Legal options regarding Union Membership in Right to Work States
If you are employed in
one of the 21 states that has a "Right
to Work" law, you are probably protected by the state’s
Right to Work law and cannot be required to join or pay dues or fees
to a union. There are a very small number of exceptions to this basic
rule; these exceptions generally only apply to employees working
on property subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction, or employees
of airlines or railroads.
The following states have
a Right to Work law: Alabama, Arizona,
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
Under federal labor law
and the state’s Right to Work law, you have the right to resign from membership in a union at any time.
If you resign from membership, you are still fully covered by the
collective bargaining agreement that was negotiated between your
employer and the union, and the union remains obligated to represent
you. Any benefits that are provided to you by your employer pursuant
to the collective bargaining agreement (e.g. wages, seniority, vacations,
pension, health insurance) will not be affected by your resignation.
If the union offers some "members-only" benefits, you might
be excluded from receiving those. CEAI neither encourages nor discourages
you from resigning. The decision is yours alone.
If you choose to resign and stop paying dues,
and are on automatic "dues
check off," you should notify both the union and your employer
in writing that you are resigning and revoking your authorization
for automatic dues check off. While you may resign from union membership
at anytime, you may be limited to a specific "window period" before
you are able to end the automatic dues deductions. If that is what
you are told, ask the union for a copy of the actual dues deduction
card that you signed, and contact the National
Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. at (800) 336-3600 for
further information. In fact, we strongly recommend that you contact the Right to Work
Foundation before you begin this process as they are experts in this
area and will be of great help in navigating you through this procedure.
Who is the National Right
To Work Legal Defense Foundation? This
organization was established in 1968 for the sole purpose of providing
free legal aid to employees suffering violations of their human and
civil rights because of injustices arising from the abuses of compulsory
union membership arrangements. The Foundation is the only organization
of its kind to offer these services on a nationwide basis and CEAI
is confident in recommending their services to you.
Remember, if you are working in a Right to
Work state, you are fortunate in that you have the option whether
or not to seek union representation
and your choice is protected by federal labor law and the state’s
Right to Work law.
Used by Permission: National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation,
Inc. WWW.NRTW.ORG