Kentucky Construction Industry Workers File Petitions to Oust Teamsters Local 89 Union from their Workplaces
IMI – Irving Materials drivers already free of Teamsters officials’ so-called “representation” while Builders FirstSource workers await vote
Scottsville & Louisville, KY (September 22, 2025) – Chris Smith, an employee of IMI Kentucky in Scottsville, KY, and Kenneth Moore, an employee of Builders FirstSource in Louisville, KY, each filed petitions seeking to end Teamsters Local 89 union officials’ “representation” at their respective workplaces. IMI workers already secured victory in their effort to remove the Teamsters, while the effort to remove the Teamsters at Builders FirstSource is still ongoing.
Both Smith and Moore filed their petitions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys. The NLRB is the federal agency tasked with enforcing federal labor law and with adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual workers. Workers are able to initiate an election administered by the NLRB if their petition gathers the signatures of 30% or more of their fellow employees.
Smith and Moore’s respective petitions garnered the necessary signatures from their coworkers to trigger an NLRB-administered secret ballot election to vote on the Local 89’s continued control. After employees demonstrate sufficient support for a decertification, in most cases the NLRB will schedule a secret ballot election. That process is ongoing for the employees of Builders FirstSource in Louisville.
However, in Smith’s case the employee support for removing the union was so overwhelming that Teamsters union bosses decided to save themselves the humiliation of being formally voted out, and instead disclaimed their status as the workers’ “exclusive representative” the very same day Smith’s petition was filed. The next day the NLRB Regional Director certified that the employees are officially free of Teamsters Local 89.
The employees at IMI Kentucky and Builders FirstSource join a long list of workers who have recently banded together to remove the Teamsters from their workplaces. In fact, NLRB statistics for the past 12 months show that over 20% of all decertification cases involved the Teamsters union.
“More and more, American workers across the country are deciding they are better off without Teamsters union bosses who prioritize their own interests over that of the workers they claim to ‘represent,’” stated National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “As Teamsters bosses attempt to cozy up to those in the halls of power, elected officials should remember that despite the claims of dishonest union bosses, union officials do not speak for the workers under their so-called ‘representation,’ many of whom would like to remove the Teamsters if given the choice. In fact, statistics show that over 90% of employees have never had a vote on the union that purports to represent them.
“That one in five decertification petitions filed last year involved the Teamsters only drives home the point that workers are increasingly rejecting union bosses’ coercive agenda,” added Mix.
California Nurse Adds New Claim in Federal Labor Board Case Against United Nurses Association of California
Charge: union officials illegally demanded nurse join union, plus maintain illegal policy that restricts right to cut off funding for political spending
Woodland Hills, CA (September 5, 2025) – Sarah Warthemann, a nurse at Kaiser Permanente, has just filed new charges in her ongoing case against the United Nurses Association of California (UNAC) union challenging union officials’ illegal demands that she pay full union dues or be fired. Warthemann’s charges were filed at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Her original charges, filed in July, stated that UNAC union bosses illegally threatened her with termination of her employment at the hospital if she did not formally join the union. Now, the amended charges also challenge union policies that require nonmembers to opt-out of paying for union political and ideological activities.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual employees. The charges allege UNAC union bosses are violating Warthemann and all other nurses’ NLRA Section 7 right to refrain from participating in or supporting union activities.
Because California lacks Right to Work protections, UNAC union bosses can impose union monopoly bargaining contracts that force employees to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. By comparison, in neighboring Right to Work states like Arizona and Nevada, union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.
However, under Communications Workers of America v. Beck, a landmark Foundation-won Supreme Court case, even where forced dues are authorized, union officials cannot compel workers to fund activities unrelated to union bargaining, like union political activities. The charges note that UNAC officials have “repeatedly demanded payment from [Warthemann] for non-chargeable political and ideological expenditures without [her] affirmative consent” and argue that these demands represent illegal coercion under the NLRA.
