Dear Representative:
The AFL-CIO urges you to vote against the Meadows Amendment to the FY 2015 Financial Services Appropriations Bill (H.R. 5016) that would prohibit the federal government from offering a payroll deduction plan for the collection of federal employee union dues.
Under current the law, if a union is elected to represent non-supervisory employees at a federal agency, the union is legally obligated to represent all the employees in that bargaining unit, whether they join the union or not. The employees in that bargaining unit are under no obligation to join the union, nor are they under any obligation to pay a representation fee or any other fee to the union. The union is legally bound to represent them regardless of their choice.
When federal employees choose to join the union, they sign a form called an “1187” which establishes their union membership and sets up the payroll deduction. The Meadows amendment would prevent these employees, who have voluntarily decided to join the union, from the convenience of having their union dues deducted from their paychecks in the same way that their health insurance premiums or contributions to charitable organizations are deducted.
Since pay and withholdings are no longer done by hand, but rather are performed electronically, there is no cost to the government to deduct union dues. Despite the advocates’ contention that this proposal is a cost-saver, ending all deductions for union dues would have no measurable impact on the cost of pay administration.
Representative Meadows’ amendment is a blatantly political attack on federal employees’ collective bargaining rights and an attempt to silence the voices of employees who work on behalf of the American people. The AFL-CIO strongly opposes this amendment.
Sincerely,
William Samuel, Director
Government Affairs