(The Center Square) – Four employees of an Atlanta-area construction company said a labor union continues to threaten them with fines after they resigned their union memberships.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against International Union of Operating Engineers Local 926, the organization said Tuesday.
The complaints say Michael Mitchem, Billy Johnson, David Johnson, and Chris Oaks worked for a company that had a “hiring hall” agreement with the construction company.
“The company ended the hiring hall arrangement it had with IUOE, and these workers wanted to continue working there, as opposed to working through the union hiring hall,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, in an email to The Center Square. “An employer cannot ban unions entirely, even in the construction industry, which has slightly different rules than most private sector employers, but as long as the workers are not interested in unionizing, they can and will remain nonunion.”
The men were never voluntary members, and they were “misled into believing that union membership was mandatory,” the foundation said.
“Contrary to the apparent wishes of IUOE Local 926 union bosses, formal union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment, a precedent in place since the early 1960s,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It is outrageous that IUOE union officials are attempting to barge back into the lives of these workers years after they’ve legally exercised their rights, and are now illegally threatening them with fines simply for working to provide for themselves and their families.”
The National Labor Relations Board is closed during the shutdown, according to its website. The organization was still able to file the case with the board through fax and mail, Semmens said.
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“Even during the shutdown, the NLRB has limited staff operating to receive unfair labor practice charges like these, which is important since they are subject to a six-month statute of limitations, Semmens said. “Even when operating normally, it often takes weeks or months for the NLRB to begin investigating such charges, so at least so far, we don’t anticipate it will significantly change the timeline of this case.
The Center Square was unsuccessful prior to publication in getting a comment from a representative from the union.
