In Michigan, Foundation staff attorneys are providing legal aid to Johnson Controls (JCIM) Grand Rapids employees who want the UAW union hierarchy removed as the monopoly bargaining agent. Meanwhile UAW union organizers are attempting to force their way into JCIM’s Holland plant:

Grand Rapids, MI (December 23, 2008) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Johnson Controls (JCIM) employee at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood has filed a decertification petition seeking an election to oust the United Auto Workers (UAW) union as the JCIM workers’ monopoly bargaining agent.

The development is another blow to the UAW union hierarchy which has taken a major public relations hit in recent months because of its role in driving the Big Three automakers to the brink of bankruptcy.

JCIM worker Dawn Lambert filed the decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which should conduct a secret-ballot election to determine whether or not a majority of the workforce wants to retain the UAW union as their monopoly bargaining agent. Under federal labor law governing the private sector, once the NLRB grants union officials monopoly bargaining status, it is illegal for any present or future employees – whether they are members of the union or not – to negotiate with their employer for themselves unless they can prove that the union hierarchy does not retain majority support.

Because a clear majority of the employees at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood have expressed their intent to remove the UAW, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have also sent a letter to JCIM management demanding that they cease further contract negotiations and also withdraw recognition of what is now a minority union. Under the law, recognizing and negotiating with a union that does not have majority support is an unfair labor practice.

Read the rest of the Foundation's press release here.

This story from the September/October issue of Foundation Action shares the story of Patricia Pelletier, a Connecticut worker who successfully initiated a decertification election to eject an unwanted union from her workplace. In response, union officials started a campaign of intimidation and harassment against Pelletier.  You can hear Patricia talk about her case in this video.

Read the whole story here (pdf) and sign up today for a free print subscription.

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In Wisconsin today, a local newspaper reported that employees at Woodman’s Food Stores in Janesville and Beloit will likely be granted a decertification vote to oust the unwanted United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1473 union.

The GazetteXtra reported:

“We’re going to do what the employees tell us to do,” [company president Phil] Woodman said. “We’re going to do what’s in the best interests of the employees.”

The secret ballot election (scheduled for next week) comes after the National Labor Relations Board held hearings on the validity of the employees’ decertification petition.

UFCW Local 1473 officials delayed the workers’ vote after they asked the grocery store chain for records and files on over 2,100 employees at the 11 Woodman’s stores.

Such “blocking” tactics are not unusual for UFCW union officials to use, as recently witnessed by grocery employees in Illinois.

There, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys helped over 300 Treasure Island grocery workers win a vote to oust the unwanted UFCW union from their workplace, after UFCW union lawyers blocked a decertification election for nearly three years.

One National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge recently overturned a very close decertification election and more than suggested that another election take place after union operatives practically rigged a vote in their favor.

Actually, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 399 did win the tainted election – but by a difference of two highly questionable votes.

According the NLRB investigation, SEIU union thugs used intimidation tactics, including threats, harassment of employees, and efforts to bribe the petitioner into withdrawing the decertification petition, in order to help with the electioneering. Administrative Law Judge Gregory Z. Meyerson wrote that the SEIU union’s underhanded tactics likely scared employees so badly, that they were afraid to oppose the union in the decertification election:

“…wherein union business agent Ronquillo verbally and physically threatened Alan Smith…[and] union business agent Rodriguez offered Smith a number of benefits for abandoning his support for the decertification effort, including purple scrubs, a position as a keynote speaker at the Jesse Jackson rally, and most significantly, a job with the [SEIU] Union.”

Meyerson continued that the SEIU union’s low down dirty tactics “prevented the employees from freely and fairly exercising their choice in the election.” It is plain despicable these thugs will do anything in order to keep forced dues coming into their coffers.

Read Meyerson’s full recommendation here.

Late last week, the fight by Treasure Island Foods grocery workers to kick the unwanted UFCW union out of all six Chicago-area stores officially ended in the employees' favor.

In July, Wilmette store manager Dan Schalin told a major Chicago newspaper:

"People felt that the union wasn't looking out for them. They weren't earning our union dues."

However, as explained last week, decertification elections like those won by the employees in Chicago are uphill battles and no substitute for passing a Right to Work law in combatting compulsory unionism abuse.

(Photo by Marty Heisey, Lancaster New Era)

Today's Lancaster New Era showcases machine operator Mike Walton's (photo above) victory against compulsory unionism by throwing out the unwanted United Steelworkers Local 1035. For refusing to abandon his job during a union-ordered strike over compulsory dues, the paper says Walton was:

"...undeterred by being called a 'scab,' sneers, profanities and threats."

Arming himself with information from the National Right to Work Foundation's website, Walton secured a decertification election by the National Labor Relations Board in which he and his coworkers voted out the unwanted union. This victory shows that the Foundation helps employees battle forced unionism outside the courtroom as well by educating employees about their rights.

However, in states like Pennsylvania where workers can be fired for refusing to pay union dues, a Right to Work law remains the only true solution for widespread relief.

Decertification elections are uphill battles because workers can only request them in narrow window periods near the end of a contract, or every three years, whichever comes first. Additionally, union officials can campaign against the employees using forced union dues.