Two Huntingdon corrections officers suspected that their union’s officials were stealing their money. Eight Erie municipal workers believed that their union had misled them about their options before a contract vote. Taxpayers in Allentown and Reading objected to their school district paying the salary and benefits of union “ghost teachers.”
In the past, these abuses would have gone unchallenged. But since 2014, Pennsylvanians have been holding powerful union officials accountable in court through the free legal representation provided by the Fairness Center, a nonprofit law firm headquartered in Harrisburg.
As the Fairness Center’s president and general counsel, I’ve witnessed the challenging environment victims of union overreach face when they seek justice. Government union officials have deep pockets to hire pricey lawyers to defend themselves. They also have the political leverage in Harrisburg to protect laws and regulations that favor union power over individual rights.
It’s a system stacked against everyday Americans.
Frank Ricci, former president of a firefighters’ union and past client of the Fairness Center, puts it this way: “There’s no way a firefighter, cop, teacher, or somebody in public works has the money or resources to take on the huge union bureaucracy.”
However, because the Fairness Center represents clients pro bono, individuals can stand on principle when their rights are violated or they face discrimination or retaliation at the hands of union officials.
In Huntingdon, for example, our clients’ lawsuit uncovered evidence that corrections union officials had dipped into the union treasury to write checks to themselves and their friends; buy NFL tickets, a $12,000 Rolex watch, and outings at PGA Tour-level golf courses; and make more than $200,000 in questionable credit card purchases.
Their attempts to reform the union from within were ignored. But their litigation helped expose this rampant corruption. The arrests of six union officials, including three past union presidents, on felony theft charges soon followed.
In Erie, union officials handed a group of municipal employees a contract they didn’t want, telling them it was the only offer on the table. The employees reluctantly approved it, then found out that their employer had made them another offer with the pay increases and retirement benefits they had asked for.
The employees felt betrayed and hopeless. But after they found the Fairness Center, a judge ruled that the union had violated its duty to represent them fairly.
In Allentown, Reading and other school districts, teachers’ unions had arranged for a teacher to leave the classroom to work full time as the local union president. The problem? These “ghost teachers” stayed on school district payroll, receiving a teacher’s salary and benefits at taxpayers’ expense.
Our clients’ lawsuits exposed this practice and ended illegal ghost teaching in some of the state’s largest school districts.
Unfortunately, these and other union official abuses are not unique to Pennsylvania’s government unions. That is why, through the generosity of our donors, the Fairness Center has expanded from our origins in the Commonwealth to also serve Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Colorado clients, along with federal government employees.
In just over a decade, our firm has represented more than 200 clients who have sued 95 different unions — including powerful, well-funded nationwide unions like AFSCME, NEA, UAW, IBEW, UNITE HERE, and UFCW — and our clients have accomplished their goals in nine out of 10 cases.
Many imbalances remain, but armed with free legal representation, public employees are defending Free Speech, exposing corruption, and fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination within unions. They are leveling the playing field between individuals and union officials in Harrisburg and beyond.
Nathan McGrath is president and general counsel for the Fairness Center, a nonprofit public interest law firm that represents those hurt by public-sector union officials. For more information, visit fairnesscenter.org.
