Minneapolis Metalworkers Win After Year-And-a-Half-Long Effort to Vote Out Unpopular CWA Union Bosses

After a year-and-a-half-long legal battle, Minneapolis metalworker Roger Downing and his coworkers at Minneapolis Washer and Stamping have successfully voted unpopular Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA) Local 1140 union officials out of their facility. Downing received free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certified the election result in Downing’s workplace on July 20. Downing and his coworkers’ effort faced headwinds in 2021 after IUE-CWA union bosses filed election “blocking charges.†Those are often-unsubstantiated charges against employers that union officials frequently use to shut down employee-led efforts to vote unions out. […]

“In Mr. Downing and his colleagues’ workplace we see yet another example of union officials unabashedly stifling the will of the workers they claim to ‘represent.’ Foundation attorneys were honored to aid Mr. Downing and his coworkers as they persisted for well over a year through litigation meant to stop them from kicking out an unpopular union,†commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix.

“Union association should never be forced, and Minnesota legislators should pass a Right to Work law to protect workers’ right to freely choose whether to join or fund a union,†Mix added.

NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK LEGAL DEFENSE FOUNDATION

All contents from this article were originally published on the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Website.

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