Wisconsin lawsuit filed over forced union membership, dues

A Wisconsin employee has filed a class action lawsuit against the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 7 and Olympic Companies claiming the company and union continue to deduct dues from her paychecks even after she provided written notice of the termination of her union membership.

Caryn Johnson is being represented by the National Right to Work Foundation, which filed charges at the National Labor Relations Board in June on Johnson’s behalf after the she was told that union membership was mandatory.

Johnson argues in the class action that prior federal court decisions related to Right to Work in Wisconsin were decided incorrectly.

“Wisconsin’s popular Right to Work law is designed to fully protect workers from being forced to pay union dues against their will, yet that right is being improperly limited by union officials using arbitrary ‘window periods’ to stifle workers’ attempts to stop dues,” National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix said in a statement. “We are proud to assist Ms. Johnson as she fights for not only her own rights, but to defend the workplace freedoms of all Wisconsinites.”

Johnson was told that she had to wait until a 10-day window in February 2027 to stop paying dues.

The lawsuit claims that “Johnson was illegally coerced into the union in the first place and Wisconsin law protects her right to choose when to stop dues payments.”