FoundationFoundation The bi-monthly newsletter of the National Right to Work ActionAction Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. Vol. XXII, No. 4 8001 Braddock Road • Springfield, Virginia 22160 www.nrtw.org July/August 2002

when Hernandez and an International angry mob blocked their car and threatened both men. When Cisneros and Kahn Union Sued For finally were able to leave the parking lot, Hernandez Vicious Assault followed them to an inter- section and attempted to punch Kahn. Union organizer with Finally, on May 18, 2001, at 4:30 a.m., Ramiro long arrest record Photo AP/Wide World Union bosses like the Teamsters’ Jimmy Hoffa Jr. Hernandez and several named in complaint wink and nod at the use of violence against work- union militants ambushed ers during a strike. Since 1975, more than 10,000 Kahn in the parking lot incidents of union violence have been reported. of Labor Ready’s office in LOS ANGELES, Calif. — With the Commerce, causing head help of National Right to Work Found- injuries. ation attorneys, a victim of violence at Over the next two months, UNITE “These thugs must pay the hands of a union organizer filed a union organizer Ramiro Hernandez, for their cowardly assault on an inno- suit against the Union of Needletrades, and several other union militants, cent man,” said Reed Larson, President Industrial and Textile Employees allegedly harassed and threatened of the National Right to Work (UNITE) for damages incurred following Kahn. The suit alleges that Hernandez’s a 2001 strike. activities were part of a coordinated see STRIKE OR DIE, page 6 Matthew Kahn, a manager for union effort to punish Kahn and other Labor Ready’s office in the City employees of Labor Ready for their of Commerce, brought the action involvement in providing replacement against UNITE International, UNITE workers. IN THIS ISSUE Local 482, UNITE Western Joint Day in and day out, Kahn lived in Council, and union organizer Ramiro fear for his personal safety. Here are Hernandez, for compensatory and several examples of the alleged abuses 2 Union Prosecuted For punitive damages suffered from a Kahn was forced to endure: Threatening to “Kill” Workers vicious premeditated assault outside the In early April 2001, Hernandez and company’s central office. several union thugs attempted to pre- 3 Court Upholds Oklahoma’s vent Kahn from leaving the Labor New Right to Work Law Ready parking lot. According to Kahn, Worker harassed for Hernandez and the other union mili- 4 NEA Ordered to End tants surrounded him and and began Hassles over Religion two months calling Kahn a “fag” and taunted him with obscenities for several minutes. 5 Foundation Launches New The series of events leading up to When a couple of security guards Planned Giving Program the beating began in March 2001, when attempted to intervene, a union thug UNITE Local 482 launched a strike attacked them and began hitting them 7 California Union Bosses against Hollander Home Fashions. with signs. to Fork Over $300,000 During the strike, Kahn was responsible Kahn and Daniel Cisneros, a fellow for finding replacement workers and Labor Ready employee, were attempt- escorting them to the strike facility. ing to leave Hollander’s Seville facility 2 Foundation Action July/August 2002 Union Prosecuted For Threatening to “Kill” Workers Workers harassed for supporting decertification effort

ORLANDO, Fla. — Foundation attor- neys have persuaded the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to prosecute the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 835 for threatening to kill or oth- erwise harm workers who participated in efforts to decertify the union. The union’s hiring hall governs much of the convention and trade show industry in Central Florida. After investigating unfair labor prac- tice charges filed by James Zitis and Clay Wayman — who are represented by staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation — NLRB investi- gators found that at least one union Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason (right) and Ohio teacher Kathleen Klamut official had issued a death threat to educate Bill O’Reilly on the abuses employees endure under compulsory unionism. prevent workers from signing a decerti- fication petition which calls for an election on whether to disband the of this special privilege will workers truly area union officials have bullied and union hiring hall. be free from forced unionism.” harassed workers. In September 1999, IATSE union official Susan Wolfgang told Zitis and several other workers that Hiring hall used to circum- A long history of the union could prevent them from working if they signed a decertification vent Right to Work Law abusing workers petition.

