Teacher
unions: your money, your rights! |
In states with a right to
work policy such as Idaho, teachers have the right to join or to
refrain from joining the teachers union. This is called
the "right to work principle." Other states such
as Washington and Oregon, have instituted a policy of compulsory
union fees as a condition of employment. The U.S. Supreme
Court has ruled that states cannot force a teacher to join
a union, but it can force him/her to pay the union for
representation. However, the Court provides certain
remedies to protect the freedom of association and speech for
teachers required to pay union fees as a condition of
employment.
IDAHO TEACHER RIGHTS
Idaho
teachers may revoke their union dues
payroll authorization at any time according to Idaho's Right to Work statute.
However, the union payroll deduction authorization form states
that a teacher must resign by October 15 in order to stop the
agreement to pay for union dues. For a sample UNION RESIGNATION letter for Idaho
(and districts in Washington/Oregon that do NOT require union
fees), click here.
WASHINGTON AND OREGON
TEACHER RIGHTS
For a printer-friendly document on teacher rights in compulsory union fee states,
click here. Teachers
have the right to remain nonunion and request a rebate for the
portion of dues not used for representation, grievances, and
contract maintenance. A class action lawsuit challenging
the Washington Education Association's calculation of the rebate
resulted in nonunion teachers who object to paying for
nonrepresentation activities and who request a rebate receiving
a $200-$300 union dues rebate. Teachers with moral or
religious objections to union dues, may request religious
objector status and divert 100% of their union dues to a
charity. Additional information on exercising these rights
is provided below. NWPE can help teachers exercise their
rights and connect them with free legal advice regarding the
exercise of their rights.
In compulsory union agency shop fee states, employees are
often told, "You have to join the union," or "You have to pay the dues anyway, so you might as well join the union." These statements are WRONG.
As an American citizen, you have the right to join or not to join the union in the exercise of your constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom of association. However, Washington and Oregon state laws do require the payment to the union of a workplace representation fee, or an "agency fee," by nonunion members in those districts that include agency fee clauses in their collective bargaining agreements.
The "agency fee" is the portion of union dues which pays for collective bargaining, contract maintenance, and grievance resolution. Other activities which are not chargeable to nonunion educators (such as non-educational politics) may be rebated back to the nonunion member who objects to paying for activities not related to collective bargaining, etc.
While many employees support their local union, they may desire to opt out of the
state union and NEA because of their support of political and social issues that the educator opposes. See Grading the NEA: The Troubling Values of a Union Giant.
Unfortunately, the union imposes a unified dues structure which does not typically permit supporting the local union without also funding the state affiliate and NEA. Teachers in Washington and Oregon pay up to
$1000 in dues to their union (NEA, state affiliate, local and regional Uniserv councils). A majority of the teachers’ unions’ spending has been estimated to be political rather than for worker representation. Many believe that employees are being grossly overcharged for legitimate union representation work.
Thomas Jefferson said, "To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical." If you do not want your union dues to pay for politics with which you disagree, educators in agency fee states have two options. One is to become a non-member "agency fee payer." The other option is to become a "religious objector." To learn more about your rights and options, see:
Your Legal Rights: Public School Teacher or College Professor
AGENCY FEE PAYER:
If you want to get money back because you have political or ideological objections to WEA/NEA's agenda, you can become
a nonunion "agency fee payer." Agency fee payers pay the union 100% of regular dues, but are eligible to claim a rebate of roughly 30% (in Washington) each year if they remember to request it in writing each fall. Agency fee payers pay for collective bargaining, contract maintenance, and grievance resolution services which the union is legally obligated to provide to the agency fee payers. To learn how to exercise this option, see:
http://www.effwa.org/tppreport/optout.htm#agencyfee
http://www.nrtw.org/a/a_1_t.htm
Agency Fee Payer Objection/Challenge/Rebate Request Letter for Washington
RELIGIOUS OBJECTOR:
A religious objector is an individual of faith who does not want to belong to the union for reasons of conscience. Under the provisions of state law and similar federal provisions in Title VII of the Federal Civil Rights Act, if the union’s activities violate your sincere religious beliefs, you may choose to have the equivalent of your union dues sent to a charity rather than the union.
To exercise this option, see:
http://www.ichoosecharity.org/index.php
http://www.nrtw.org/a/a_5.htm
