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Illegal Union Dues Leaves Employee With No Pay

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A former UPS employee filed a federal charge against his company after having his entire paycheck confiscated to fund the Teamster union.

In the unfair labor charge, Santiago Olmos argues his entire salary was illegally confiscated by UPS to pay union dues. As a result, he was left with a paycheck of $0.

“Shortly after Olmos was hired as a seasonal employee for the Christmas delivery rush, he attended UPS training on December 8, 2014. At the meeting, a UPS manager told all of the employees in attendance that they were required to join the Teamster Local 439 union and pay union dues,” the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation said in a statement.

NRTW, an advocacy group prompting worker freedom, is helping to represent Olmos by providing free legal assistance.

California does not have any right-to-work laws, so workers can be forced into a union as a condition of employment. However, as NRTW argues, under federal labor law a worker may only be compelled to pay union dues or fees after 30 days of actual employment.

“Olmos only worked for UPS from December 8 to December 24, did not join the union, and did not sign a dues deduction authorization,” NRTW notes. “UPS nonetheless deducted full union dues from his wages.”

“Moreover, union dues and fees may only be deducted from wages after a worker has filled out a union dues deduction authorization – a form union officials use to authorize employers to automatically withhold union dues from employee paychecks,” NRTW added.

In the unfair labor practice charge, which was obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation, an attorney representing Olmos argues that several laws were broken as a result of the company’s actions.

“The actions of the UPS, in unlawfully informing individuals that they must join the Union and requiring them to pay union dues prior to the 30-day grace period and without a valid dues deduction authorization card, violated the Charging Party and other similarly situated potential employees’ Section 7 right to refrain from Union activity,” the charge detailed.

TheDCNF could not reach the Teamster union nor USP for further comment.

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Tags : teamsters
Connor D. Wolf