the TSA toget with the pro-gram and opposeforced unionizationof airport screeners.

8 Foundation Action July/August 2006

A Foundation For The Future

Mark Mix, PresidentNational Right to WorkLegal Defense Foundation

Dear Foundation Supporter:

Do you want the government to decide who gets your money?

If your answer, like mine, is “No,” then I hope you will take a look at theplanned giving brochure enclosed with this newsletter. The Foundation iscreating some exciting new options for donors to help the Right to Workcause while also gaining valuable tax advantages.

These options include the Reed Larson Legacy Fund to provide a permanent endowment to support the Foundation’s program, as well as abrand-new planned giving option for donors: Pooled Income Funds.

We’re also continuing to build the National Right to Work LegacySociety as a means of recognizing Foundation supporters who have madeplanned gifts.

As a supporter of the Right to Work movement, you know that theFoundation’s strategic legal program attacking coercive union power playsan essential role in our battle for the freer, more just world we want to passon to the next generation.

There is a sense of peace that comes from knowing that the people andcauses we care about will be provided for after we are gone. That’s why I’mespecially grateful when Right to Work supporters remember theFoundation through planned giving.

If you have recognized the advantages of planned giving and havedecided to include the Foundation in your plans, please let us know nowso we can thank you.

We can also advise you on various ways you can structure your plannedgiving to achieve the maximum tax advantage for your estate. For moreinformation, I urge you to call me or my assistant Ginny Smith at 1-800-336-3600, or e-mail plannedgiving@nrtw.org.

Thank you for propelling our movement forward with your gifts.

Sincerely,

Mark Mix

Strike Finescontinued from page 4

Judge finds Teamsters bosses violated employees’ rights

Agreeing with arguments presentedby Foundation attorneys, an NLRBAdministrative Law Judge in LosAngeles handed down the ruling thatalso mandated union officials mustallow several hundred – perhaps eventhousands – of workers in eight differentbargaining units to retroactively revoketheir formal union membership andreceive certain back-dues rebates.

The judge ruled that Teamsters Local952 officials illegally failed to informworkers of their rights under the

Foundation-won Communications Workersv. Beck decision to refrain from formalunion membership and to object to payingfor the union’s nonrepresentationalactivities, such as politics.

Because the employees thus cannotbe considered voluntary members, thejudge ruled that internal union discipli-nary measures could not be takenagainst them.

Teamsters officials have publiclyvowed to appeal, but the Foundationplans to stand behind the employeesevery step of the way, defending their victory.

“Like bloody strike violence, confis-catory fines are used to enforce unionedicts,” said Gleason. “Compulsoryunionism manifests itself in many uglyways.”

“Like bloody strike violence, confiscatory

fines are used to enforceunion edicts”