Firefighters appeal ruling blocking union decertification vote
(The Center Square) – As union decertification votes in the workplace continue to increase, some Illinois firefighters are appealing a ruling blocking their right to end their relationship with a union.
A ruling by the Illinois Labor Relations Board blocked an attempt by firefighters in Carpentersville to leave the union.
Service Employees International Union officials filed blocking charges in an attempt to stop the employee-requested vote.
Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, said while the ILRB executive director delayed the election at the union bosses’ request, the firefighters’ appeal exposes numerous errors with the basis for that decision and uncovers an ongoing campaign by union officials to stop the decertification vote.
“Pretty standard operating procedure for the unions to try to block the election, and the longer they can block it, the longer they can collect forced dues,” Mix said. “If they can make the thing go on for two more years, they get two more years of dues revenue from these people.”
Mix adds the firefighters appeal brief reveals that, even though SEIU union lawyers convinced the ILRB that Carpentersville officials were not following proper bargaining procedures, in reality “the union walked away from the bargaining table twice when the employer could not guarantee that the decertification process would not proceed.
“Despite the clearly misguided ILRB executive director’s order blocking the election, evidence is rapidly emerging about the tall tale SEIU bosses spun to avoid facing a vote of the rank-and-file workers they claim to represent,” he said.
Mix said there is a growing momentum of workers wanting to leave a union.
“There really is and frankly the volume of these types of calls to our headquarters, the National Right to Work Foundation, have increased dramatically,” Mix said.
Paramedics and EMT’s in Galesburg are also seeking to exercise their right to vote the local Teamsters union out of power at the workplace.
Attempts to speak with officials at SEIU were unsuccessful.
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