A Ford hourly employee filed charges against the UAW with the National Labor Relations Board.
The UAW may be getting an early look at possible changes in the dues it collects from its members as a Ford hourly worker filed charges against the union with the National Labor Relations Board over how much it collects from him.
Todd Lemire, a tool-and-die maker in Dearborn, wants the UAW to collect enough to cover only expenses related to the organization’s core activities, such as collective bargaining, grievances, etc. He doesn’t want to pay for the union’s participation in political activities, specifically its support of the Democratic Party.
He opted out of paying dues for those activities through his Beck rights, a 1988 Supreme Court decision allowing union members to exempt themselves from paying for those activities. Lemire opted out in early April.
However, he’s unhappy with how the UAW is handling the collection of funds. Right now, the union collects full dues, and then reimburses Lemire for the non-core costs. Thus far, he’s received $98 back for the last three months.
Lemire wants them to simply collect what they need until he can opt out of paying any dues at all when the current contract expires in September 2015, in accordance with Michigan’s Right to Work law, which passed in 2012.
He is receiving free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.
“No worker should be forced to jump over hurdles to exercise their right to refrain from union affiliation,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, in a released statement. “This case underscores just how important Michigan’s Right to Work law is for workers.”
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There are some concerns about what will happen to the UAW’s finances when workers can elect to no longer contribute in Michigan. While Right to Work is relatively new to Michigan, there are 23 others states that have been operating under those rules and there hasn’t been a significant change to the UAW locals in those states.
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The UAW has more than 100,000 hourly workers in the auto industry, with the majority of them being in Michigan or other states that do not have right-to-work laws in place. However, the current UAW contract was agreed to before the legislation passed so no UAW employees can opt out until the contract expires next year.
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There are no estimates on how many UAW members will opt out of paying the dues in Michigan, but the Michigan Education Association, the state’s teachers union, saw 1,500 of its approximately 110,000 members opt out last year.
In the past, UAW leaders have suggested they have no problem with employees who don’t want to be part of a union, what they don’t appreciate is the fact they get the benefits of union representation without paying their share of the costs to secure those benefits.