“As the facts of this case demonstrate, the NLRB needs to step up to protect workers from being trapped into paying full union dues, including the portion used for union political activism,” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Union bosses are not above the law, they cannot be permitted to threaten and bully workers into paying dues that go towards union political activities that many workers find objectionable.”
Missouri Shangri-La Dispensary Workers Officially Free of Unwanted UFCW Union Boss “Representation”
Labor Board certifies workers’ victory in case to remove UFCW after union officials disclaim representation and walk away
Columbia, MO (September 2, 2025) – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has just issued an order that officially removes United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 655 as the exclusive “representative” of a unit of Shangri-La dispensary workers. The order makes official the workers’ victory in their legal effort to remove UFCW union officials from their workplace.
The case started when Travis Hierholzer, with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, filed his petition with the NLRB requesting a “decertification” election to remove UFCW union bosses at his workplace. Hierholzer’s petition was signed by nearly all of his fellow workers at the dispensary. The filing of the petition triggered an election process to determine whether the UFCW would remain the dispensary workers’ exclusive representative.
The NLRB is the federal agency tasked with enforcing federal labor law and with adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual workers. Workers are able to initiate an election administered by the NLRB if their petition gathers the signatures of 30% or more of their fellow employees.
The election was close to being scheduled in September among all full-time and regular part-time patient consultants, patient consultant supervisors, and inventory specialists employed at the Columbia, MO, dispensary. However, rather than proceed with the election, UFCW union bosses apparently decided to avoid the embarrassment of a nearly unanimous vote by workers against them, instead “disclaiming” their status and removing the union as the dispensary’s so-called representative.
Missouri is one of the 24 states without Right to Work protections that make union affiliation and dues payment fully voluntary, meaning Hierholzer and his coworkers could have been forced to pay dues or fees to UFCW union officials or else be fired. Now that the union has been officially decertified, union officials lack the authority to impose a forced-dues requirement on the employees.
“Workers across the country, and especially in states where union bosses can force them to pay dues or else be fired, continue to exercise their legal right to free themselves of unwanted union representation,” stated National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “The National Right to Work Foundation will continue to stand up for American workers wherever they may be, by providing free legal aid to help defend their rights and remove unwelcome union bosses from their workplace.”
Florida Imperial Bag & Paper Workers Vote to Remove Teamsters but Union Officials Seeking to Overturn Election Result
Teamsters officials trying to disenfranchise Orlando-area workers who voted to end union representation
Orlando, FL (August 27, 2025) – Teamsters union officials are moving forward in their attempt to overturn a vote by the majority of Orlando-area paper and plastic company employees to remove the union. Imperial Bag & Paper Co. employee Lionel Powell spearheaded the effort to oust International Brotherhood of Teamsters officials.
In early July of this year, with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Powell submitted a petition signed by enough of his peers to prompt the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to carry out a “decertification” vote amongst his coworkers. Foundation attorneys will now defend the vote of Powell and his coworkers at the NLRB against Teamsters bosses’ attempt to disenfranchise them.
The NLRB, the federal agency tasked with enforcing federal private-sector labor law and with adjudicating disputes between employers, unions, and individual workers, administered the vote among Powell and his Imperial Bag & Paper Co. coworkers on August 7, in which the employees voted against the union’s representation.
The election was held among all full-time and regular part-time drivers and shuttle drivers employed at the Orlando, FL, facility. A majority voted to remove Teamsters union officials as their monopoly bargaining “representative.”
Florida’s popular Right to Work law means workers cannot be fired for refusing to pay union dues or fees. However, even in Right to Work states, union officials can impose exclusive bargaining control upon all workers within a workplace, even those who oppose the union.
To end that monopoly power, workers can petition for and hold a decertification election. Imperial Bag & Paper Co. employees followed those steps, and the union failed to win the vote. But rather than accept the result of the election, Teamsters lawyers filed election objections with the NLRB seeking to cancel the ballot count. Last week, Teamsters union officials also levied new, unproven allegations of employer misconduct in an attempt to stifle the workers’ effort.
