Report: Lindenhurst Bus Drivers Appeal NLRB Settlement

A group of Lindenhurst school bus drivers have appealed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office’s proposed settlement of a federal charge filed against a local Teamster union, according to a report on LegalNewsline.com.

A Baumann and Sons Bus Company driver and at least four other drivers originally filed a complaint in late 2011 with the NLRB regional office in Brooklyn, according to the report.

They claimed Teamsters Local Union 1205 officials refused to provide them with adequate financial information about the union's financial expenditures as required by federal law, the report said.

The workers refused full dues-paying union membership, according to the report, but since New York state doesn't have a Right to Work law, non-union workers still have to pay union fees relating to collective bargaining.

The report explained they can't be required to pay union dues spent for union activities like political activism, lobbying and member-only events, and unions are required to provide an independently audited breakdown of all forced-dues union expenditures.

The drivers won a federal settlement before the NLRB regional office requiring Local 1205 union officials to provide adequate disclosure and post notices in the workplace informing workers of their rights.

But now the drivers are appealing the proposed settlement for two reasons, according to a press release about the appeal on NRTW.org, the National Right to Work Foundation which provided free legal assistance to the drivers:

• It doesn't require Local 1205 union officials to provide substantial proof the financial disclosure statements provided to the workers are independently audited.
• The notices the settlement requires would be posted during the Summer months when the bus drivers don't work.

"The regional NLRB office is attempting to let Teamster Local 1205 union bosses off the hook by posting the notice when no one's looking and not forcing Teamster bosses to fully comply with the law," said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation in the LegalNewsline.com report.

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