Beck Notice - NPEU / IFPTE Local 70

This Notice is provided in accordance with the decisions of the United States Supreme Court in NLRB v. General Motors Corporation and Communication Workers of America v. Beck, as well as other cases decided under the National Labor Relations Act. The purpose of this Notice is to advise all persons employed within a bargaining unit represented by the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union / IFPTE Local 70 and under a collective bargaining agreement requiring the payment of dues or fees as a condition of employment, of: 1) their right to join the union or to become an agency fee payer; 2) their right as an agency fee payer to object to the payment of that portion of membership dues that is related to nonrepresentational expenses of the Union; and 3) the procedures that must be followed to file an objection and receive detailed financial information regarding that portion of dues determined by the Union to be related to representational and nonrepresentational expenses.

Under federal law you have the right to join the Union as a full-fledged member or to become an agency fee payer of the bargaining unit. Agency fee payers are not members of the union and therefore are not afforded the many benefits associated with union membership. For example, agency fee payers may not attend union meetings; participate in the ratification of collective bargaining agreements; elect union officers or be eligible for other benefits available only to members and their families such as discount programs with various vendors and educational scholarships. However, agency fee payers do receive the benefits of the union’s representation as it relates to the terms and conditions of their employment. As such, the law provides that agency fee payers must pay a fee in an amount at least equal to the union’s representational services to fulfill their obligations under a union security provision of a collective bargaining agreement. Such services include the union’s activities related to collective bargaining, contract administration and grievance arbitration. Individuals who elect not to join the union and to become an agency fee payer have the right to object to paying for union activities not germane to the union’s duties as the bargaining representative and to pay only the pro-rata portion (86.9% in 2023) of membership dues associated with representational expenses. Objections must be sent in writing and include the objector’s name, address, employer, job title, and total amount paid in the calendar year. Objections must be received in the month of January in order to be processed. Objections should be sent to beckobjection@npeu.org.

Upon receipt of a timely objection, agency fee payers will be provided with additional information related to the calculation of the agency fee.