We recently discussed how the UAW’s deceptive hard sell on “job security” left workers with buyer’s remorse and wanting their dues back after Stellantis layoffs. Union officials are well aware that they cannot protect workers from job cuts, yet nonetheless made those false promises. UAW chief Shawn Fain seems to believe that if he shouts loud enough, he can avoid layoff blame and keep dues rolling in from remaining members.
That would be only one example of why union-weary workers would wish to stop paying dues, but what happens when a still-employed member decides that they’ve had enough of funding the whims of union leaders? It doesn’t always go well for workers, especially in non-right-to-work states. There, exercising the right to become a Beck objector is the only recourse, as established by the Supreme Court in a 1988 case involving the Communication Workers of America (CWA).
Unions, naturally, are not wild about Beck objectors only paying dues that are directly related to representation and collective bargaining. It’s not uncommon for workers to seek legal help when unions refuse to observe their Beck rights. One recent case, particularly, involves such egregious behavior that an NLRB panel went in hard with an expensive rebuke to a union.
This long-and-winding case involves an International Longshore and Warehouse Union local that illegally retaliated against an employee at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The worker, who was terminated at the urging of the union, was initially threatened after expressing his intent to become a Beck objector. The threats became real, and the complicated fallout wound its way through the court system before eventually producing a 59-page, heavily footnoted ruling from the NLRB last week.
The background: This saga began to hit the fan in January 2018 when ex-ILWU local President Randall Baker became the local’s first Beck objector after finding himself at odds with the new union bureaucracy. Two other workers, Killian Baker (related to Randall) and Jeff Treannie, soon alleged harassment by union officials over protected concerted activity, including secret recordings of conversations to prove their accusations.
The new ruling: The NLRB adopted an administrative judge’s finding that ILWU officials dismissed Treannie’s allegations as “bullsh*t” and called him a “rat.” They also expressed intent to pressure his employer into firing Treannie if he followed through with becoming a Beck objector. The judge later found, and the NLRB agreed, that the employer violated the NLRA by suspending both Killian Baker and Treannie before unlawfully terminating the latter over the recordings. The judge and the NLRB further found the ILWU local to be jointly liable for substantial damages, including back pay, all the way back to Treannie’s 2018 termination. Wow.
The takeaway: What, exactly, did the ILWU accomplish with their brazen mistreatment of union members who took steps toward becoming Beck objectors? Nothing but a mountain full of legal bills and monetary damages, along with a pattern of conduct that is not only embarrassing but a damning example of union greed.
Hopefully, word of this debacle will help convince some prospective union members on the fence to run far, far away.
