About union shops (closed and open) and dues checkoff.

[trof]

I was a union member for over 30 years.
Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), an AFL-CIO member.
You can read more about it here: http://www.alpa.org/

When I first joined TWA in the late 60s, ALPA was a 'closed shop'.
You HAD to belong to ALPA to work at TWA and you had to pay union dues.
Later, in the 80s I think, the membership voted an 'open shop'.

This meant that you did not have to be a union member, but you still had to pay dues.
The distinction being that 'non-members' did not have to pay the very small amount of the dues that went for political activity/advocacy.

You still had to pay the bulk of the dues (not really that much) because you still benefited from the pay and working conditions that the union negotiated.
That's fair. No freeloaders.

Dues 'check-off' just made it easier for members and non-members to pay their dues. If you elected for that, your dues were automatically deducted from your monthly paychecks. You didn't have to bother with writing and mailing a check every month.

Getting rid of dues check-off just makes it more difficult for unions to collect dues and discourages membership.
And management loves that.
Anything that can provide a stumbling block to union labor.

[mailman82]

1. I am a retired Letter Carrier.

I still belong to the National Association of Letter carriers! Our union did not force people to join the union we were told it was in our best interests. People who didn't join the Union got the same representation we did. Without paying dues,no matter what they did. Short of murder and theft they never lost their job. They were the biggest complainers of the union,even though they themselves were helped. I didn't have much use for them. By the way my dues for a retired carrier are $12.00 a year. We also donate what we can afford to our political arm. Our dues do not pay this. I worked for thirty years and have complaints.

[byeya]

2. Closed shops are illegal under Taft Harley. There are union shops and open shops.

A closed shop, which was outlawed over Truman's veto, means an employer agrees to hire only union members. A union shop is one where the employer can hire anyone but that hiree has to become a member of the bargaining unit(union). An open shop has a union and a contract but individual workers do not have to be members of the union.

Me, it was a mistake and tragedy that closed shops were outlawed and need to be made legal again as part of a total overhaul of workplace practices in favor of orgainized labor.

If I've gotten these mixed up, please let me know so I won't repeat my error.

[trof]

3. Quibble?

So you'd have to join the union BEFORE being hired?
As opposed to AFTER?

[trof]

6. I stand corrected. Ours was originally a 'union shop'.

[byeya]

7. It's easy for anyone not in the business to confuse terms especially since 1947 is a long time ago

and news outlets are sloppy about their use of terms.

Your main point is right on the money: The bosses want to drain unions of their financial resources and doing away with the paycheck deduction and keeping union membership as low as possible are two avenues of attack. Forcing unions to pay for the defense of non-members is also a drain on the treasury of the union and fits into the scheme.

[byeya]

4. In the old closed shops, you had to hire a person who was already in the union the employer

negotiated a contract with.

There were hiring halls with such unions as the National Maritime Union and a shipowner would say, "I need three wipers and two scullions" and the union would see which of their members were qualified and available and send them to the shipowner. The union also certified that these people could and would do the job.

[Major Nikon]

5. It's never been anything more than a union busting tactic

It's not as if Republicans are all about workers.