The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation announced that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Philadelphia has scheduled a vote for July 17 to decide if employees at Philadelphia International Airport can remove Unite Here Local 274 union officials. This decision follows nearly five months of litigation initiated by employee Kale Mulugeta with assistance from the foundation's attorneys.

According to the foundation, with the backing of over 60% of her coworkers at New York Ice Cream, Inc., which operates several restaurant locations at the airport, Mulugeta's petition successfully prompted the election. Despite the union's attempt to block the vote by asserting that Mulugeta was a manager's agent due to her translation role, the NLRB dismissed this claim and scheduled the election.

"Ms. Mulugeta and her coworkers’ situation demonstrates the struggles that rank-and-file employees face when trying to exercise their right to free themselves from a union hierarchy that they don’t believe serves their interests," commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. "Workers face legal resistance from union lawyers themselves. But it also doesn’t help that the perennially pro-union boss Biden NLRB has been pushing policy after policy designed to aid union bosses in trapping workers under union ‘representation.’"

If the majority of employees vote to decertify the union, they will be freed from the requirement to pay union dues, a mandate in Pennsylvania which lacks Right to Work protections. This election will determine if Mulugeta and her coworkers can work without union intervention and mandatory dues.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, founded in 1968, is a nonprofit organization aiming to eliminate mandatory union membership and coercive union practices through litigation, public information, and education programs.