Posts tagged Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
New proposed federal law would bar unions from promoting antisemitism
October 7, 2024 // Title VII of the Civil Rights Act allows employees not to pay dues or fees to a union based on their religious beliefs or practices. But Cassidy said many workers were unaware they have the right to pull their union dues from activities that have nothing to do with union bargaining for salaries and benefits. As part of the Senate committee’s probe into antisemitism, the senator also found that unions make it difficult to opt out of these unrelated costs — including bogging down workers with lawsuits that end up costing more than the actual dues. “Union members pay unions to represent before management. This legislation keeps unions focused on that,” said Cassidy.
Education and the Workforce Committee Releases Shocking Report on Union Antisemitic Activity
September 20, 2024 // Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) released a report detailing how unions put politics over members while pursuing antisemitic activism. The report includes a thorough accounting of rampant antisemitic activity within the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA), a United Auto Workers local union, following ALAA’s passage of an anti-Israel resolution in December of 2023. Following the resolution’s adoption, it was revealed that the statutory rights of union members were violated through retaliatory actions related to the resolution.
Court of Appeals Hearing Arguments in Case Brought by Southwest Flight Attendant Who Was Illegally Fired for Criticizing Union Officials
June 5, 2024 // Carter resigned from union membership in 2013 but was still forced to pay fees to TWU Local 556 as a condition of her employment. The Railway Labor Act (RLA), the federal law that governs labor relations in the air and rail industries, permits the firing of employees for refusal to pay dues and preempts the protections that state Right to Work laws provide. However, the RLA does protect employees’ rights to refrain from union membership, to speak out against the union and its leadership, and to advocate for changing the union’s current leadership. In January 2017, Carter, a pro-life Christian, learned that then-TWU Local 556 President Audrey Stone and other Local 556 officials used union dues to attend a political rally in Washington, D.C., which was sponsored by activist groups she deeply opposed, including Planned Parenthood.
Teacher Alleges Discrimination, Segregation in Ca. Union
May 31, 2024 // “Race-based discrimination is both immoral and illegal, yet my union has decided to segregate its ranks by imposing a racial litmus test as a requirement to run for this board seat. Union officials apparently believe that the best solution to America’s shameful history of discrimination is more discrimination. I believe that their actions are an illegal and a divisive distraction from our educational mission.” — Isaac Newman
Commentary: NLRB v. EEOC: Damned if you fire, damned If you don’t
February 28, 2024 // The concern is not theoretical. The EEOC has told the NLRB not to be too lenient regarding hostile rhetoric. The EEOC argued in a 2019 amicus brief, in a case called General Motors v. Robison that “[E]mployers must address racist or sexist conduct that violates Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964], and may need to do so even before the conduct becomes actionable in order to avoid liability for negligence … the EEOC urges the NLRB to consider a standard that permits employers to address such conduct, including by disciplining employees, as appropriate.” The case involved a worker directing racially charged language at a supervisor. In short, companies can find themselves trapped in a damned-if-you-fire, damned-if-you-don’t situation between two powerful regulatory agencies. Because regulators are supposed to issue clear rules of behavior, this is troubling. Businesses can’t follow the rules if they can’t know what the rules are. The public is entitled to have agencies require mutually consistent standards of behavior before they start enforcing them on the rest of us.
Teamsters Union Local #455 Settles EEOC Sexual Harassment Case
July 14, 2023 // After first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process, the EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Teamsters Local Union #455, Civil Action No.: 1:22-cv-2520-DDD-KLM), alleging that the union, through its agent, had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. Under the consent decree resolving the suit, Teamsters Local #455 will review and update its anti-discrimination policies to include a strong and clear commitment to preventing unlawful sex discrimination (including sexual harassment). The union will also provide training to its officers, agents, and employees, and will post an informational flyer about workplace sex harassment at its Colorado office locations and on union bulletin boards at employer business locations where members of Local #455 are employed.
Oregon Education Association Just the Latest Teachers’ Union to Impose Racially Discriminatory Policies
June 15, 2023 // On April 30, OEA’s board of directors discussed a so-called “progressive dues structure for BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) members,” according to meeting minutes. This scheme would include a “significant discount for educators until the racial breakdown of our membership aligns with the racial breakdown of our student population.”