[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 anything 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.

Educators in non-Right to Work states who are required to pay union dues or fees of a condition of employment have the right to cut off the portion
of their dues used for political and other non-bargaining activities. As
a result of Abood
v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977), a lawsuit that
was supported by the Foundation, educators 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 and contract
administration.

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 teachers.

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 non-member in a non-Right to Work state where state law or the contract
requires you to pay union fees and would
like to see a sample objection letter that will allow you to keep part of
the money that you have been sending to the union, click
here. You should check with the union to see if it has a policy concerning
when and to whom objections should be submitted.