[NOTE: You must be a non-member to avail yourself
of the rights discussed on this page. If you are currently
a member of the union, you must first become
a non-member and then object in order to ereceive
your dues rebate or reduction. To learn how to
become a non-member, click here.]

If you work in a Right to Work state, you not only have the right to refrain
from becoming a union member, you cannot be required to pay dues or an
agency fee to the union unless you choose to join the union.

If you wish to see a list of the 22 Right to Work States, click
here.

Workers in non-Right to Work states have the right to cut off the portion
of their dues used for politics and nother nonbargaining activities. As
a result of Abood
v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977), a First Amendment
lawsuit that was supported by the Foundation, public employees cannot be
required to do more than pay a union fee (typically called an "agency
fee") that equals their share of what the union can prove is its costs
of collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment.

Except in extraordinary cases, the union’s costs of collective bargaining,
contract administration, and grievance adjustment do not equal the dues
amount.

If you are a nonmember, you have a right to object and obtain a reduction
of your compulsory agency fee payments so that they do not include the
part of dues that is used for purposes other than collective bargaining,
contract administration, and grievance adjustment.

The employer and the union must establish certain procedures to safeguard
your right to pay only a limited fee to the union. These safeguards include
giving you:

* Audited financial information about how the amount of the agency fee
was calculated;

* An opportunity to challenge the amount of the agency fee before an
impartial decisionmaker and make the union prove its fee claim; and,

* The right to place the contested amount of the agency fee in escrow
so that the union will not be able to illegally use your money while a
decision on the proper amount of the agency fee is pending.

Your right to proper safeguards is based upon Chicago
Teachers Union v. Hudson, 475 U.S. 292 (1986), another lawsuit
that was supported by the Foundation.

In Lehnert
v. Ferris Faculty Association, 500 U.S. 507 (1991), another Foundation
supported lawsuit, the Supreme Court discussed the type of expenses which
are chargeable and which are not chargeable to nonmember public employees.

If you would like to get an idea of the types of union expenses which
are not chargeable to nonmembers, click here.

If you are a nonmember and would like to see a sample objection letter
that will allow you to keep a part of the money that you have been sending
to the union, click here. You should also check with
the union to see if it has a policy concerning when and to whom objections should be
submitted. For links to union objection policies on the Internet, click here.