Even though Florida has a highly For a number of years, the Orlando see UNION PROSECUTED, page 8 popular and effective Right to Work law that frees nonunion employees from paying membership dues to an unwanted union, a hiring hall is a Foundation Action scheme that Big Labor uses to force workers to pay money anyway in order to obtain certain jobs. Rev. Fred Fowler Chairman, Board of Trustees With this power, union bosses can Reed Larson President control what jobs are given to workers, Stefan Gleason Vice President and Editor in Chief and can reward their most militant sup- Ray LaJeunesse, Jr. Vice President, Legal Director Alicia Auerswald Vice President porters with the better-paying, long Mark Mix Treasurer term assignments. Workers who are Virginia Smith Secretary concerned with working efficiently and who shun union activism always run the risk that they will be passed over for Distributed by the the more lucrative jobs. National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. 8001 Braddock Road, Springfield, Virginia 22160 “Even with a Right to Work law in www.nrtw.org • 1-800-336-3600 place, the fundamental monopoly bar- gaining privilege awarded by federal law The Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees gives union bosses the power to force whose human or civil rights have been violated by abuses of compulsory unionism. All contributions workers into union collectives,” stated to the Foundation are tax deductible under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Gleason.“Only when Big Labor is stripped July/August 2002 Foundation Action 3 Court Upholds Oklahoma’s New Right to Work Law Unions file appeal after judge slams down attack on employee freedom

MUSKOGEE, Okla. — In a stinging rebuke of Oklahoma’s top union lawyers and their tortured legal reason- ing, U.S. District Court Judge Frank H. Seay upheld the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s new Right to Work Law, which frees employees laboring under compulsory unionism. Judge Seay ruled on motions for summary judgment submitted by Governor Frank Keating’s legal team AP/Wide World Photo AP/Wide World and Foundation attorneys who repre- Now under appeal, Judge Seay’s ruling upheld the will of Oklahoma’s voters and the hard sent several Oklahoma workers. work of the National Right to Work Committee and leaders such as Gov. Frank Keating. “This ruling is another victory for the workers and citizens of Oklahoma,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of But within a week of the District Right to Work law helps the National Right to Work Foundation. Court’s ruling upholding the law, the “No one should be forced to support a unions’ lawyers filed a notice of appeal create Oklahoma jobs union just to get or keep a job.” with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the The court held that the law clearly Tenth Circuit. Since Oklahoma became the and constitutionally protects employees nation’s 22nd Right to Work state, who work for private companies under there has been a dramatic shift in the the National Labor Relations Act Foundation attorneys direction of the state’s economy. (NLRA). A vast majority of employees According to the Bureau of Labor in Oklahoma work for private compa- defend Oklahoma workers Statistics of the U.S. Department of nies under the NLRA and thus are pro- Labor, Oklahoma has led the nation in tected by the Right to Work law. As part of the legal battle, the creation of jobs since the passage of Foundation attorneys helped three Right to Work last September. workers file as “defendant intervenors.” However, prior to becoming a Oklahoma pushes back By obtaining this status, the workers Right to Work state, Oklahoma’s econ- and Foundation attorneys were allowed omy endured a slowdown. From March Big Labor’s legal attack to file briefs and make arguments in 2001 through September 2001, court defending the employees’ inter- Oklahoma’s nonfarm job growth was The Oklahoma AFL-CIO, six local ests in preserving the Right to Work less than half the national average. unions, and a heavily unionized company amendment. “What we are seeing in Oklahoma is filed the suit last November in the U.S. The three employees are Kent even more proof that Right to Work laws District Court for the Eastern District of Duvall of United Parcel Service, not only protect workers but they create Oklahoma to overturn the will of Michelle McKenzie of Southwestern jobs,” said Reed Larson, President of Oklahoma’s voters, who enacted State Bell Telephone Company, and Stephen the National Right to Work Foundation. Question 695 on September 25, 2001. Weese of Oklahoma Fixture Company. “Numbers don’t lie, and Oklahomans “Union officials despise the notion They argued that, if the union lawyers are just beginning to reap the rewards of of allowing employees any measure of prevailed in voiding the statewide ban living in a Right to Work state.” freedom,” said Gleason. “Big Labor’s on forced unionism, employees would The boost Oklahoma’s Right to trumped-up lawsuit was just another suffer direct financial harm as well as Work law has given its economy is no insult to the voters of Oklahoma, who damage to their interests of free speech anomaly. A study by Dr. William rejected the unions’ cynical campaign and free association. Wilson, released this summer by a lies and tactics last fall.” True to form, union lawyers tried Michigan-based think tank, shows that The passage of the Right to Work to prevent the workers from being able between 1977 and 1999 the average constitutional amendment last fall made to speak in defense of the Right to annual employment growth in Right to Oklahoma the newest of America’s 22 Work law when the workers asked to Work states was 2.9%, compared to only Right to Work states. join the suit. 2% in non-Right to Work states. 4 Foundation Action July/August 2002 NEA Ordered to End Hassles Over Religion By Ellen Sorokin, The Washington Times; Reprinted with Permission