“All American workers are entitled to the full protections afforded to them by federal labor law, which include the right to vote out unwanted union officials in a secret-ballot election,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Once again Teamsters union bosses are showing that they are more interested in preserving their own power than respecting workers’ rights and choices.
“Foundation staff attorneys will continue to assist the Imperial Bag & Paper Co. workers until they are freed from unwanted union officials,” Mix added.
DOJ Attorney Battles Biden Admin Union Power Grab Over Justice Department
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, March/April 2025 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Foundation attorneys challenge last minute DOJ unionization in violation of FLRA case law
NTEU union bosses backed Kamala Harris for President, but when voters rejected her, NTEU union officials and the Biden-Harris Administration hastily moved to install the union at the DOJ in an apparent attempt to obstruct Trump’s priorities.
WASHINGTON, DC – In states across the country, union officials go to great lengths to gain more political influence, and will often violate established law to do so.
As veteran Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Morrison is discovering, federal agencies are no exception. Morrison is challenging a last-minute attempt by National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) bosses to gain monopoly bargaining control over attorneys at both the DOJ Civil Rights Division (CRT, where Morrison is employed) and the DOJ Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD).
The unionization campaign was fast-tracked just days after Trump’s November election victory, in an apparent attempt to formally hand NTEU union officials power over the divisions prior to inauguration day. Morrison’s legal action asks the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to formally review the actions by the Biden DOJ and NTEU officials. The FLRA is the federal agency responsible for adjudicating disputes between federal employees, union officials, and agencies within the federal government.
Brief: DOJ Holdovers and NTEU Bosses Colluded to Flout Existing Law
Morrison, who is receiving free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, contends in filings before the FLRA that the NTEU’s scheme violates an existing FLRA decision in which the agency ruled that CRT attorneys did not comprise a work unit appropriate for unionization.
DOJ management raised this exact concern about the CRT unit with the FLRA after NTEU union bosses began their campaign, but the DOJ dropped its opposition just days after the November federal elections.
Morrison is asking the FLRA to review the decision of the Regional Director to allow the election to go forward in the CRT and ENRD divisions without properly considering if these divisions are an appropriate unit under the law.
Morrison’s filings (called “Applications for Review”) came after DOJ management and NTEU union officials agreed that the CRT and ENRD were work units appropriate for unionization. His Applications for Review point out that a prior FLRA decision, Antitrust Division, held that CRT lawyers “did not have a separate and distinct community of interest from other DOJ trial attorneys” and for that reason couldn’t stand as a distinct bargaining unit.
“[T]he Authority determined this very unit to not be an appropriate unit…The Regional Director’s failure to comply with current, binding Authority precedent is in error and must be reversed,” the Application for Review says regarding the CRT attorneys. This same argument is applied to the ENRD division because it is similarly situated to CRT in the DOJ hierarchy.
FLRA Failed to Conduct Investigation Into NTEU’s Union Scheme
Morrison’s applications also contend that the FLRA “fail[ed] to conduct an independent investigation into the appropriateness of the unit,” despite the law requiring that the FLRA make such a finding.
“An agency agreeing with a union that a unit is appropriate does not mean that unit is actually appropriate. Agencies, like DOJ here, cannot usurp the Authority’s role in deciding unit appropriateness…” say the Applications for Review.
“Right before power changed hands in Washington, DC, NTEU union bosses and DOJ bureaucrats appear to have colluded to flout longstanding precedent that says Justice Department attorneys cannot legally be unionized division by division,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix.
“The FLRA has ignored established precedent to let this hasty unionization attempt go through, and our attorneys are proud to assist Mr. Morrison in opposing this maneuver.”
Labor Day 2024: National Right to Work Emphasizes High Stakes for Worker Freedom
Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the National Right to Work Committee, issued the following statement on the occasion of Labor Day 2024:
On Labor Day, we celebrate the dedication and ingenuity of America’s working people. Their hard work is truly what keeps this nation prosperous and thriving, but union officials invariably attempt to hijack Labor Day to promote an agenda that undermines the rights and freedoms of our nation’s working men and women.
