NILRR Right to Work News Clips September 18, 2017


Wisconsin Grocery Driver Wins Settlement with Teamster Union Officials in Case Over Illegally Seized Union Fees

www.nrtw.org, September 14, 2017

With free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, a Milwaukee employee has successfully won a settlement from Teamsters Local 200 union officials. The settlement requires that Teamsters Local 200 union officials pay the employee all union fees that were improperly seized and the subject of federal unfair labor practice charges.

15 Cities Where Unions Are Disappearing

24/7wall street.com, August 28, 2017

Click here to see the cities where unions are disappearing.
Former SEIU president sues to get her job back

Las Vegas Review Journal Online, August 25, 2017

The ousted president of Service Employees International Union Local 1107 in Nevada sued SEIU International in federal court this month, demanding that the parent union reinstate her and end its takeover of the local’s operations.

Fractious negotiations lead union leader to call commissioners ‘traitors’

The Chronicle-Telegraph.com, September 14, 2017

“I would like to inform the commissioners that last Thursday we had a state board meeting with all of Indiana and all of Ohio to publicly call each one of you out by name and say that you guys are ‘so-called’ Democrats, but yet you do not stand on the principles of the Democratic Party in working with men and women in labor,†Slone said. “Not only did they call you out as not doing your job, you were called out in thestate as being traitors to the working people of this great state of Ohio and this great county.â€

Graduate Employees Union Wins Election, Gains Collective Bargaining Rights

The Heights Online, September 13, 2017

The vote is the culmination of a yearslong organizing process for the union, and BC is the latest in a string of private universities whose graduate employee unions have successfully voted for collective bargaining. BC filed a motion to have the vote delayed and the NLRB’s decision allowing the election reviewed, but the Washington, D.C., NLRB this week denied the motion. Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, on Aug. 21, released an open letter outlining its opposition.

Defending Our House: Local 1245 Public Sector Members Gear Up to Fight Back Against Anti-Union Attacks

IBEW1245.com, August 25, 2017

According to Professor Gordon Lafer, a nationally recognized labor expert from the University of Oregon who has documented the impact of RTW in the dozens of states where it is already the law, the detrimental impacts of such a policy are indisputable.

“Research shows that in Right to Work states, wages and benefits are lower for union and nonunion workers, with zero impact on job growth,†Lafer told the room full of Local 1245 activists. “The claim that RTW is about ‘freedom’ not to pay dues is false. In most states, people pay dues all the time, such as dues to participate in the Chamber of Commerce, or dues to the American Bar Association. The only ‘right’ that ‘Right to Work’ defends is the right to undermine workers’ organizations, weaken union contracts and eliminate unions.â€

U.S. Attorney Suffers Another Setback In Pursuing Union-Related Extortion

WBUR News, September 14, 2017

Another federal extortion case against local members of the Teamsters union fell apart in recent days.

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals threw out most of the verdicts against two defendants convicted in 2014 of using fear of economic and physical harm to extract jobs from nonunion companies.

Labor Takes Aim at Tesla in Private Letter to CA Dems

Washington Free Beacon Online, September 14, 2017

Labor unions are pressuring California lawmakers to curb tax breaks on electric vehicles in an effort to punish Tesla Motors for resisting a unionization campaign.

New York Teamsters Become “Sanctuary Union” Following Deportation of Union Member

businessinsider.com, September 13, 2017

Following the deportation of a long-serving Teamster member last week, Teamsters Joint Council 16 today passed a resolution to become a “sanctuary union.” As a sanctuary union, the Teamsters will not assist federal immigration agents in deporting its members and will proactively provide trainings, legal assistance, and organize support for immigrant Teamsters. Joint Council 16 and its 27 affiliate local unions represent 120,000 workers in New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and Puerto Rico.

Union Power Is Putting Pressure on Silicon Valley’s Tech Giants

Bloomberg Business Week Online, September 14, 2017

Silicon Valley Rising, a coalition of unions and civil rights, community, and clergy groups heading the organizing campaign, says its successes have come largely from puncturing that veneer of plausible deniability.

Wiretap Evidence Obtained Against Former Correction Officers’ Union Official OK’d by Judge

New York Law Journal Online, September 11, 2017

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged Seabrook in June 2016 with honest services fraud and a related wire fraud conspiracy count for allegedly receiving a $60,000 kickback from a Manhattan hedge fund in exchange for steering $20 million of Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association Inc. retirement funds to the firm.

Stamford police union files complaint about officers carrying Narcan

Stamford Advocate, September 13, 2017

The unfair labor complaint was filed last week with the state Board of Labor Relations, but Police Union President Kris Engstrand said his members do not object to carrying Narcan.

“We welcome carrying a new tool that can help out not only our members, but the public, too. We welcome the opportunity,†he said. “But this is an additional workload and so it is the subject of bargaining.â€

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