From the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation:
Sacramento, CA (January 29, 2015) – A local Kaiser Permanente nurse has filed a federal charge against the California Nurses Association (CNA) union for violating her rights and failing to follow federal disclosure requirements.
With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento nurse Elizabeth Wilber filed the unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
On November 16, 2014, Wilber sent a letter resigning her union membership in the CNA union. Her letter also objected to paying full dues.
Under federal labor law, workers have the right to refrain from formal union membership. However, because California does not have Right to Work protections for workers, nonmember workers can be forced to pay a part of union dues and fees or be fired from their job.
As a result of the Foundation’s U.S. Supreme Court victory in Communications Workers v. Beck, employees can refrain from paying for politics and many other union activities. Union officials must also provide workers with an independently-audited financial breakdown of all forced-dues union expenditures and the opportunity to challenge the amount of forced union fees before an impartial decision maker.
Despite Wilber’s union resignation, the CNA union hierarchy has refused to follow the federal disclosure requirements outlined under Beck and its progeny.
“CNA union bosses are keeping this nurse in the dark about their forced-dues expenditures by skirting federal disclosure guidelines,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “This case demonstrates that California desperately needs a Right to Work law, which would make union affiliation and dues payments completely voluntary.”
Twenty-four states have Right to Work protections for employees. Public polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans and union members support the Right to Work principle of voluntary unionism.