Washington, D.C. July 12 2023 On Monday, MTAC Inc. Security Guard Benson Sebuabe filed federal unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in response to his illegal termination from MTAC at the behest of union officials.

The charge against MTAC is the latest in an ongoing legal battle against illegal retaliation by union officials with the self-described “Union Rights for Security Officers” (URSO) union in response to Benson’s attempt to end forced union dues at his workplace. After union officials formally pushed for Sebuabe’s termination after a deauthorization petition was circulated, Sebuabe filed an unfair labor practice charge for the illegal retaliatory action.

Sebuabe is receiving free legal representation from Foundation staff attorneys with his deauthorization petition and his charges against the URSO union and MTAC for retaliating against him for exercising his federal right to petition for a deauthorization vote.

Sebuabe filed a deauthorization petition on June 5, 2023, that contained more than enough signatures of his coworkers to trigger an employee vote. In the petition, MTAC employees seek to strip union officials of their authority to have workers fired for refusing to pay union dues or fees.

Without a deauthorization vote, URSO union officials can make union fee payments a condition of employment because workers in Washington, D.C., lack the protection of a Right to Work law. Right to Work laws, currently enforced in 27 states, prohibit compulsory union fee requirements. However, even in forced dues jurisdictions like Washington, D.C., union officials must follow certain requirements to seize forced fees from objecting employees — requirements URSO officials have failed to satisfy with regards to Sebuabe.

After Sebuabe began garnering employee support to strip union officials of their ability to make union fee payments compulsory, Sebuabe began receiving threats stating he would be fired from his job. As a result of the multiple threats, Sebuabe and his Foundation attorneys sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding an end to the illegal harassment and retaliation threats against the security guard for exercising his rights under federal law.

Instead of ceasing their illegal behavior, URSO union officials doubled-down on their threats and formally pushed for Sebuabe’s termination. Sebuabe and his Foundation staff attorneys responded by filing an unfair labor practice charge against the union for illegally trying to have Sebuabe fired for exercising his right to petition for a deauthorization election.

“URSO retaliated against Benson Sebuabe, an employee of MTAC, Inc., demanding his immediate termination for organizing and filing a UD petition (filed June 5, 2023 and refiled on June 9, 2023) with the NLRB, in violation of his Section 7 rights. As such URSO committed an unfair labor practice under 8(b)(1) and 8(b)(2),” the original charge reads.

Sebuabe’s employer carried out his termination on June 28, just three weeks after the filing of the deauthorization petition. In response, Foundation staff attorneys filed an unfair labor practice charge against the employer.

“In their growing greed for forced dues, URSO union bosses have unleashed retaliatory action against a worker simply for attempting to exercise his clear statutory rights under the National Labor Relations Act,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “The right to petition for and hold a deauthorization election to end union officials’ pay-up-or-be-fired threats is as clear as day in federal law, and Mr. Sebuabe cannot be terminated for choosing to exercise that right.”

“Ultimately, this case shows why every worker in America deserves the protection of a Right to Work law to make all payments strictly voluntary,” continued Mix. “Workers should not have to navigate the complex deauthorization process and accompanying union pressure and retaliation tactics just to cut off dues to a union they oppose.”

Share this post: on Twitter on Facebook