That’s especially true during this election year, when union officials are claiming that America’s workers are headed for disaster unless their handpicked candidates ascend to power and enact their radical policy agenda. But it’s plain to see that union bosses’ agenda prioritizes divisive politics and coercing workers far above what workers actually want – more freedom.
Big Labor is still pushing as its number-one legislative priority the radical “PRO-Act,” which will eliminate all state Right to Work protections and force millions more workers to pay union dues just to keep their jobs. Among the PRO-Act’s backers is Kamala Harris, who wants nationwide forced-dues despite admitting in a brief to the Supreme Court that union bosses use their power to undermine the economic interests of many workers.
This may be a winning strategy for collecting union boss-directed PAC contributions and endorsements, but stripping workers of the right to choose freely whether union membership and financial support is right for them is without a doubt anti-worker. This is especially true considering the vast majority of workers are not unionized and polls show most have “no interest at all” in becoming a union member.
Elected officials of all political stripes are right to want the votes of hardworking Americans, but the way to win those votes is not granting special interest union bosses the legal power to threaten workers to pay up or be fired. The real pro-worker position is Right to Work, which trusts workers with the choice, so each can join and pay dues to a union if they want but none can be required to join or pay against their will.
This Labor Day, let’s celebrate American employees by empowering each and every one with the freedom that Right to Work provides.
Mark’s statement comes as a newly released nationwide poll of registered voters finds overwhelming support for Right to Work (82%), including among voters of all party affiliations. The Rasmussen Media Group poll also found that 79 percent of union members back Right to Work and oppose forced union membership and dues. Click here to see the results.
Genesys Nurse Hits Hospital, Teamsters Union with Additional Federal Charges for Illegal Dues Deductions
New charges latest example of how union bosses are violating workers’ rights following repeal of Michigan Right to Work law
Flint, MI (August 20, 2024) – Madrina Wells, a nurse at Ascension Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc Township, MI, has filed additional federal unfair labor practice charges against the Teamsters Local 332 union and her employer for illegally deducting union dues out of her paycheck in violation of federal law. Madrina filed the two new unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Last month, Wells and her coworker filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the Teamsters Local 332 union, where they maintained that union bosses threatened to fire them and other nurses if they didn’t sign forms authorizing union officials to deduct dues straight out of their paychecks. The charges for Wells and her coworker Lynette Doyle, were also filed at the NLRB with National Right to Work Foundation legal aid. NLRB agents will now investigate Wells’ multiple charges in addition to the charge filed by Doyle.
The new charges from Wells are the most recent in a flurry of Foundation-backed cases for Michigan workers who are seeking to challenge or escape union bosses’ coercive power in the wake of Michigan’s repeal of its Right to Work law. Since the repeal became effective this February, union bosses have had the legal power to require workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. In states with Right to Work protections, union membership and all union financial support are strictly voluntary.
However, even in states like Michigan that lack Right to Work protections and allow for forced-fee requirements, longstanding federal law prohibits union bosses from requiring workers to authorize the direct deduction of union dues from their paychecks. The Foundation-won Communications Workers of America v. Beck Supreme Court decision additionally forbids union bosses in non-Right to Work states from forcing workers to pay money for any activities beyond the union’s bargaining functions, such as political expenditures.
“I already had issues with Teamsters bosses’ illegally demanding money from me when Right to Work was in force,” commented Madrina Wells. “Back then, I at least knew that I was defending my right to pay nothing at all to Teamsters bosses I disapprove of. It’s ridiculous that rather than comply with my rights, Teamsters Local 332, now with the assistance of my employer, have violated Federal law once again by deducting dues from my paycheck without my consent.”
