Posts tagged federal lawsuit
Cincinnati-Area Kroger Employee Wins Federal Case Against UFCW, Grocer for Illegal Union Dues Deductions
March 5, 2025 // – Kroger Grocery employee James Carroll has prevailed in his federal case against United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 75 union and corporate grocery conglomerate Kroger. The resolution comes after charges were filed against UFCW for threatening Carroll with termination for refusing to sign an illegal union dues deduction form and against Kroger for unlawfully deducting union dues from his paycheck. To avoid prosecution, Kroger and UFCW agreed to a settlement that requires them to reimburse Carroll for unlawfully seized dues and post a public notice informing employees of their rights. Carroll received free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
Colorado King Soopers files lawsuit in response to union worker’s strike
February 9, 2025 // King Soopers claims they have proposed a “last, best and final offer” that includes $180 million in additional wages, comprehensive and affordable healthcare benefits, a $4.50 per hour wage increase for top rate associates, and pension stability to protect retirement security. “We’re committed to a fair contract that delivers real wage increases, affordable healthcare, and pension stability—just like we always have," King Soopers president Joe Kelley said. “But we won’t be pressured by illegal actions that hurt our stores, our associates, or the communities that rely on us.”
20 Wonderful Nurseries Farmworkers Seek to Join Federal Challenge to Biased Pro-Union Boss California Agricultural Labor Law
February 6, 2025 // “UFW union officials deceived us just so they could gain power in our workplace,” Chavez and Gutierrez commented after filing charges. “Instead of just letting us vote in secret on whether we want a union, they went around lying and threatening to get cards and now are cracking down on anyone who speaks out against the union.”
Stellantis files federal lawsuit against UAW union over strike threats
October 7, 2024 // The complaint is intended to “prevent and/or remedy a breach of contract” by the UAW, according to a copy of the lawsuit that was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California. The lawsuit argues that if the union does strike, the court “should award Stellantis monetary damages” that result from a breach of contract.
UFT Lawsuit Against MTA over Congestion Pricing Opens Discussions over Membership-wide Voting
January 30, 2024 // This is not the first time that the union has made unilateral decisions outside of membership input. In March of 2023, Mulgrew faced significant membership backlash over a controversial switch to a privately run Medicare Advantage plan for retirees, now managed by Aetna. Mulgrew played a key role in negotiating the health plan change, which members challenged by circulating a petition, demanding a membership-wide vote prior to “significant changes to active and/or retired members’ healthcare.” “We call for a membership-wide vote for any significant changes to active and/or retired members’ healthcare. These include any significant changes of our healthcare carriers, limits to our choice of healthcare carriers, or institutions of or raises to premiums, deductibles or copayments, etc.,” read the petition by UFT activist group Educators of NYC.
Drama in the Teachers’ Lounge
January 12, 2024 // Ed Calamia, an English teacher at a Bronx school, says he doesn’t support congestion pricing, but he still doesn’t think the leadership should be filing lawsuits on behalf of its members without consulting them first. The move by Mulgrew, he says, is not the first time UFT top brass has acted unilaterally. “Some people think the rank-and-file membership should be involved with decisions, and some people think once they’ve been elected, it’s a dictatorship,”
Federal lawsuit filed against Hartford Public Schools over privilege training
January 11, 2024 // “Over the last several years, the Superintendent, with the backing and approval of the Board, has instituted or enforced policies, procedures, and customs to advance critical race theory in Hartford Public Schools, and to force employees like Mr. Grande to acquiesce to that theory,” the complaint states. Grande was subsequently investigated by the school for the comments he made during the breakout session, with Director of Arts and Wellness for HPS Tracy Avicolli, who had facilitated the training, accusing him of “inappropriate and aggressive comments” and indicating that Grande was under investigation in an email sent to everyone who was part of the breakout session except him. Grande claims that the subsequent investigation, which was revealed to him months later, contained misrepresentations, false statements attributed to him and “coached” comments from two other participants.
FEDERAL LAWSUIT AIMS TO SAFEGUARD PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ ACCESS TO TRUTH ABOUT UNIONS
May 3, 2023 // Prohibiting the Freedom Foundation’s ability to access information about public employee orientation sessions is a violation of the organization’s First Amendment right to free speech. In denying the request, the defendants –LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho, general counsel Navera Reed, and, district litigation research coordinator Rita Gail Turner, cited California code § 3556, a wide-ranging California law signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown on June 27, 2018. The signing date was no accident: June 27 was the same day the Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) that public employees cannot be compelled to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment.
Ousted carpenters chief decries ‘hostile takeover’ of St. Louis union
May 12, 2022 // In September, Bond’s position was eliminated and the St. Louis council was terminated with little explanation. UBC President Doug McCarron later said the national union was investigating “financial malfeasance” in the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council, and union officials said they planned formal, internal charges against Bond for “defrauding” the union.