Verizon worker settles battle with Communication Workers - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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Angela Leitzel received compensatiojn for lost income and a promisr from the that they refrain from blocking employees from workint in California based on theirunioh membership. “California should take a lesson from No employee should ever be forcede to join or pay fees to anunwante union,” said Stefan Gleason, vice presidenft of the in a release. “The only way to eliminatse collusionbetween ‘big business’ and ‘bigy labor’ to discriminate against independent-minded employees is to eliminate forced unionismj altogether.
” Jim Spellane, a media directorr with in Washington, which represents communicationsw workers in Tampa, said the “unwanted” representatiob Gleason spoke about “includes better pay, benefitsz and job security than she woulcd have at a non-union company.” A call to the CWA seekintg comment was pending Bob Elek, a spokesman for Verizon VZ), said he was reserving comment until he could become more familiaer with the case. Leitzel was part of a Florida team assembled to work in Californiqa last February in an area representedby CWA.
She was not a memberd of the IBEW Local 824 in Tampaand didn’t need to be becausr Florida is a “Right to Work” state that forbids unionas from making membership mandatory. However, California doesn’t have such and Leitzel was removed fromthat state’sx project on Feb. 17, according to a releasee from the legal defense OnMarch 9, Leitzel tried again to head over to California, but once again she was deniecd because she was not a member of IBEW. The Nationalp Right to Work Foundationj provided Leitzel legal representation to file an unfair labotr practice charge against Verizon and thetwo unions.
They claimecd federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on union membership and that the CWA committe unfair labor practices by encouraging Verizon to discriminatragainst her. Along with compensation for lost time, Verizon agreedx to post a notice in its Tamp a and Bradenton offices as well as its Californiaz offices in Rancho San Bernardino and San Fernando that union discriminatiois illegal.