Tuesday, August 2, 2016

The NEA talks about what it hopes to get for our OS/PAT employees, but what is in it for the NEA if the union represented you?听The NEA could receive more than $700,000 a year from your paycheck and those of your colleagues, but with no guarantee that you will get any more in wages or benefits than you have now.

The NEA听may want every employee it represents to pay either union dues of $375 a year or an agency service fee of nearly as much as a condition of your continued employment. We reviewed all NEA contracts in New Hampshire (they are online ) and learned that 29 of 193 contain this mandatory provision. Here is an example from the Holderness Support Staff Association contract, Art. IV, Sec. 4.4:

Any member of the bargaining unit who elects not to join the Association shall, as a condition of employment by the District, execute an authorization for the deduction of a 鈥渞epresentation fee鈥 which shall be a sum equivalent to 85% of membership dues and assessments required to be paid by听members of the Association. Such representation fee shall be deducted from the employee鈥檚 salary and transmitted to the Association according to the same schedule as membership dues.

Words from Colleagues

91制片厂 campus

91制片厂 employees express why they are against unionization
Article

Most of the other 28 contracts with this provision state that the service fee is 鈥渆quivalent to鈥 or 鈥渘ot greater than鈥 the amount of union dues.

At Keene State College, the NEA asked the college to start withholding union dues from the paychecks of employees before contract negotiations even started 鈥 and听those contract negotiations听still have not started. In light of this approach at Keene and the language we found in 29 existing NEA contracts, do you think the union will negotiate for the inclusion of a mandatory union dues/agency service fee in a collective bargaining agreement affecting you?

鈥擪athy Neils
Chief Human Resources Officer

Your Voice Matters is a series of communications from university leadership to provide clarity about efforts to unionize 91制片厂 staff. You can read the full series听and submit questions, feedback or testimonials at: unh.edu/unhtoday/series/your-voice-matters. You can also read the series and share your voice on the .