Pennsylvania EMT files second petition to remove Teamsters Local 205

The NLRB Regional Director explained in the dismissal notice that “since the petition was filed eight days short of six-months from the parties’ first bargaining session, a voluntary recognition bar exists and I am therefore dismissing the petition.” The union had been recognized as the monopoly representative for employees without a secret ballot election, and since less than six months had passed since bargaining began, the petition was denied.

Pennsylvania does not have Right to Work laws, which means that employees can be required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment under union contracts. Without a decertification election, Martin and other employees may have to pay dues or fees or risk losing their jobs.

The National Right to Work Foundation has reported an increase in requests from workers seeking assistance in efforts to remove unions from their workplaces, including similar cases in Texas and Kentucky involving the Teamsters.

“Teamsters union brass, increasingly unable to hold onto their rank and file, are choosing to silence worker voices by not allowing them the chance to have their wishes expressed via secret ballot elections,” stated National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “This attempt to use any means to keep workers trapped in a union they oppose and never even voted for demonstrates why the NLRB should move to eliminate the various Board-created hurdles that workers face when attempting to exercise their statutory right to hold decertification elections.”