(ABC 6 News) – On Dec. 22, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board confirmed United Steelworkers Union withdrew their representation of the support staff.

According to representatives of Austin Mayo Clinic staff, the Steelworkers Union have effectively been forced out of Austin Mayo Clinic.

Erin Krulish, a nurse at Austin Mayo Clinic, previously asked the NLRB to administer a vote to remove the union, however union officials pulled intention to represent the clinic’s staff before a formal vote could come.

According to the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-union lobbying group representing Austin Mayo Clinic staff, staff were set to push the USW out; union leaders decided rather than lose an election, they’d instead walk away, the foundation stated.

“So what happened here was a majority of the workers, in the case here in Austin, a majority of the workers in the unit signed that petition they said we want to have an election to decertify the union meaning remove the union from the workplace,” said foundation president Mark Mix. “Shortly before the election was to occur the steelworkers decided instead of losing an election they would just walk away”

The National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement:

We’re happy that Ms. Krulish and her fellow support staff at the Austin Mayo Clinic are finally free of a Steelworkers union they’ve opposed for some time. While this result is good, the case is another example of a union hierarchy that manipulated its government-granted powers to stick around in a workplace despite clearly evidence employees wanted them removed.

Krulish and her coworkers voted to strip the union of its forced dues powers a year ago and expressed that they would have kicked the union out completely if they had the choice. But they were stifled by the NLRB’s non-statutory ‘contract bar,’ which prevents employees from voting out union officials for up to three years. This, and other NLRB-created restrictions on workers’ right to remove a union they oppose, have no place in American labor law.

National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix

“Right to work” refers to a workers ability to work for a company without needing to pay union dues or needing to be a part of a union.

According to the United Steelworkers, the union stated it represents workers even if they are not union members or pay dues.

ABC 6 News has reached out to both United Steelworkers, but the union has not responded for further comments.