New York to End Deduction of Non-Union Member Fees July 11

The state of New York will end the collection of “agency shop fees” from 31,000 state workers who are non-union members as a result of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that public sector unions can no longer compel non-members to pay dues.

State employees who are administrators and not members of a union will no longer have agency fees deducted from their paychecks beginning July 11, announced New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office, reports WGRZ. For rank-and-file employees, the deductions will end July 19.

The agency fees were collected by public sector unions ostensibly to cover the costs of collective bargaining.

The group of 31,000 employees does not include teachers and local government workers.

Unions are already in competition mode in the battle for their members against some groups who want to encourage state workers to opt out of their unions.

Andy Pallotta, president of the New York State United Teachers union (NYSUT), for example, said his union had been preparing for the Supreme Court’s ruling for a while, citing a campaign to connect with members about what the union offers them.

“Part of our campaign has been to get to our members before our opponents do to make sure that when there’s a drop campaign … that we’re there first to say, ‘This is what a union does for you. This is why it’s good to be part of a collective-bargaining group,'” Pallotta said.

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) also recently praised Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for signing an executive order, as the Supreme Court’s decision was handed down, to block non-union campaigns from obtaining addresses and phone numbers of government employees, including teachers.

“The Trump administration was elected with a very specific policy agenda and this Supreme Court seems very committed to enforcing that agenda,” Cuomo said at a press conference following the delivery of the decision in Janus v. AFSCME.

The nation’s high court, the governor said, “is supposed to be a check and balance, not a rubber stamp” on the executive branch of government.

“The Supreme Court has been perverted and twisted by a political group that wants to take this country in a direction that works for them and them only,” said Michael Mulgrew, UFT president. “Years from now, UFT teachers in our schools will teach about this. They will teach what happened to this entity that was supposed to be protecting our country.”