The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bimonthly Foundation Action newsletter, July/August 2024 issue. Click here to view other issues of Foundation Action or to purchase a free subscription.

California workers claim election victory for firing Teamsters after union threats

Teamsters Trucked Out: John Cwiek refused to give up the fight after Teamsters union officials tried to threaten him after he revealed information about the salaries of union bosses. He mobilized his colleagues who drove the union out.

ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA – In a victory for workplace freedom, employees of Los Angeles-based transportation company Dependable Highway Express have won their fight to fire Teamsters Local 63 union officials. The campaign for the firing was led by employee John Cwiek, who received the support of a majority of his coworkers for a petition calling for a vote to disband the union. Cwiek received pro bono legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation throughout his legal battle to disband the union, which he and his coworkers opposed.

Teamsters leave

The initiative began when Mr. Cwiek filed a union decertification petition in March of this year, asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a secret ballot vote to strip Teamsters union officials of their monopoly bargaining power over Dependable Highway Express employees. When it finally became clear that the vote would take place, Teamsters officials admitted defeat and left the bargaining group rather than run against the decertification.

Because Cwiek and his colleagues work in California, where the Right to Work Act does not apply, Teamsters officials had the authority to enforce contracts that required workers to pay dues or fees as a condition of employment. With the union defunct, Dependable Highway Express workers are freed from both the union’s forced dues demands and unwanted monopoly bargaining power.

The decertification came after the foundation helped Cwiek bring unfair labor practice charges against Teamsters union officials who retaliated against him for providing truthful but unfavorable information about union officials to his colleagues.

Union bosses threatened workers for disclosing union bosses’ salaries

In January, Cwiek sent letters to his coworkers detailing the salaries of union bosses – information Cwiek had obtained from the Teamsters’ public records at the U.S. Department of Labor. In retaliation for sending the letters, a union representative showed up at Cwiek’s workplace the next day, making accusations against him and threatening that Cwiek would no longer work at Dependable Highway Express beginning with the next contract period.

“I am deeply disturbed by the blatant retaliation by Teamsters Local 63 officials in response to the expression of my views and those of several other hard-working drivers at Dependable Highway Express,” Cwiek commented at the time. “We will not be deterred by their intimidation tactics and the baseless accusations they have made against me and others.”

“Mr. Cwiek’s fight and the struggles of other transportation workers across Southern California demonstrate exactly why right-to-work protections are so necessary,” commented Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Workers should of course not be forced to pay a union that conducts illegal activities, and ideally they should have full control over whether or not union officials receive a portion of their pay.”