About union shops (closed and open) and dues checkoff. [View all]

[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.