Should you pay union dues? What should you think about when you make that decision?

[@bethmendoza1847]

Once you join, you can’t get out until you quit your job, retire or die. I continued my union dues into retirement and now they won’t stop taking their dues out of my retirement check. They won’t let me drop out of the union at all. OPM says they aren’t authorized to help me. The union says to go through OPM. I’m thinking I’m going to need a lawyer.

[@pb9832]

Like getting car insurance after you crash your car.

[@JobAttorney]

Exactly

[@alechershman8322]

If we pay the union when they *don't* have concrete, demonstrable need of payment then we create a secondary extractive market that profits from our labor. Ostensibly we have more democratic control over that market than over the primary one of our workplaces, but when a union is larger or more bureaucratic than the workplace itself, this is often not the case. We simply have a second layer management hierarchy, and if they come to workers' behalves only based on legal obligations/calculations and not out of a sense of solidarity with grievance, then we've essentially just reduplicated an extractive capitalism at our expense as workers.

[@jimmyd4477]

hardy anyone comes to our meetings feels like we pay dues with nothing in return

[@Ether-pb5gb]

I used to be a part of the union, until I realized how great my relationship is with my working staff. I had a problem my first year as a teacher, and the union wasn't helpful for that problem. So I have been union free for 7 years. I still get the protections of the collective bargaining agreement.

[@Ether-pb5gb]

I've saved over 4,000.

[@JobAttorney]

@@Ether-pb5gb That's big savings!

[@Ether-pb5gb]

@@JobAttorney it really is, especially for a family of 7.

[@JobAttorney]

@@Ether-pb5gb Wow! Yes, I am sure.

[@tonyaarmour8488]

I was searching this topic and came across your channel. I'm iffy about unions because I've experienced not properly being represented in the past and I was actually a shop steward at the time. I've experienced too many times a union rep getting you all pumped up about a grievance. Telling me I had a clear violation and when it was time to go to the table pull the rug right out from under me. Leaving me standing there looking stupid. My grandmother passed away and in our contract it clearly stated grandparents as immediate family. For immediate family the contract states you receive 3 days of bereavement pay to attend the services. I actually supplied my company with a copy of the service program per their request to prove I attended my grandmother's funeral. They denied me my bereavement. The union rep was adamant that my rights were violated and that they were going to get me my 3 days just like other employees received theirs. Got right to the end and the union caved to the employer. The union rep told me that the language of the contract needed to be changed. That wasn't true. The contract clearly stated it in a way that it didn't need special legal interpretation.

[@JobAttorney]

I agree, there are too many bad unions in the world. The process to hold a union accountable is insufficient in my opinion.

[@SkepticTalk]

@@JobAttorney Vincent and Tonya.....Speaking on this, I would love to tell my story though it's too long for KZbin. In summation, I work as a public employee in Montana under a horrendously bad Union that doesn't represent employees worth a damn for going on 5 years; I'm about to end this job so I'm at the end of what I can only describe as a nightmare. I can share with Tonya that I was a Shop Steward and resigned when I realized our union was a joke and didn't care about us at all. As of recently, multiple employees have filed grievances for things that have merit, including termination, only to have the Union not pursue these grievances all the way to arbitration as per our CBA the union is the SOLE DECIDER for what grievances go to arbitration or not. It seems that terminated employees have no mechanism or remedy even for attempting to get their jobs back under just cause. We can't tell if they've "exhausted their administrative remedies" if the union refuses arbitration or not so as to be able to pursue litigation for breach of contract against the employer. Multiple employees have also filed ULPs or unfair labor practices against the union, only to have them struck down because cases like Vaca V. Sipes essentially allow the union a ton of leeway to do a horrible job. They've always done a horrible job where I work, and because of this myself and other employees have opted out of dues per the Janus decision. The union still has to defend us as public employees (or at least continue to pretend that they will). It appears that it's a borderline helpless situation, that there are no remedies etc. for bad representation. Furthermore, labor law attorneys that are willing to help are sparse. There are even employees like myself that have MONEY and still can't find/get a labor law attorney. We are just trying to stay strong and navigate these murky waters as much as we can. I'm about done with my job, so I'm trying to help my fellow employees that have more invested, but I've become keenly interested in these labor topics. Some of us out of necessity at my odious work environment know a lot about labor law when compared to the average Joe, but we don't know enough compared to a competent labor law attorney of course.

[@masonvanluven6523]

Canadian here; union dues are a charitable donation so you get about 2/3 of them back on your income tax

[@mathwizardwithdistantlearning]

Actually, the union can’t be discriminatory towards nonmembers. The unions are also funded by our tax dollars.

[@SincerelyVIIProductions]

My union is charging me 50 a week that's alot tho

[@JobAttorney]

That's real.

[@SincerelyVIIProductions]

@@JobAttorney that's 2k+ a yr when I'm only getting paid 16.75 a hr... real? theft is more like it.

[@JobAttorney]

@@SincerelyVIIProductions Depends on if they actually work to protect you or not.

[@ericprice5471]

I once got a piece of pie that was shaped like a square. It was perfectly square shaped. It wasn’t a wedge at all. I don’t know why people keep saying that pie slices are shaped like wedges because they’re not.

[@JobAttorney]

You're right, it's pie propaganda and it has to stop.

[@ScottWilkie40]

This lady sounds like someone calling State Farm when they need a tow, but they didn't want to pay for tow coverage. lol Unions are labor insurance.

[@syrusdavyrus3522]

Can a Union raise it's fees in the middle of a contract?

[@tonyaarmour8488]

I know all union aren't bad. However I do believe the union we had was.

[@JuanMartinez-dj4vm]

Union question is union employee don’t pay dues for 6 years could we make him re sign

[@theultimategemini3279]

I opted out and they are still charging me the same amount as a member what can I say on my objection letter to reduce the cost ?

[@t.rellz_3301]

They just took 45 percent of my pay for dues alone wtf

[@michaelanderson3096]

IS THE THE UNITED STATES, OR CANADA?

[@JobAttorney]

U.S.,the laws are quite different in Canada.