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Workers at Tri-State Asphalt in Morris voted to cut ties with
Teamsters Local 179. The vote – conducted by the National Labor
Relations Board Region 25 – was one-sided, with 80% of the
employees voting to reject the union.
Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation,
said the practice is becoming more common.
"A union member today is more likely to be involved in a vote to
try to get the union out of their workplace as a nonunion member
is to get the union into the workplace," said Mix.
The NRWF reports Brent Johnson submitted the employee-backed
petition seeking a vote to remove the union during a
Teamsters-ordered strike against Tri-State Asphalt, during which
Teamsters bosses filed charges against management. After the
vote, Teamsters officials could have further pursued those
charges to invalidate the election results but chose not to.
Because Illinois lacks protections for private sector employees
to work a job without being forced to pay union dues, Mix said
Teamsters union officials also had the power to force Johnson
and his coworkers to pay dues to the union hierarchy just to
stay employed. In the 27 "right-to-work" states – including
neighboring Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa – union membership and
union financial support cannot be a condition of employment.
"It happens in all the states, but in the non-right-to-work
states there is extra incentive because these workers are forced
to pay dues and fees to the union in order to get or keep their
jobs," said Mix.
A request for comment from Teamsters Local 179 went unanswered.
Similar union-rejection votes have taken place at workplaces
around Illinois, including in Carpentersville and Murphysboro.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in
Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of
experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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