Close
X
Freedom Foundation

Get in touch

Freedom Foundation
Opt Out Today
  • Blogs
  • Staff
  • Donate
  • Join Us
  • Profiting from a Pandemic
  • Why We Fight
  • Cigars
  • SCOTUS Appeals
Freedom Foundation
Opt Out Today
Freedom Foundation

Contact Info

Freedom Foundation Files PERC Complaint Against WFSE

Litigation Washington
  • Sydney Phillips
  • November 26, 2018

On Nov. 16, Freedom Foundation attorneys filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) complaint against the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) on behalf of state employee Ramona Christensen-Russell with the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC).

Russell has never wanted to be a member of the union, but even though she worked for the state for 22 years without affirmatively joining, she was required by law and her union’s collective bargaining agreement with the state to pay an “agency fee” to the union as a condition of keeping her job.

In April 2018, however, Russell raised the issue to her union that no one in her job category had received a salary increase despite other categories of the job having received increases in 2016. Thinking she would finally have an opportunity to get her concern heard by the right people, Russell agreed to a face-to-face meeting with her union representative.

It was during this meeting she was told that, if she signed a piece of paper supporting the union, WFSE would view her request more favorably. Little did she realize that what she was signing was a union membership form authorizing the state to deduct full union dues from her wages and limiting her ability to cancel the deductions for at least a year.

Anticipating (correctly) that the U.S. Supreme Court would soon strike down mandatory agency fees for public employees as unconstitutional, WFSE had been pressuring employees to sign updated membership forms containing “irrevocability” provisions designed to allow the union to keep seizing dues from employees’ wages even after the court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME.

A month after the court’s ruling in June, Russell noticed full union dues were being withheld from her wages, notwithstanding her not being a member for the previous 22 years. She then submitted a written request to the union for the deductions to cease.

WFSE refused to process her request, however, pointing to the document she had signed in April.

She was forced to take time off from work to review the document at WFSE’s office, because the union refused to send her a copy.

Talking with the union led her to realize that what she signed actually indicated she would join the union, and that the union further insisted on taking full dues for at least a year.

She turned to the Freedom Foundation for help.

Freedom Foundation attorneys filed the ULP against WFSE for its failure to treat Russell fairly, and for interfering and coercing her in the exercise of her right to refrain from supporting a labor union.

The union tricked Russell into signing a “contract” it now maintains is irrevocable.

This kind of behavior by unions is unacceptable, and the Freedom Foundation is not afraid to help people like Russell get the justice she deserves.

  • WFSE

Recent Blogs

Union Politics, Dollars Upended the Ohio State House
January 26, 2023
Freedom Foundation Reaction to Washington State Supreme Court Hearing on Capital Gains Tax
January 26, 2023
Freedom Foundation calls out federal schemes to expose more workers to union pressure
January 20, 2023
NJ public employees refuse to take no for an answer
January 20, 2023
Unionize management? Washington state is considering it.
January 17, 2023

Press Articles

  • Jul 06 — RedState — Janus at 4: Landmark Labor Ruling Helped but Still Needs to be Enforced More Aggressively

    Read The Article

  • Jun 28 — Ineptocracy Chronicles — Teacher Unions Fund Left Wing Politics

    Read The Article

  • Jun 25 — The Hill — States Should Protect Caregivers' Medicaid Funds from Union Skims

    Read The Article

  • Jun 15 — Legal Newsline — Freedom Foundation: 'Education Union Spent More Money on Political Activities than Worker Representation'

    Read The Article

  • Jun 09 — Southern California Record — LA Superior Court Court Reporter Accuses Union of Forging Her Signature on Membership Card

    Read The Article

  • General Inquiries

    Info@FreedomFoundation.com

    Media Inquiries

    avarner@freedomfoundation.com

    Follow Us

             

    Contact Locations

    Washington:

    360-956-3482
    P.O. Box 552 Olympia,
    WA 98507

    Pennsylvania:

    484-747-6072
    P.O. Box 1069 Kennett Square,
    PA 19348

    California:

    949-954-8914
    1442 E Lincoln Ave #440 Orange,
    CA 92865

    Oregon:

    503-951-6208
    P.O. Box 18146 Salem,
    OR 97305

    Ohio:

    380-207-3901
    P.O. Box 14210 Cincinnati,
    OH 45250

    © 2021 Freedom Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
    Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 94-3136961