Fees Proposed for Those Not Paying Dues

One element of the recently drafted Defense Department labor-management changes touching a union hot button involves dues and fees for union members. Under federal labor law, unions are obligated to represent all members of a bargaining unit regardless of whether the individual pays dues to the unions. In practice, the large majority of unit members don’t pay dues-people the unions disparagingly call “free riders”-resulting in a financial burden on the unions. Unions have long complained about that obligation and some unionists have advocated charging fees to those not paying dues. The DoD plan would require non-dues paying unit members to pay a fee, to be determined by the union, for any individual representation provided by the union, such as in a grievance of a personnel action. If the fee is paid the union would have to “fairly and competently” represent the individual, but if the fee is not paid the union would have the right to not represent the individual. While on the surface the change might appear favorable to the unions, they are concerned that such an arrangement actually could further reduce the number of dues-payers, since employees might come to view the union as simply a potential source of legal help to be used only as-needed.