Courthouse Victory for Workers

Another worker is protected from big labor coercion, thanks to your support and the lawyers at the National Right to Work Foundation:

A Coca-Cola employee who was fired for refusing to pay union dues has won a settlement of $4,175, the National Right to Work Foundation (NRWF) recently announced.

The employee worked in the company’s Houston, PA facility for several years without joining a union or paying union dues. Early in 2011, officials from the Teamsters Local 585 union ordered the worker to immediately pay full union dues for the previous 3 years along with additional union initiation fees, despite the fact that he had never been informed that the union represented him.

According to NRWF, when the employee refused to pay, union officials demanded that Coca-Cola fire him and the company complied. The employee filed a lawsuit against the union and the company with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office in Pittsburgh.

As part of the settlement, the employee was awarded $3,356 from the union and $819 from Coca-Cola. He was also reinstated to his job with Coca-Cola.

“No worker should ever be extorted by union bosses to join or pay dues to a union in order to get or keep a job,” said Mark Mix, NRWF president. “Pennsylvania desperately needs right to work protections for its workers to strip from union bosses the power to compel workers to give up some of their hard-earned money in order to provide for their families.”