Posted on 02/04/2006 9:03:50 PM PST by neverdem
Associated Press
GRANDVIEW, Yakima County — After 18 years with the state Department of Agriculture, Cathy Munson will work her last day today.
Munson, 56, isn't retiring. She's been fired for refusing to pay union dues or alternative fees as required under a labor agreement between the state and the 40,000-member Washington Federation of State Employees.
Effective July 1, the contract contains a "union-security clause" that allows the union to collect dues or fees from employees who become members — and from those who do not.
Munson objects to the clause, which she says was ratified by a minority of die-hard union members, leaving large numbers of the rank-and-file in the dark.
"At some point I just decided I had to say, 'That's enough.' Otherwise, I'm worthless," Munson said.
The mandatory fee payments are rooted in a law passed by the Legislature in 2002 that allows state workers to negotiate with the Governor's Office or university officials for pay raises and health benefits. Those contracts cover about 65,000 of the nearly 140,000 full- and part-time workers in state agencies or at the state's two- and four-year colleges.
The effort to enforce the union-security clause began in November, when the WFSE sent the names of 799 noncompliant employees to the state Labor Relations Office. The office advised the agencies employing those workers to tell them they would be fired after Christmas if they didn't pay their dues or fees.
Since then, many employees have decided to pay up and seek recourse through the grievance procedure or litigation. But 219 have continued to hold out, according to the union.
Munson, a senior horticultural inspector, is one of fewer than 20 state employees who have been terminated since the contract took effect.
To union members, she is the kind of employee who wants to enjoy the benefits of collective bargaining — such as higher pay and protection against unfair actions by employers — without paying the freight.
To some, she is a hero who refuses to compromise her personal beliefs.
No state agency wants to lose good employees, but a deal is a deal, said Steve McLain, director of the Labor Relations Office.
Monthly union dues are capped at $55. Employees can choose not to join but they must pay under one of three options: an agency fee, representation fee or nonassociation fee.
Agency and representation fees offer limited or no rights to a say in union activities, such as voting for officers.
Those choosing the nonassociation fee must explain what religious beliefs prohibit them from union membership. If the employee qualifies for nonassociation status, the fees can go to the union education and training fund or to one of five charities.
WTF????
And how is this legal? Oh, never mind, it's Washington State.
I do hope she can find a good attorney. Federal Civil Rights violation, anyone?
Useless, corrupt, government-subsidized extortion rackets. I do everything I can possibly do to undermine those bastards.
Seems a non-union member would NOT be a party to this contract.
Unless you are in a Right-to-Work state Unions can have this in any contract, be it public or private employers.
We need Federal Right-to-Work legislation.
And they say us state workers have it so good.
NY has an "agency shop" deal with CSEA/AFSCME. I have to pay dues whether I join the union or not. (If I fill out forms every year, I can get back the tiny portion that supports political action.)
And if I don't join, I don't get vision, dental or perscription benefits, since they're handled by the union.
Guess what? They just jacked up the union dues again, so Danny Donohue can ride around in his Cadillac at my expense and run inane, self-serving radio and TV commercials promoting the union.
I ask you- what good to me is a union that is legally barred from strikes or job actions, and which has on several occasions (the lag payroll, contract negotiations, political endorsements) sold it's members down the river?
"Public servants", transformed into "Democrat foot soldiers" with the passing of a single law.
As far as I am concerned, the GOP will be worth sh*** until they pass laws to PROHIBIT civil service union organization, particularly in the area of education. If it fails, then use a constitutional ammendment. The rational is, a person cannot be a "public servant" and while paying a third party to litigate against the public's interests. A civil servant will be a public servant, or a union activist, but he cannot be both. The public treasury is tapped to pay for a union which in turn will work to extract more from the public treasury! How can any government worker be trusted if he's supporting a union whose sole goal is maximizing the union "take" while minimizing union provided services (i.e. under the guise of "better working conditions"). Exhibit A: The NEA and California Teacher's Association; completely bankrupt morally and ethically. **
SFS
*** Mother, Aunt, two of three brother in laws, and at least one cousin are teachers; I probably missed a half dozen more somewhere out there.
OH..and I forgot to say, I still have a Teamsters card tucked away some place; I've been a union whore too in my younger life, but that's another story.
A free GOP campaign ad. It's a shame they probably won't have enough sense to use it.
The law requires that the union provide this employee with the protections, wages and benefits afforded in the union contract...The law also requires this employee to pay for these benefits one way or another...
One of the southern states, thru their governor, dumped the union...Wages and benefits were dropped...Most, if not all anti union employees seem to love the wages and benefits unions provide tho...
"union-security clause"...
This reminds me of "Labor Action"...when they go on strike.
Actually no labor, no action.
Good post.
Did the union get you a raise in wages this year???
Thank you Queen Christine and minion Democrats. You really do care about the little guy. /s
Christine Gregorie's governorship is off to a roaring start.
The effort to enforce the union-security clause began in November, when the WFSE sent the names of 799 noncompliant employees to the state Labor Relations Office. The office advised the agencies employing those workers to tell them they would be fired after Christmas if they didn't pay their dues or fees.
Gregorie became Governor in Nov. What a coincidence.
I have started a tradition of playing at least one game of Monopoly every Labor Day.
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