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An employee from Agralite Electric Cooperative, based in Benson, Minnesota, has filed federal charges against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). The charges, submitted at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 18 in Minneapolis, contest restrictions imposed by union officials on members who wish to cease financial support for union political activities. The employee, Theresa Klassen, is receiving legal support from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys at no cost.
Under the Supreme Court's Communications Workers of America (CWA) v. Beck decision, unions cannot require workers who are not formal members to pay dues for purposes other than collective bargaining functions. Klassen is citing this decision to argue her case against both IBEW international and IBEW Local 160.
Klassen noted, "It’s disappointing that IBEW union officials can legally force me to fork over even a little bit of my paycheck to them after I resigned my membership, but refusing to pay for union politics is my right and the IBEW isn’t respecting it." She claimed that IBEW imposed time constraints on the exercise of her rights and required communication with union officials in Washington, D.C., which she considered inappropriate.
