A Tennessee man has filed federal charges against his employer and the union that represents his workplace, saying they attempted to force him to pay union membership dues, although Tennessee has had a right-to-work law prohibiting that practice since 1947.
“Even in longstanding right-to-work states like Tennessee, union bosses all too often engage in schemes and ploys to undermine or outright violate employees’ right-to-work protections,” said Mark Mix, president of the conservative National Right to Work Foundation, which is legally representing Bill Bauer of Spring Hill.
Exactly half of the 50 states have right-to-work laws, with historically union-friendly Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin having adopted them in the last three years.
Even in the remaining states where workers can be required to join or otherwise financially support a union, they have the right under a 1988 Supreme Court decision called Communications Workers of America v. Beck to require the union to refund the portion of their dues spent on activities other than collective bargaining, such as political spending. (continue reading)