May 21, 2002, Tuesday, Front Page “We are awaiting the letter,” said Ohio are about $400. Kathleen Lyons, a spokeswoman for the After 1999, union officials began WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Equal NEA. “We will be able to comment on it demanding that Mr. Robey fill out Employment Opportunity Commission after we receive it and review it.” a lengthy form each year in which has ordered the National Education In their complaint to the EEOC, the he must describe in detail his Association and its state affiliates to attorneys for the objecting teachers religious views. stop violating the religious rights of argued that the union’s nationwide poli- On the form, union officials asked members who disagree with the union’s cy unlawfully placed an undue burden what Mr. Robey called “probing per- political causes. on teachers and that teachers should be sonal questions” about his relationship In a ruling made public yesterday, able to file one-time objections to forced with God and his religious affiliation. the federal agency said it would sue the union dues. They also required him to obtain a sig- nation’s largest teachers union if it did The charges stemmed from a case in nature from a religious official attesting not stop forcing teachers who categorized Ohio, where a high school teacher filed to the validity of his beliefs. themselves as “religious objectors” to a complaint with the EEOC against the The EEOC said its investigation undergo annual written procedures so Ohio Education Association in 2000, found an “unnecessary delay” in the their dues would not fund the union’s after union officials there rebuffed Ohio Education Association’s response political agenda. the teacher’s long-standing objection to teachers who had asked that they be Some objectors say the NEA’s agen- over his dues during the 1999-2000 categorized as religious objectors early da promotes pro-abortion, pro-homo- school year. last year. The commission said that sexuality positions and policies that Dennis Robey, a member of the even though the Ohio Education interfere with parental rights. Church of God, made his religious Association complied with teachers’ “The evidence obtained during the objections public to union officials in requests, it took the local union up to investigation establishes a violation of a 1995 and said he wanted his dues to federal statute has occurred,” Michael go to Habitat for Humanity. Dues in see TEACHER UNION, page 6 Fetzer, EEOC’s district director, wrote in a May 13 letter to the NEA. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, union officials may not force any employee to financially sup- port a union if doing so violates the employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs. The law allows union members to donate their fees to charities of their choice if supporting the unions violates their religious beliefs. The union’s policy was designed to harass teachers of all faiths, attorneys representing the objectors said. “The NEA union’s illegal scheme is intended to force teachers of faith to shut up and pay up,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a Virginia- based nonprofit group that represented the objectors.”The EEOC’s action fur- ther underscores that the nation’s largest teacher union is systematically persecut- ing people of faith,” Mr. Gleason said. NEA officials said yesterday they TEACH THE BILL OF RIGHTS IN YOUR CLASSROOM IF YOU MUST, MISS SWANSON, could not comment on the ruling BUT DON’T TRY TO PUSH THAT NONSENSE HERE IN THE UNION !! because they had not seen a copy of it. July/August 2002 Foundation Action 5

Foundation Launches New Planned Giving Program Supporters may achieve tax advantages and life-long income stream

SPRINGFIELD, Va. — The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation announced a bold new Here’s How a Gift Annuity Works program to help supporters of the Right to Work movement in their gift planning through the Foundation’s ✔ You irrevocably contribute principal of $5,000 or more in exchange Charitable Gift Annuity Program. for a Foundation Gift Annuity; The Foundation’s Gift Annuity Program is an unprecedented step ✔ The Foundation makes monthly, quarterly, or annual annuity in the Foundation’s strategic planning. payments to you for the rest of your life. The amount of the Through this program, donors can pro- payment depends on your current age and the amount of your vide the Foundation with the financial investment. Larger gift annuities give donors and the Foundation resources needed to conduct its strate- gic legal aid program, which defends proportionately larger benefits. Once you have completed a gift employees against the abuses of com- annuity, the rate will never change; pulsory unionism, while providing important tax benefits and life-long ✔ As an itemizing taxpayer, you can receive a charitable federal annuity payments for themselves at the income tax deduction in the year you establish your Right to same time. Work Foundation Gift Annuity. And a portion of the payment A Charitable Gift Annuity is an you receive from the Foundation would be tax free to you income-generating gift planning tool that benefits the donor and the for a number of years; Foundation. Gift annuities allow Found- ation supporters to make a gift that ✔ The National Right to Work Foundation retains your gift once provides real financial return to the you pass on. Your original gift (which may have even increased supporter, while helping ensure that in value) is then available to support the Foundation’s programs. the Foundation has the resources necessary to defend against union power grabs and to advance the Right to Work movement. The Foundation also announced that it has retained the services of Comerica Charitable Services Group to administer this new program. Comerica brings years Sample Gift Annuity Rates of Return of gift planning experience and creates an opportunity for the Foundation and the donor to maximize the benefits this Single Life planned giving tool offers. For more information on the AGE RATE Gift annuity rates are determined Foundation’s Gift Annuity Program, on the date of the gift according supporters should contact Foundation 90+ 12.0% to the age of the person or persons Vice President Alicia Auerswald at 85 10.4% who receive the payments and 800-336-3600, ext. 3304. 80 8.9% according to the type of asset given 75 7.9% in some instances. The chart 70 7.2% at left shows that rates are higher 65 6.7% for older recipients and are subject As in all legal, tax, and 60 6.4% to change. financial matters, you should 55 6.0% consult your own advisors. 6 Foundation Action July/August 2002 “Strike or Die” Teacher Union continued from cover Persecution

