Unions, This Fee Is a Foe

The unions representing Cal State professors and clerical and other workers at both Cal State and UC could end up sorry they got what they wished for. They might find thousands of employees mad as hornets if they return from summer vacation to find that union fees will be deducted from their paychecks, as legislation now on the governor’s desk would require.

The practice of requiring nonunion personnel to pay a “fair share” fee in exchange for such services as collective bargaining and grievance procedures is common. New York state, for instance, requires all public employees to pay such fees. But there’s a big difference: In New York, more than 90% of public employees are union members.

The unions at California’s public colleges are much weaker. Only about 35% of Cal State professors are members of the faculty union, and only about 10% of UC clerical workers are unionized. The clerical union has declined to endorse SB 645, the bill that would make nonmembers pay up. The union representing UC technical staff and researchers has taken a similar stance, favoring the concept but not endorsing this bill.

Supporters say the bill was necessary because the state higher education law forbids agreements between unions and universities on these so-called agency fees, which involve about 1% of salary. But why not just lift the prohibition and let the unions bargain for the privilege, as other public employee unions in California have successfully done? Instead, the fee would be imposed by fiat, end of debate, effectively adding $4 million to the coffers of the faculty union and similar amounts elsewhere. There is a provision for an election to cancel the fee, but the bar is high--30% of a bargaining unit must petition for it, and petitioners must foot election costs.

Republican Govs. George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson vetoed similar measures. It would be harder for Democrat Gray Davis, elected with overwhelming labor support, to do the same. But he may not be doing these weak unions much of a favor if the fee sparks revolt. The bill makes it so hard to dump the fee that doing away with the union might look easier. Not much of a Labor Day celebration there.