Forced Dues in a Right-to-Work State
A Wisconsin painter says her union told her she had to join the union and pay dues to keep her job. That is not the law.
Caryn Johnson, an employee of Olympic Companies, filed charges at the NLRB against IUPAT District Council 7, with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
The core rule is settled: under federal law, full union membership can never be a condition of employment, and no one can be forced to sign a dues-deduction authorization. Wisconsin is one of 26 Right-to-Work states, which goes further, no union payment of any kind can be required to hold a job.
According to the charges, IUPAT officials told Johnson otherwise, then kept deducting dues even after she resigned, claiming she was locked in for roughly eight months and had to wait for a narrow “revocation window.”
Dues-checkoff windows and membership pressure trip up a lot of workers who don’t know their rights.
For employers in Right-to-Work states: know the rules so you can answer employee questions accurately.