Foundation. “No one should live in violence since 1975, including 181 deaths. Targeted fear simply for working for a living.” Experts on strike violence estimate that unreported acts of violence could swell continued from page 4 that figure to 100,000 or more. UNITE apparently supports Federal laws grant Big Labor special privileges to avoid prosecution for nine months to process. “The amount violence against workers union violence. In the 1973 case of time it took the union to accom- United States v. Enmons, the United modate teachers was unreasonable,” Throughout the strike, UNITE States Supreme Court held that most Mr. Fetzer wrote. officials backed Hernandez, despite his union violence is exempted from the The agency also concluded that the numerous prior arrests for strike-related Hobbs Act, which makes it a federal union’s requirement that objectors violence. The union even provided crime to obstruct interstate commerce submit annual written statements was financial support necessary to help by robbery or extortion. As a result, burdensome. Hernandez get out of jail and, in all thousands of incidents of violent likelihood, to obtain legal counsel. assaults (directed mostly against work- “By encouraging and supporting ers) by union militants have gone Hernandez and his goons, UNITE unpunished. (This month, Foundation “The NEA union’s itself is directly responsible for the attorneys are filing a “friend of the bloodshed,” stated Larson. court” brief with the U.S. Supreme illegal scheme Court urging it to overturn the federal exemption for prosecution of union is intended to force Law protects union violence.) teachers of faith to “The courts and federal law have violence effectively given Big Labor a get-out- shut up and pay up.” of-jail-free card for violence against Unfortunately, Kahn’s case is not workers,” said Ray LaJeunesse, Found- an isolated incident. The National ation Legal Director. Institute for Labor Relations Research Many states, such as California, also “Once an individual is on the record has recorded more than 10,000 media- restrict the authority of local law enforce- that he/she objects to paying fair share reported incidents of union-related ment to enforce laws during strikes. fee and has designated an agreed upon charity to which his/her portion of the fair share will be donated, he/she should not be required to reiterate the objection on an annual basis,” Mr. Support your Foundation Fetzer wrote. through Planned Giving The EEOC has given the NEA and its affiliates time to eliminate the annual procedure. If the NEA does not, the Planned Giving is a great way to support your National Right to Work EEOC will seek to resolve the issue Foundation. Some of the ways you can help the Foundation are: in court. Daniel Cronin, director of the ✔ Remembering the ✔ Charitable Trusts National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in your Will ✔ Gifts of Appreciated Foundation’s legal information depart- ✔ Gifts of Stocks/Bonds Real Estate ment, said the foundation receives about 100 reports each year from teachers who have complaints about the For more information on the many ways you can ensure that your NEA’s policies regarding religious support of the Foundation continues, call the Foundation at (800)336-3600 objectors. He said the ruling should or (703) 321-8510. Please ask to speak with Alicia Auerswald. change that. “This hopefully will make life easier for these teachers,” Mr. Cronin said. July/August 2002 Foundation Action 7 California Union Bosses to Fork Over $300,000 State employees refunded money seized for ballot initiatives

