Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Teenage grocery worker files complaint over union dues

Boy finds representation through Virginia-based anti-union group

An Oceanside teenager has filed a complaint alleging unfair labor practices, claiming he was misled to believe that membership in the United Food and Commercial Workers union was compulsory at his part-time job at a Ralphs supermarket represented by UFCW Local 135.

According to a statement from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc., which is representing the minor and describes itself as a “nonprofit charitable institution” with a mission “to eliminate coercive union power and compulsory unionism abuses,” union representatives provided the boy with an illegally-worded employment packet upon hire.

“UFCW Local 135 union officials provided the clerk in July with a membership packet that illegally stated that the clerk and other new hires must join the union and pay full union dues as a condition of their employment while burying notice of his actual legal rights,” the Foundation says. “Information about workers’ right to refrain from full dues paying union membership was located at the back of the packet in fine print.”

When the worker tried to resign his union membership in order to pay reduced dues (a portion of which are indeed mandatory in union-represented workplaces such as Ralph’s), his requests were “denied, stonewalled, or ignored,” according to the National Labor Relations Board complaint filed with the assistance of the Foundation.

Among other alleged injustices are a request that the worker to appear in person at the union hall with his request to resign and that he provide the union with his Social Security number. He was also reportedly threatened with termination if he failed to comply with demands that he join the union as a full member.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again

An Oceanside teenager has filed a complaint alleging unfair labor practices, claiming he was misled to believe that membership in the United Food and Commercial Workers union was compulsory at his part-time job at a Ralphs supermarket represented by UFCW Local 135.

According to a statement from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc., which is representing the minor and describes itself as a “nonprofit charitable institution” with a mission “to eliminate coercive union power and compulsory unionism abuses,” union representatives provided the boy with an illegally-worded employment packet upon hire.

“UFCW Local 135 union officials provided the clerk in July with a membership packet that illegally stated that the clerk and other new hires must join the union and pay full union dues as a condition of their employment while burying notice of his actual legal rights,” the Foundation says. “Information about workers’ right to refrain from full dues paying union membership was located at the back of the packet in fine print.”

When the worker tried to resign his union membership in order to pay reduced dues (a portion of which are indeed mandatory in union-represented workplaces such as Ralph’s), his requests were “denied, stonewalled, or ignored,” according to the National Labor Relations Board complaint filed with the assistance of the Foundation.

Among other alleged injustices are a request that the worker to appear in person at the union hall with his request to resign and that he provide the union with his Social Security number. He was also reportedly threatened with termination if he failed to comply with demands that he join the union as a full member.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Hilton Mission Valley to lay off 148

Next Article

Union leader denies sexual harassment charges

Lawsuit claims Mickey Kasparian made demands for oral sex
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader