The Right To Employment Without Violating Your Conscience (Unions)

by
Share to the world...

Source Link: https://www.optouttoday.com/workers-of-faith
 Union money is commonly used for ideological activities unrelated to workplace representation or other general union services.  These activities include the controversial support of abortion and contraceptives for children, family planning clinics in schools,  sexual orientation/gender identity policies, and open attacks on religious organizations. This support has taken the form of resolutions, programs, or expenditures from unions.   Many workers have sincere religious convictions that are violated by these causes.  The laws nationwide assure that no worker can be required to violate their faith as a condition of employment.  Union workplaces must make an accommodation for the worker whose faith is violated by funding a union. 

Public employees may resign and end their deduction.

Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court in  Janus v. AFSCME established that public sector union operators cannot compel people of faith to support causes and efforts in conflict with their faith.   Ending dues deduction is now assured for public employees who simply submit a letter to the union resigning.  A simple resignation letter generator to end dues deduction is available at OptOutToday.com

Those who opt out are still forced to be part of a bargaining unit and have forfeited the ability to speak for themselves, negotiate their own terms of employment or hire someone else as an advocate. For the workers who decline to join, the unions will continue to negotiate their contract, and they will assist with grievances, discipline and contract enforcement.

Ending payroll deductions and union membership are typically “all-or-nothing.” However,  employees have complete control of their funds, they can write a check to fund any portion of the union activities they support if they wish .

 Private sector employees are protected. 

 Private sector unions are bound by federal law, which holds that the union cannot force any workers pay for activities that violate his or her religious beliefs. Unions must make some accommodation.   Private sector workers can become “religious objectors” through a simple process, which means they are no longer members of the union and 100 percent of their dues are redirected to a charity of their choice. 

In 28 states private sector employees have the “right to work” and union payment is not required. Those who object to the union may simply quit and make their own decisions about how to use their money. However, they are still forced to be part of a bargaining unit and have forfeited the ability to speak for themselves, negotiate their own terms of employment or hire someone else as an advocate. For the workers who decline to join, the unions will continue to negotiate their contracts, and they will assist with grievances, discipline and contract enforcement.

 In the 22 forced-fee states, workers must pay mandatory agency fees as a condition of employment. Workers who have personal religious objections to union activities are protected by federal law which spells out the right to an accommodation.   Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act states that employers cannot discriminate against one’s sincerely held religious beliefs as a condition of employment. Employers and unions must accommodate employees’ religious beliefs. 

The Civil Rights Act defines religion as “all aspects of religious observance and practice as well as belief.” Title VII treats religion very broadly, stating that religion consists of formal theistic beliefs and attitudes, but also personal beliefs relating to moral and ethical convictions.

Sometimes the union will suggest that only those who belong to a specific church which prohibits union membership (such as Seventh Day Adventists, Mennonites, and perhaps the Jehovah’s Witnesses), but  legal interpretations acknowledge that personally held religious beliefs are sufficient grounds for accommodation .

These religious convictions must be “sincerely held.” Sincerity of the belief is up to employers and unions to decide but is normally not questioned.

Having one’s belief accommodated in a union workplace could mean  workers either simply stop union payments  or they  send funds equivalent to dues to a charity instead of paying union dues . This arrangement shows that the interest of the employee is not financial, but truly faith-based.

Steps private sector workers can take to seek a religious accommodation to union payment

Step 1: The employee should determine the elements of union activities, positions or expenditures violating their religious beliefs.

Step 2: The employee needs to notify the union and employer about their religious beliefs through a written objection, which clearly states the nature of their beliefs, how they conflict with the work requirements, requesting an accommodation of those beliefs, along with reasonable accommodation suggestions to resolve the conflict.

Since the sincerity of the beliefs is to be evaluated by the union personnel for sincerity, the formulation of the letter seeking this accommodation needs to be personally generated. Topics, claims and background information which has distressed some people of faith are at the end of this document. The letter should reflect only those concerns which are faith-based and should only include the truly held beliefs.

If designating a charity to receive the funds is the accommodation, prepare a list of two or three charities which would be acceptable and provide their contact information. In the best form of accommodation, the donation to the charity is made directly by deduction from the employees’ paycheck.

 Freedom Foundation experts will review draft religious objection accommodation letters for those who want to be sure their request is complete. Send to Legal@freedomfoundation.com. 

Step 3: Once the request has been acknowledged, it is important to cooperate in working out a solution without the employee compromising on the matters of religious conviction.

