Union, hospital face more lawsuits from Michigan nurse over dues

(The Center Square) – Michigan unions and workers continue to clash six months after the state legislature repealed its Right to Work law, with the most recent case involving a nurse who has filed additional charges against Teamsters Local 332 and her employer.

Madrina Wells, from Grand Blanc Township, had already sued Ascension Genesys Hospital and Teamsters in July , accusing them of threatening to fire her and a coworker for not signing forms authorizing the union to deduct dues from their paychecks.

Now, Wells is filing additional complaints against those organizations for deducting union dues out of her paycheck anyway, without her providing the consent forms.

“I already had issues with Teamsters bosses’ illegally demanding money from me when Right to Work was in force,” Wells said. “It’s ridiculous that rather than comply with my rights, Teamsters Local 332, now with the assistance of my employer, have violated Federal law once again by deducting dues from my paycheck without my consent.”

The 2018 U.S. Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME ruled it unconstitutional for labor unions to extract agency fees from nonconsenting, nonunion member employees in the public sector. Right to Work laws had guaranteed private sector workers those same protections.

Wells filed the charges with legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

“Michigan workers are standing up to defend what rights they still have against union coercion, and the Foundation is proud to assist them,” NRTW Foundation President Mark Mix said in a statement. “Ultimately though, this flood of legal aid requests from Michigan workers challenging forced dues abuses shows why Michigan workers need the protection of Right to Work, so that union financial support is fully voluntary once again.”

Ascension Genesys Hospital and Teamsters Local 332 did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for comment.

Teamsters Local 332 says on its website that it “works hard to protect your rights in the workplace and give every worker a voice,” and that Right to Work legislation “weakens representation by allowing some workers to enjoy the advantages of union membership without contributing.”