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The United the 1998 gubernatorial campaign. States District Court for the Eastern For example, Davis also signed a District of California has ordered the law that requires California State Professional Engineers in California University (CSU) employees to pay Government (PECG) union to refund union dues unless they are members of $300,000 in illegally seized union dues. a state-approved religion. Under this Meanwhile, a second legal action filed law, state and union officials can exer- by Foundation attorneys has the poten- cise the power to pass judgment on the tial to return hundreds of thousands of acceptability of the religious beliefs of dollars more. CSU employees. U.S. District Court Judge Garland AP/Wide World Photo AP/Wide World E. Burrell, Jr., ruled that the union had Pay up or be fired!! For the last four illegally seized almost $100 per employee A political operation years, union lapdogs like Gov. Gray Davis over a seven-month period in 1999 and that merely dabbles have forced countless more Californians ordered the union to pay nominal and to submit to compulsory unionism. compensatory damages to 3,200 non- in collective bargaining union employees who were illegally forced to fund union politicking. The PECG is one of California’s According to the U.S. Supreme The federal court challenge was most politically active unions. Union Court decisions in the Foundation-won originally brought by Foundation attor- bosses have seized compulsory union cases Abood v. Detroit Board of Educa- neys in September 1999 on behalf of dues and spent considerable amounts to tion and Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Richard Wagner, an investigator for the fund ballot initiatives against popular Association, union officials in the public California Air Resources Board in the reforms, such as privatization of some sector may not collect compulsory Sacramento area, and Kristin Schwall, a government services, and to support dues for activities unrelated to collec- water quality engineer from San Diego. the California Democratic Party. Accord- tive bargaining. Politics, lobbying, In February 2002, the court certified ing to the union’s own records, almost organizing, public relations, and other the case as a class action for the 3,200 60 percent of PECG’s $3.4 million non-bargaining activities are explicitly non-union employees. annual budget is now used for political non-chargeable to employees who have “This is a simple issue of fairness. I activities. exercised their right to refrain from have nothing against somebody joining “With full support of Governor Davis, union membership. the union if they want to, but it should the PECG has been ripping off Califor- In April, the non-member state engi- be left up to each person to make their nia’s public employees and taxpayers to neers, represented by Foundation attor- own decision,” said Richard Wagner. “If support its Big Government political neys, filed another related class-action I choose not to join, then they should agenda,” stated Dan Cronin, the Founda- complaint seeking a refund of additional not be able to take money out of my tion’s Director of Legal Information. dues illegally seized since April 2001. paycheck to pay for politics.” Breakdown of Union Expenditures* Gray Davis shows his A large number of unions are nothing true colors more than political organizations that dabble in bargaining on the side. Only months after being sworn into office, Governor Gray Davis signed a Collective bargaining and contact administration: 32% statewide memorandum of understanding (MOU) — also known as a collective Lobbying: 8% bargaining agreement — which forced all Other: 10% workers under the agreement to pay ille- gally high dues to the PECG union. This Ballot Initiatives: 51% action was one of several similar paybacks to union bosses for their support during *Taken from PECG union’s disclosure forms 8 Foundation Action July/August 2002 Union Prosecuted Message from Reed Larson continued from page 2

Then, during Spring 2000, Peter Merrifield, a IATSE union agent, allegedly threatened workers with the loss of job opportunities, their homes, President and their possessions if they continued National Right to Work decertification efforts. According to Legal Defense Foundation findings by NLRB investigators, Merrifield also said he would have Dear Foundation Supporter: workers killed for those activities. “Special privileges awarded under Do you want the government to decide who gets your money? federal labor law have convinced union bosses that they can get away with any- That’s the question I ask Foundation supporters in an updated thing to hold onto power,” said Stefan brochure on planned giving enclosed with this mailing. I hope you’ll Gleason, Vice President of the National take a look at it. You may be amazed to see how many different ways Right to Work Foundation. there are to support the vital work of the National Right to Work This is not the first finding of Foundation while enjoying significant tax advantages. unfair labor practices by the NLRB against IATSE Local 835. Earlier in And we’re expanding the list of possibilities with innovative new the year, in response to action taken options that provide major benefits to contributors as well as the by Foundation attorneys for Zitis and Foundation. For example, we’ve launched our new charitable gift Wayman with the NLRB, IATSE annuity program. (See page 7 of this issue for more details.) union officials were forced to post a As a supporter of the Right to Work movement, you know that notice alerting workers that they only fighting the tyranny of the union bosses plays an essential role in our had to pay fees equal to their share of the cost of running the hiring hall. battle for the free world we want to pass on to the next generation. The union had been forcing non- There is a sense of peace that comes from knowing that the people union members to pay fees as a condi- and causes we care about will be provided for after we are gone. That’s tion of using the hiring hall’s referral why I’m especially grateful when Right to Work supporters remember service without explaining how the fee the Foundation through planned giving. was calculated. If you have already recognized the advantages of planned giving and have decided to include the Foundation in your plans, please let us know now so we can thank you. We can also advise you on various ways you can structure your Free Newsletter planned giving to achieve the maximum tax advantage for your estate. For more information, I urge you to call my assistant If you know others who Alicia Auerswald at 1-800-336-3600. would appreciate receiving I am honored that so many of the Foundation’s supporters have made provisions to advance the cause of freedom and the Right to Foundation Action, Work movement, not only today but also into the future. please provide us with Sincerely, their names and addresses. They’ll begin receiving issues within weeks. Reed Larson