Teamsters Threaten Employee, NRTW Files Charges in Defense

Teamsters union officials unlawful actions continue to keep National Right to Work Legal Defense attorneys busy.  

Over the past several decades Teamster union officials have been involved in illegal schemes with Clinton Administration officials and the mafia that have kept federal attorneys and investigators busy.  Had the Teamsters been a business like Walmart, it is likely that the federal government would have put them out business a long time ago.  Certainly, they would have ended allowing the Teamsters to continue being a federal contractor. 

Even though the Department of Labor’s Labor Racketeering task force in the Inspector General (IG) office and the union continues to have a court ordered watchdog known as the Independent Review Board continue to document and monitor Teamsters criminal concerns, the Teamster enterprise continues to operate and maintains the power to compel private and public sector employees to pay it union dues against their will.

However, because the National Right to Work is here, employees across the country have this organization to turn to for help.  When Teamster officials began intimidating Francisco Manjarrez because he was circulating a union deauthorization petition, Mr. Manjarrez knew who to call for help:  The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

(A Deauthorization Election eliminates the security clause by employee vote: You (or someone you know) may work under a contract that requires employees to “join” the union or pay dues or fees to the union as a condition of employment. This is frequently referred to as a “union security clause,” but it is really a forced unionism clause that hands union officials the power to get workers fired for not paying dues to a union that they do not support. A successful Deauthorization Election removes the union’s security clause.  

Under the National Labor Relations Act, employees can call for a special election to get rid of the “union security clause,” and thereby rid their workplace of forced unionism.  This is called a Deauthorization Election, because employees “deauthorize” the forced-unionism clause and remove it from the contract.)

From the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation:

Worker Files Charges Against Teamsters Officials for Illegal Threats in Response to Campaign to End Forced Dues

Teamsters Local 455 officials had just been reprimanded by the National Labor Relations Board for similar violations last month

Fort Morgan, CO (November 2, 2016) – With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys a local worker has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 455 union.

In charges filed by Francisco Manjarrez, union officials violated federal labor law by threatening to have him fired for exercising his right to circulate a deauthorization petition among workers at his workplace. If a deauthorization petition gains the necessary percentage of signatures, workers get to vote to end union bosses’ power to require them to pay money to the union or be fired.

After Manjarrez refused to back down from circulating the petition, union officials threatened illegal retaliation against him and his co-workers who had signed the petition.  Union bosses went even further in retaliation for Manjarrez’s role in rallying disaffected workers, demanding that the employer fire him.

Manjarrez also asked to see a copy of the monopoly bargaining agreement between the union and his employer to which he is subjected to. Union officials refused to provide him a copy, an additional violation of federal law.

The charges against Teamsters Local 455 come just weeks after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint against the union for violating federal labor law by not representing workers in a labor dispute who chose not to pay full union dues. The union was also charged with lying to workers that they would not be promoted or represented unless they paid full union dues or fees.

“This case shows what blatant disregard these union officials have for the law and the rights of rank-and-file employees whom they claim to represent,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “This case underscores why Colorado workers need Right to Work protections to make union affiliation and fees strictly voluntary.”

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The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, is assisting thousands of employees in almost 200 cases nationwide.