{"id":1966,"date":"2008-02-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2016-06-13T15:48:27","modified_gmt":"2016-06-13T15:48:27","slug":"can-i-be-required-to-be-a-union-member-or-pay-dues-to-a-union-10","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.nrtw.org\/es\/can-i-be-required-to-be-a-union-member-or-pay-dues-to-a-union-10\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfMe pueden obligar a hacerme miembro del sindicato o a pagarle cuotas?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may not<\/strong> be required to be a union member. But, if you do not work in a Right to Work state, you may be required
\nto pay union fees. Employment relations for almost all private sector employees
\n(other than those in the airline and railroad industries) are covered by
\nthe National Labor
\nRelations Act (NLRA)<\/A>.<\/p>\n

Under the NLRA, you cannot be required to be a member of a union or pay
\nit any monies as a condition of employment unless the collective bargaining
\nagreement between your employer and your union contains a provision requiring
\nall employees to either join the union or pay union fees. <\/p>\n

Even if there is such a provision in the agreement, the most that can be
\nrequired of you is to pay the union fees (generally called an "agency
\nfee.") Most employees are not told by their employer and union that
\nfull union membership cannot lawfully be required<\/strong>.
\nIn Pattern
\nMakers v. NLRB<\/I>, 473 U.S. 95 (1985)<\/A>, the United States Supreme Court
\nheld that union members have the right to resign their union membership
\nat any time.<\/p>\n

If you are not a member, you are still fully covered by the collective
\nbargaining agreement that was negotiated between your employer and the
\nunion, and the union is obligated to represent you. Any benefits that are
\nprovided to you by your employer pursuant to the collective bargaining
\nagreement (e.g., wages, seniority, vacations, pensions, health insurance)
\nare not affected by your nonmembership. (If the union offers some
\n\u00abmembers-only\u00bb benefits, you might be excluded from receiving those.)
\nIf you are not a member, you may not be able to participate in union
\nelections or meetings, vote in collective bargaining ratification
\nelections, or participate in other \u00abinternal\u00bb union activities. However,
\nyou cannot be disciplined by the union for anything you do while not a member.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court, in Communications
\nWorkers v. Beck<\/I>, 487 U.S. 735 (1988)<\/A>, a lawsuit that was supported
\nby the Foundation, ruled that objecting nonmembers cannot be required to
\npay union dues. The most that nonmembers can be required to pay is an agency
\nfee that equals their share of what the union can prove is its costs of
\ncollective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment
\nwith their employer.<\/p>\n

Except in extraordinary cases, the union’s costs of collective bargaining,
\ncontract administration, and grievance adjustment do not equal the dues
\namount.<\/p>\n

Beck<\/I> makes clear that nonmembers required to pay union fees as a
\ncondition of employment have a right under the NLRA to object and obtain
\na reduction of their compulsory payments so that they do not include union
\nexpenses for purposes other than collective bargaining, contract administration,
\nand grievance adjustment.<\/p>\n

If you would like to get an idea of the kind of union expenses which are
\nnot chargeable to nonmembers, click here<\/A>.<\/p>\n

The United States Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit,
\nin Abrams
\nv. Communications Workers<\/I>, 59 F.3d 1373 (D.C. Cir. 1995)<\/A>, another
\nlawsuit that was supported by the Foundation, took the position, correctly
\nwe think, that private sector unions under the NLRA must comply with the
\nprocedural requirements imposed on public employee unions by the United
\nStates Supreme Court in Chicago
\nTeachers Union v. Hudson<\/I>, 475 U.S. 292 (1986)<\/A>. However, the National
\nLabor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency which has the primary responsibility
\nfor enforcing the NLRA, in California Saw and Knife Works<\/I>, 320 N.L.R.B.
\n224 (1995), enforced, 133 F.3d 1012 (7th Cir. 1998), ruled that only some of the requirements of Hudson<\/I>
\napply under the NLRA. At this time, the NLRB only requires unions to provide
\nthe following procedures to safeguard your right to pay no more than a limited
\nagency fee:<\/p>\n

* the union must inform you that you have the right to be a nonmember;
\n * the union must inform you that nonmembers have the right to object to
\n paying for union activities not germane to the union’s duties as bargaining
\n agent and to obtain a reduction in fees for those activities;
\n * the union must give you sufficient information to enable you to intelligently
\n decide to object;
\n * the union must tell you about its procedures for filing objections;
\n and,
\n * if you object, the union must tell you the percentage of the reduction,
\n the basis for the calculation, and that you have the right to challenge
\n these figures. <\/p>\n

If the union does not provide you with these procedures, or if you want
\nto challenge the amount the union claims from you as an agency fee, you
\ncan either bring a lawsuit in federal court for breach of the union’s duty
\nof fair representation or file an unfair labor practice charge with the
\nnearest NLRB regional office. However, any such lawsuit or unfair labor
\npractice charge must be filed within six (6) months of the conduct of which
\nyou complain. If you file a duty of fair representation lawsuit, you will
\nneed an attorney. If you file an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB,
\nand the General Counsel issues a complaint on your charge, the NLRB will
\nprovide a lawyer to litigate the charge.<\/p>\n

However, the NLRB-provided lawyer represents what NLRB and its General
\nCounsel consider to be important "public interests." You can have
\nyour own lawyer representing your interests, but the NLRB General Counsel
\ndecides what issues to litigate, and you cannot force the General Counsel
\nto litigate an issue he wants to leave out.<\/p>\n

If you work primarily in a Right to Work state<\/A>,
\nexcept on certain federal property, you not only have the right to refrain
\nfrom becoming a union member, you cannot be required to pay dues or an agency
\nfee to the union unless you choose to join the union. Employees who work
\non federal property may or may not be protected by their state’s Right to
\nWork law, depending on specific circumstances.<\/p>\n

If you would like to see a list of the 22 Right to Work states, click
\nhere<\/A>.<\/p>\n

In addition to the rights discussed above (concerning ways to limit your association with the union),
\nyou should also remember that private sector employees covered by the NLRA have the right to seek a
\n\u00abdeauthorization\u00bb election, which completely nullifies the compulsory unionism clause in the collective
\nbargaining contract and eliminates ALL dues requirements. For more information on this option, click
\nhere<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may not be required to be a union member. But, if you do not work in a Right to Work state, you may be required to pay union fees. Employment relations for almost all private sector employees (other than those in the airline and railroad industries) are covered by the National Labor Relations Act […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1966","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nCan I be required to be a union member or pay dues to a union?\u00bfMe pueden obligar a hacerme miembro del sindicato o a pagarle cuotas? - National Right to Work Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nrtw.org\/can-i-be-required-to-be-a-union-member-or-pay-dues-to-a-union-10\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can I be required to be a union member or pay dues to a union?\u00bfMe pueden obligar a hacerme miembro del sindicato o a pagarle cuotas? - National Right to Work Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You may not be required to be a union member. 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