Posts tagged Illegal Firing
86-Year-Old Veteran Files Federal Charges Against UFCW Union for Causing his Illegal Firing from Part-Time Grocery Job
September 30, 2026 // With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, an 86-year-old veteran who worked part-time at Village Market in Oakland has filed federal charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 (UFCW) union. The charge says UFCW 5 union officials illegally had Phil Holland fired in early September claiming he owed thousands of dollars in back dues and fees. Holland, a Navy veteran with 30 years’ of experience in law enforcement, who also works part-time as a YMCA fitness instructor, was hired by the Village Market grocery store that he shopped at for 30 years in February of 2022 after he noticed a “help wanted” sign in the window. During his first four years of employment, UFCW Local 5 union officials never contacted him, never asked him to pay union dues or fees, and never notified him of his legal rights under the 1988 Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision, which protects employees from being required to pay full union dues for activities unrelated to union bargaining like union-boss political activism.
Federal Charge: East Bay-Area Construction Materials Worker Illegally Fired for Refusing to Join Union
October 17, 2023 // The charges state IUOE bosses illegally demanded she join the union as a condition of keeping her job and instigated her firing by CTS when she refused to join. Additionally, Le’s charges maintain that company and union officials violated the law by deducting union dues directly from her paycheck without her permission. Le, a firestop inspector, filed the charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 32 in Oakland, CA, with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. She notes in her charges that IUOE officials not only failed to inform her of her right to abstain from union membership, but also never notified her of her right to pay a reduced amount of union dues as a nonmember. Because California lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, Le and her coworkers can be forced to pay some dues to the union as a condition of keeping their jobs, even if they’ve abstained from formal union membership. However, as per the Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision, even in non-Right to Work states union officials can’t force nonmember employees to pay for union expenses beyond what the union claims goes to bargaining, such as union politics
Staples accused of firing Brunswick worker for backing union drive
September 11, 2023 // The Staples union drive is the latest in a string of organization efforts springing up across Maine. Since 2021, there have been successful union drives among workers at the Orono Town Office, Biddeford Starbucks, the Portland Museum of Art, Maine Medical Center in Portland and the Bangor Daily News. Despite those wins, efforts have petered out or failed at the Chipotle in Augusta, Little Dog Coffee Shop in Brunswick, Shalom House in Portland, the Starbucks on Middle Street in Portland and Bates College in Lewiston.
Labor board judge: Logan Square grocery co-op illegally fired 2 workers
April 11, 2023 // A Logan Square grocery co-op illegally fired two workers and disciplined others who participated in walkouts at the store, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Thursday. The Dill Pickle Food Co-op must offer reinstatement to the two workers it fired, administrative law Judge Arthur Amchan ruled. It must also pay them for any loss of earnings that resulted from their firings. The Dill Pickle, at 2746 N. Milwaukee Ave., must cease and desist from “discharging or otherwise discriminating against employees for engaging in protected concerted activity,” Amchan ordered. “The (unfair labor practice charges) were filed by our old bargaining union, the IWW, which is no longer our union. They were voted out by our current staff right now,” McCarthy said. “Management and our new union are actively working with one another right now to try and mitigate some of the issues that we have had in the past, and it’s been a very good relationship thus far.”
Flight Attendant Triumphs Over TWU Union and Southwest in Suit About Illegal Firing; Jury Awards $5.1 Million in Damages
July 18, 2022 // Southwest Airlines flight attendant Charlene Carter has just prevailed in her federal lawsuit in which she charged the Transportation Workers Union of America (TWU) Local 556 union and Southwest for illegally firing her for her religious opposition to abortion. She received free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Audrey Stone, the union president,