The Teamsters union violated federal labor law when it attempted to discipline 54 workers who refused to participate in a "sympathy strike" during the bitter Southern and Central California supermarket labor dispute, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled. The judge ordered the Teamsters local to notify members that they had a right to retroactively opt out of full membership in the union, though they must still pay fees to cover the expense of collective bargaining activities.
See "Teamsters Broke Law, Judge Rules", Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times, June 5, 2006