Ventra Evart Auto Parts Employee Takes On UAW Bosses for Illegally Seizing Dues

A worker at car parts manufacturer Ventra Evart LLC filed an unfair labor practice charge against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union local at her place of employment on September 22, 2020.

In her charges, the employee alleged that the union bosses illegally ignored her request to stop taking dues from her paycheck and are still taking money from her. She filed the charges at Region 7 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Detroit with free legal counsel from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

Meagan Holmes, the employee in question, is an inspector for Ventra Evart. In the charges she pressed, she recounted submitting a resignation letter to UAW bosses where she not only requested to leave the union but also asked the union stop deducting dues from her paycheck.

According to Holmes’ charge, the union bosses’ actions violated her rights in accordance to Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the federal law which secures the “right to refrain from any or all” union activities for workers. The NLRB is the federal agency that is tasked with making sure that the NLRA is enforced. On top of that, Michigan passed Right to Work safeguards for its public and private sector workers back in 2013. This Right to Work law ensures that no workers in Michigan can be forced to fund union leadership structures as a condition of employment or keeping their job.

This recent charge comes at a time when a multi-year federal probe into embezzlement and racketeering taking place in the UAW’s highest echelons continues to gather convictions. In April, former UAW president Gary Jones pleaded guilty to misallocating $1 million in dues paid by everyday workers. The corruption count rose to 15 late in August following Dennis Williams’ — the UAW president that came before Jones — indictment by federal prosecutors. Williams is also expected to plead guilty. The stolen worker money in this ongoing investigation was spent by union bosses to acquire luxuries such as “golf vacations, high-end liquor, wine and cigars, and lavish steak dinners, according to federal documents”, according to a statement from the National Right to Work Foundation.

“Ms. Holmes’ charge clearly demonstrates that UAW officials’ inclination to break the law is not just limited to the top bosses caught red-handed in the federal investigation,” declared National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Now more than ever, all workers under the UAW’s bargaining regime need to have the power to hold union officials accountable by being able to cut off all union dues or fees.”

With the UAW currently under investigation, this is the perfect time for labor watchdogs to turn up the heat on Big Labor institutions and expose their dirty laundry. The National Right to Work Committee can always be counted on to do that.