 If the union and employer will not accommodate the employee’s religious beliefs, a complaint may be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 180 days , but commonly calling the union’s bluff is enough.

Please contact Legal@freedomfoundation.com for guidance or additional questions regarding the exercise of this right.

Union tenants as justification for religious objection

People of faith, particularly the Christian faith, may find some of the foundational tenants of the union ideology contrary to the tenants of their faith.

Dishonoring the employer. Often the operational practices of the union as it pursues the organizational objectives are malicious toward the employer. The whisper campaigns, badmouthing, exaggerated negativity toward management could violate several foundations of faith. Respect, honesty, kindness are virtues that people of faith are to demonstrate. Facilitating a smear campaign against the people who are managers or funding an organization which has as its operating procedure to take these actions could violate faith.

Some who follow Christian biblical beliefs could even hold that they have a duty to obey and respect those who have charge over a work arrangement, and the entire union movement presumes a “resist and demand” approach to this relationship.

Keeping one’s word and honoring a contract. Most employees have an individual contract and a collective bargaining agreement. In many cases this contract specifies terms of work, the schedule and even an obligation to not strike or inhibit the work responsibilities. However, most union bylaws contain obligations to cooperate in union strikes, disruptions or other actions. Keeping one’s word is a fundamental moral precept of faith, and accepting an obligation to violate an understanding or a contract would be contrary to most people’s faith.

Adversarial. The union narrative regarding the nature of the world is that conflict is essential. Management is bad and oppressive, and all evidence of this perception is highlighted and exaggerated. Meanwhile, the union narrative casts employees as adversaries to management, and suggests they are fighting a noble cause to prevent their own exploitation and oppression. The union actions are all intended to further this belief and to fight this epic battle forever.

Many faiths do not describe the world in this way, and they expect the faithful to behave according to different fundamental assumptions. Christianity describes all people as flawed, but worthy of love. Christians are challenged to love their enemies and to reflect God’s love to all people without judging some as unworthy. Buddhism reflects a similar principle of peace toward all including enemies. Joining a combative cause could easily be counter to one’s conscience.

Work actions or strikes.  The fundamental leverage of the union movement is a government-authorized power to damage the operations of the enterprise whether business or government. While some kinds of public employees are not permitted the one tool of a “strike,” the power to compel an employer to take actions or make expenditures is still central to the union.

Damaging the affairs of others, even if facilitated by government- enforced laws can be offensive to those of faith who abhor the use of force. Especially offensive to people of faith could be the withholding of services to those who are vulnerable or without other options such as children in schools and those served by government.  Facilitating and funding an organization taking these actions could be a violation of one’s faith.

Greed. Ironically, unions exist to fight greed but also to satisfy greed. In the union dogma the avarice of the employer is clearly called out as an injustice to be stopped, but the objectives of the union movement are the self-interest of the employee.

Often the union pursuit of gain for those in the union is at the expense of the interests of others. In the public sector, especially, the interests of employees might impact the availability of services to the community and the quality of those services. Workload changes, costs or diminished accountability all advance the employee’s interests while taking away from the interests of those served.

Many faiths eschew greed without discriminating between personal greed and that of others. Funding actions and an organization which eternally seeks self-interested gain could certainly be contrary to any faith which disapproves of greed. Any faith which asks that the interests of others be considered of equal importance—or elevated beyond one’s own interests—would be diametrically opposed to the very purpose of labor unions.

Union expenditures and agenda which could violate one’s faith

Unions have the ability to spend dues money on anything, and they tend to be dominated by people who are strident in the various causes of the Left. Many of the objectives of these movements are contrary to common religious belief systems, and sometimes they are aggressively opposed to people and organizations of faith.

Those considering their union’s agenda and expenditures should do their own research, but a few examples for some of the major unions are provided below.

Since union operators are not required to disclose spending to members, information about how dues are spent is incomplete. Some information is reported to the government, however.

 As a nonprofit, the IRS requires unions’ 990 tax return to be a public document, and these can be found online at sites like this.   Unions which represent private sector employees are obligated to report financial information to the U.S. Dept. of Labor in an annual LM-2 report which can be found here. 

American Federation of Teachers (AFT)

American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

National Education Association (NEA)

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Multiple unions including some of those listed above

Resources


Share to the world...
Tags: 04. Free Speech Protections, 12. Civil Liberties Protections, Articles, Discrimination, Important, Improper Activities, Legal, Legislation, MFA Articles, Religious Exemption