Workers Testify About Big Labor Bullying

‘None of This Would Have Happened if We Had Been Given a Choice’

“Because I was outspoken as to my opinion regarding this union, I was punished. I was punished on the job. I was punished personally. I was followed home at night. I was threatened by union reps. I was told my car would be keyed. It was a nightmare for me.”

That’s what retired nurse Jeanette Geary told the members of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) during the historic hearing on the National Right to Work Act (H.R.1200) held on November 30, 2023.

Jeanette and Brunilda Vargas, a public defender in Philadelphia, had the opportunity to tell members of Congress exactly what happened when compulsory unionism came to their places of work, and advocate for legislation that would make union dues voluntary in all 50 states.

Rhode Island Nurse Stood Up to Union Harassment

While working at a hospital in Warwick, R.I., Jeanette was subject to the monopoly control of a union she came to oppose strongly.

She explained to the HELP panelists that she had initially supported this organization, but seeing it in action “quickly soured” her on it. 

Jeanette watched as union officials consolidated their own power and pushed their political agenda without regard for the needs of rank-and-file nurses. She became a vocal opponent of the union, and was for that reason ostracized.

“[U]nion officials,” Jeanette testified, “let opponents of the union know that any grievances they filed would be ignored, and that difficult work assignments would be given to those who opposed the union.”

She added: “As I evolved to become an opponent of the union, I was only allowed a small corner of the hospital cafeteria, during non-cafeteria hours, and on my own time, to give nurses another point of view.”

Jeanette received help from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys after she decided to exercise her right under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Foundation-won Beck ruling to stop paying forced union dues for politics and other non-bargaining purposes.

Personal Testimony About Union Harassment Left BigLabor Politicians Cold

Unfortunately, due to obstruction by union bigwigs and then-President Barack Obama’s pro-forced unionism bureaucratic appointees, Jeanette had to fight for nearly 12 years before her Beck rights were properly enforced.

Far from condemning union bosses for flouting a 35-year-old Supreme Court decision, Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), himself a former union official, ripped into Ms. Geary for accepting help as she battled with Big Labor lawyers.

“Your 12-year journey is just remarkable,” said Mr. Norcross sarcastically.

“I’m gonna guess it didn’t come out of your pocket completely. You had plenty of help, . . . whether it was Right to Work or otherwise.”

“Mr. Norcross’ sneering dismissal of personal testimony about union harassment and bullying is sadly par for the course among Big Labor politicians in Congress,” said National Right to Work Committee and Foundation President Mark Mix.

“Jeanette’s case started at the Obama National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] and then moved through multiple levels of the federal court system.

“She could never have financed it herself, and that’s exactly what union bosses count on when they brazenly violate workers’ rights.”

Autoworkers Union Bosses Lied About Public Defender’s Legal Rights

Brunilda Vargas, who testified alongside Jeanette at the H.R.1200 hearing, similarly had to fight to force union bosses to respect her rights.

After United Autoworkers (UAW) union bosses secured monopoly bargaining privileges at her private legal office, which specializes in representing defendants who cannot afford to represent themselves, Brunilda was forced to pay dues to a union she didn’t want.

Just as Jeanette had done, Brunilda announced she was a Beck objector and asserted her right not to bankroll any of UAW bosses’ non-bargaining activities.

Virtually acting as if Beck didn’t exist, UAW officials resisted her every step of the way.

They repeatedly threatened to get her fired if she refused to join the union and pay forced dues for every type of union scheme, including politics and lobbying, despite the fact such firings are flatly illegal under Beck and other related Supreme Court decisions.

Her only recourse was to file NLRB charges against the union with Foundation attorneys’ assistance, which she did. 

Unfortunately, under federal law she still has to pay forced fees for bargaining activities she doesn’t support.

“None of this would have happened if we had been given a choice to refuse to pay any money at all to the union,” Brunilda testified.

Panel Chairman: National Right to Work Act Embodies ‘Core American Values’

A number of HELP panelists representing states with Right to Work laws praised such statutes for the advantages they bring to employees.

What Right to Work means to employees in his state, said Georgia GOP Rep. Rick Allen, is that “to hold a job, you don’t have to pay union dues. It’s just that simple.”

Panel Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.), like Mr. Allen a cosponsor of H.R.1200, declared that this legislation, which would repeal all provisions in current federal labor law that authorize forced union dues as a job condition, embodies the “core American values” of “liberty, freedom, and self-determination.”

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), H.R.1200’s lead sponsor, spoke about the tremendous economic impact Right to Work protections have had in bringing jobs to the Palmetto State.

“I want to give credit to the Right to Work Committee that’s been so effective and has years of commitment on behalf of the American worker,” said Mr. Wilson.

For Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), Right to Work is a matter of freedom of choice: “Americans want choice. . . . [H]aving a Right to Work . . . is a choice that you can join a union or not join a union.”

Indiana Rep. Erin Houchin (R) recognized the danger in forcing workers to pay dues when a substantial share of that money is certain to go into Big Labor politics:

“I don’t think that folks should have to spend their hard earned-money for compulsory dues, particularly when those dues support political positions and parties and candidates whose policies go against their own values.”

Half of the HELP Subcommittee’s 22 members, including all but one of the Republican members, are currently sponsoring or cosponsoring H.R.1200.

‘Stories Like Theirs Are The Reason We Fight So Hard’ For Freedom

“We are deeply grateful to Jeanette Geary and Brunilda Vargas for courageously standing up against union officials, and for traveling to Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress in support of H.R.1200,” said Mr. Mix, who also testified at the hearing.

“Stories like theirs,” Mr. Mix concluded, “are the reason we fight so hard to ensure that no one can be forced to join or pay dues to a labor union.”

---

This article was originally published in our monthly newsletter. Go here to access previous newsletter posts.

To support our cause and help end forced unionism, go here to donate.

---