Woman files charges against union
With the help of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a Berkley Medical Resources employee, Donna Dodson, on Friday filed charges against a union for illegally forcing her to pay full union dues, including dues spent for politics. Dodson, a non-union member, filed the unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) Local 131A.
“In an effort to amass a political war chest, the union’s officials are demanding that workers shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation.
The foundation claims that since Dodson began working for Berkley Medical Resources in September 2001, union officials have deducted full union dues from her paycheck without her authorization, even though she is not a union member.
As part of her case, Dodson is seeking a breakdown of how the agency fee is calculated and a refund of dues money that was seized to pay for activities not directly related to collective bargaining.
The foundation said actions of UNITE officials violated the workers’ rights established by the U.S. Supreme Court Communications Workers vs. Beck decision. Gleason said that under Beck, a case that foundation attorneys argued and won, workers who are not protected by a Right to Work law may resign from formal union membership and halt and reclaim the portion of forced union dues spent on politics and other activities unrelated to collective bargaining.
“Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Union bosses routinely break the law to try and shake down workers to pay for their political activities,” said Gleason, claiming that UNITE is one of the most politically active unions in the country.