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Worker Says Union Threatened His Job

Federal labor charges filed against Milwaukee-Operating Engineers

Demonstrators in Madison, Wisconsin / Getty Images
May 23, 2017

A Wisconsin union threatened a worker's job after he attempted to opt out of political spending, according to federal charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

Anthony Arnold, a worker at United Rentals in Brookfield, Wis., claimed in a legal filing that the Pewaukee-based International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 ignored his 2015 request to resign his union membership. Arnold wrote the union twice in August of that year asking to withdraw from paying full union dues and only pay agency fees, which cover representational costs but not political or lobbying expenditures. After no action was taken he sent another letter in December 2016 drawing attention to his previous withdrawal requests and asking for an itemized breakdown of monthly dues payments.

He said in the charging document that the union refused to honor his resignation and threatened his employment when he persisted in those requests. The union responded that he would have to continue paying union dues until July 2017 and sent a letter in April threatening Arnold if he did not pay past dues.

"The April Letter stated that [Arnold] was sixty days behind in his monthly dues, and threatened that if he did not pay in full by the last day of the month he would be suspended from 'membership' and the Union would seek his termination," the charges say. In order to save his job Arnold paid the union the amount it requested, "under protest."

The charges allege that the union violated the National Labor Relations Act by improperly handling Arnold's resignation. The union's actions "threaten, restrain, and discriminate" against those who try to exercise their federal right to opt out of collective lobbying and political activity, according to the charges.

The union did not respond to request for comment.

Local 139 represents 9,286 workers in the construction industry. Members pay a $437.50 initiation fee as well as $175 transfer fee in addition to monthly dues of $25 or 1.5 percent of all wages when they are on the job, according to its 2016 federal labor filing. The union collected $11.1 million from workers and $3.8 million from other revenue streams, including $2.4 million from selling its assets.

Despite the revenue structure and those sales, the union ended the year $2.5 million in the red after spending $17.5 million, including $200,000 in political activities and lobbying expenditures.

Arnold brought the charges with the help of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which opposes forced dues practices. Foundation President Mark Mix called the accused union officials "thuggish" and said their behavior violates workers rights.

"It is outrageous that IUOE union bosses are blatantly violating the NLRA by extorting payment of union dues through threats against a worker’s employment," he said in a statement. "These officials’ thuggish tactics against Mr. Arnold shows the importance of vigorous enforcement of the law."

Published under: Big Labor , Unions