May 25, 2017 - 

At the beginning of January, Governor Bevin and the new majority in Frankfort launched an all-out assault on the hard-working men and women of Kentucky by passing so-called “Right-to-Work.” This deceptively named law exists for one reason, and one reason only; to harm Kentucky workers and the unions that represent them.

In response to this attack, Teamsters Local 89 joined with other organizations to research our legal options. That research led to today, when Teamsters 89 joined with the Kentucky State AFL-CIO to file a legal challenge to the so-called “Right-to-Work” Act.

“We are proud to be on the front line in the fight to protect the hard-working women and men in Kentucky,” said Teamsters Local 89 President Fred Zuckerman. “This assault on workers and their unions can’t be ignored, and we will continue leading this fight for as long as it takes to win."

Since unions must sue as a class-action in Kentucky, the lawsuit names Fred Zuckerman and William Londrigan as the class plaintiffs, on behalf of Teamsters Local 89 and the Kentucky State AFL-CIO.

At the center of the argument against so-called “Right-to-Work” is the indisputable fact that this law encourages workers at a unionized shop to refuse to pay their dues, but still be entitled to the same services and representation from the union. This will allow these “free riders” to take all the union’s negotiated benefits and representation without paying their fair share of the substantial costs of such things. This results in “free riders” taking dues money directly from the pockets of honest, proud, dues-paying members. This represents a clear and unfair taking of union resources and dues money without any sort of compensation, which we strongly believe is a violation of Kentucky’s Constitution.

Another primary argument against this unjust law is the fact that the Kentucky Constitution forbids “special legislation,” which is any law that targets only certain entities or organizations. “Right-to-Work” posits that unions may not require a person from paying their dues to receive the benefits and services the unions provide. However, unions are one of countless organizations that require dues payments or membership fees for their services. Kentucky Farm Bureau, for example, requires everyone with their insurance to pay a yearly membership fee in addition to their insurance premiums.  The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Bar Association are organizations that only provide services to dues paying members.   Why then are other organizations besides unions banned from requiring dues/membership fees for their services? The answer, of course, is simple; this legislation was designed solely to target unions, and therefore is in violation of the special legislation clause in the Kentucky Constitution.

In this lawsuit, Teamsters Local 89 is represented by our General Counsel Robert Colone and outside counsel David Suetholz, a Kentucky labor attorney who has won cases before both the Kentucky Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court.  The Kentucky State AFL-CIO is represented by Buddy Cutler, another established Kentucky labor attorney. Together, our legal teams have compiled a massive amount of evidence to demonstrate how damaging this law could be to Kentucky’s labor organizations, and why it should be ruled as unconstitutional. 

It is our hope that the judge in this case will weigh all the evidence and come to the same conclusion that we have; that so-called “Right-to-Work” is unlawful, and should be struck down immediately.

Please stay tuned to our social media pages and website as we continue to keep you updated on this lawsuit in the days, weeks, and months to come.

Update: May 26 - PDF of the KYRTW Challenge has been added as a download.