Last week, three Michigan truck drivers won a federal settlement against the Teamsters Local 20 union.
The dispute emerged when the union took dues and initiation fees from the truckers’ paychecks despite not joining the union in question.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation submitted unfair labor practice charges to the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of former employees at Syncreon America, Inc: Wendell Collins and Damani Mincey, and current employee Arthur Caple, according to a recent blog post.
National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix said, “Foundation staff attorneys are committed to vigorously defending workers’ rights from Big Labor’s coercive practices, including in Right to Work states like Michigan.”
He added, “Unfortunately, Michigan has become a battleground for worker freedoms as scofflaw union officials continually flout the Right to Work law and illegally subject independent-minded workers to forced union dues.”
These three employees chose to not join the Teamsters Local 20 union, an act that is protected by both Michigan state and federal law, which prohibit mandatory union membership.
Caples, Collins, and Mincey refused to pay dues to the Union. In 2012, Michigan passed a Right-to-Work law that prohibits unions from collecting mandatory dues.
However, Syncreon still collected union dues and handed them over to the Teamsters Local 20 union. The union kept the money, thus violating the law and the employee’s rights.
The complaint filed to the NLRB said that Teamster bosses falsely told Caple that joining a union and paying dues was a condition of being employed at Syncreon.
The settlement from the NLRB now mandates Syncreon and Teamsters Local 20 post notices about employees’ rights.
The notice states, “We will not threaten employees with loss of job bidding rights, loss of employment or diminishment of any other terms and conditions of employment because they refuse to join Local 20, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Union) and/or refuse to pay union membership dues.”
Right-to-Work has been one battle that the Right has been successful in waging across the nation.
Mandatory union membership goes against the principles of freedom of association. On top of that, unions serve as shock troops for the political Left.
This recent settlement is great news for Michigan right-wingers. Michigan was an important battleground state that Trump won in 2016. With union influence diminishing since 2012, the state will likely remain in play for the GOP.
When unions can no longer get away with their thuggery, the political playing field changes in a way that favors free-market ideas.