Setback for Unions on Agency Fee Calculations

June 13, 2007 by Beeson Tayer & Bodine

A decision by the NLRB in early 2007 may have emboldened those who refuse to pay their fair share of union dues. Individuals who object to paying full dues (known as “Beck objectors” or “agencyfee objectors”) can now force the union to submit more detailed evidence to justify charging organizing expenses to non-members. In a 1999 case, Meijer, Inc., 329 NLRB 730, the Board ruled that organizing expenses were properly chargeable to objectors given the positive relationship between organizing and union wages. In Schreiber Foods, 349 NLRB No. 14, the NLRB requires a union that wants to charge organizing expenses to objectors to show specifically that organizing efforts have a "direct, positive relationship" on the wage levels of union employees in the local labor market in which they work, within a specific industry. The Schreiber Foods decision will make it more expensive and less likely — but not impossible— for unions to be able to charge organizing expenses as a part of dues to those who object. The firm will continue to handle such charges and advise locals on a case-bycase basis on how to respond to complaints challenging the union’s agency-fee calculations.

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