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A Pleasanton-based construction company and the union representing a majority of its employees are each facing charges brought by a former, non-union employee alleging that she had membership dues deducted from her paycheck against her will and was effectively terminated from her position for refusing to join the union.
Alexandra Le filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board on Oct. 4 against Construction Training Services and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local No. 3, with Virginia-based attorney Byron Andrus of the National Right to Work Foundation providing legal counsel.
“It’s outrageous that IUOE union officials believe they can get me fired simply because I don’t agree with their organization and don’t want to support or affiliate with them,” Le said in a statement released later in the month through the foundation. “IUOE union officials have been far more concerned with consolidating power in the workplace and collecting dues than caring about me and my coworkers, and I hope the NLRB will hold them responsible for their illegal actions.”
Le alleges that the CTS unlawfully deducted union dues from her paychecks despite her refusal to be represented by the local union, and that the IUOE local representing her colleagues illegally accepted the funds. She also said that she was removed from the schedule at CTS following her refusal of union representation, and that the company said it was a condition of her continued employment.
NLRB press secretary Kayla Blado confirmed that the charges were filed with the department, and said that the board’s Oakland office was in the process of investigating the allegations.
Representatives from CTS and the IUOE local representing Le’s now-former coworkers did not respond to requests for comment as of Wednesday morning.