Without Right to Work, Michigan Workers Increasingly Having to Take Legal Action Against Union Boss Forced Dues Abuses
In a party-line 2023 vote, Michigan legislators repealed Right to Work at the behest of union special interests, ending workers’ ability to decide for themselves whether or not union officials deserve their dues money. The imposition of union bosses’ power to force employees to “pay up or be fired” came despite polling showing Michiganders, including those in union households, overwhelmingly opposed the elimination of workers’ Right to Work protections.
After the repeal became effective this February, workers from across the Great Lakes State sought help from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in escaping union bosses’ forced-dues demands. The total cases that our attorneys have filed for Michigan workers in 2024 is already more than double the 2023 number.
“Emboldened by the partisan repeal of Right to Work, Michigan union bosses are showing once again that their greed for forced dues is more important than the rights of the very workers they claim to ‘represent,’” observed National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Michigan workers are standing up to defend what rights they still have against union coercion, and the Foundation is proud to assist them.”
“Ultimately though, this flood of legal aid requests from Michigan workers challenging forced dues abuses shows why Michigan workers need the protection of Right to Work, so that union financial support is fully voluntary once again,” added Mix.
IBEW Union Bosses Back Down after Attempting to Trap Chicago 911 Operator in Forced Dues in Violation of First Amendment
Facing state prosecution for violating City employee’s rights under 2018 Janus US Supreme Court ruling, IBEW stops dues seizure & issues refund
Chicago, IL (July 1, 2024) –Rhonda Younkins, a 911 operator employed by the City of Chicago, has just prevailed in her months long legal effort to exercise her right under the First Amendment to stop all union dues payments to IBEW Local 21 union officials. Younkins had repeatedly attempted to end dues payments, as is her right under the 2018 Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision, only to have IBEW union officials ignore her or make other demands.
After Ms. Younkins’ requests to stop dues were repeatedly rebuffed by union officials, she contacted the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, whose attorneys won and argued the Janus case at the U.S. Supreme Court. Foundation staff attorneys filed charges against IBEW Local 21 on Ms. Younkins behalf at the Illinois Labor Relations Board (ILRB), which oversees labor law for government employees in Illinois.
When it became clear that ILRB officials would be issuing a complaint against IBEW 21 for violating Younkins’ legal rights, union officials backed down by agreeing to stop dues collections. They also agreed to refund past dues.
“I decided to leave IBEW 21 because for some time now I believed that IBEW 21 was not acting in the best interest of its members,” stated Younkins. “Be it a new job title that senior employees were deliberately misinformed about, to breach of contract on my employer’s part, to having to navigate the police and court alone after being threatened at work, IBEW 21 was either ineffective or absent.”
Regarding her extended legal ordeal to force union officials to respect her legal rights, Younkins commented: “Verbal communication is ill advised when dealing with IBEW 21’s [officials], it’s best to get everything in writing, even then you may still get double talk and word salad. Faith and trust in IBEW 21 were lost a long time ago.”
Younkins’ long sought victory occurred just as the 6th anniversary of the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court victory approached. That case, won by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys in June 2018, affirmed that public employees like Younkins have a First Amendment right not to fund union activities.
Prior to Janus, millions of government workers in Illinois and elsewhere were required as a condition of employment to pay dues or fees to union officials. Immediately after the ruling, an estimated 450,000 public employees immediately stopped payment to unions, and since then Foundation-backed litigation has helped defend the rights of tens of thousands of other government employees.
“Six years ago, the Janus U.S. Supreme Court landmark victory affirmed the rights of public employees like Rhonda Younkins to funding the activities of union officials they oppose,” stated Foundation President Mark Mix. “Unfortunately, this situation demonstrates how union officials continue to resist Janus and refuse to accept that individual public employees are now free to decide whether or not a union boss deserves their financial support.”
“It shouldn’t take months of back and forth, not to mention a state labor board charge, just to force union officials to comply with the First Amendment,” added Mix. “This case against the IBEW shows why our Foundation exists, and we encourage others seeking to exercise their Janus rights to contact Foundation staff attorneys for free legal aid right away.”
