In Pattern
Makers v. NLRB, 473 U.S. 95 (1985), the United States Supreme Court
held that union members have the right to resign their union membership
at any time.

Of course, the decision to resign is wholly yours. If the contract between
your employer and the union contains no provision requiring you to join
the union or pay union fees, after resigning you would have no obligations
whatsoever to the union. If the contract does contain such a provision,
as a nonmember you would have the right to limit your union fees to your
share of the costs of collective bargaining, contract administration, and
grievance adjustment, and you also would not be subject to union rules and
discipline. For example, nonmembers are not subject to union rules against
working during a strike. If you are a union member, and you work during
a strike, the union could potentially fine you and collect that fine in
state court.

If you resign, the union would have to continue to represent you fairly
and without discrimination in all matters subject to collective bargaining,
and you could not be denied any benefits under the labor contract with your
employer because of nonmembership.

On the other hand, you would not have the right to vote on ratification
of the contract or election of union officers, and there may be benefits
provided under the union’s constitution and bylaws that are not available
to nonmembers (however, a nonmember cannot be charged a share of the costs
of member-only benefits). These benefits could include continued participation
in a union’s members-only retirement plan. (Your participation in an employer-sponsored
or jointly-sponsored pension plan provided as an employee benefit cannot
be adversely affected by nonmembership in a union.)

You can resign by simply sending your union a written letter stating that
you are resigning effective immediately. Similarly, you can assert your
right not to pay for the union’s political activities by notifying it in
writing that you object to use of your dues for purposes other than collective
bargaining and contract administration. The union may assert that resignations
can be submitted only during a specified time period. That is untrue, because
such limitations on the right to resign were held unlawful in Pattern
Makers.

You should check your union’s constitution and bylaws to see if it has
any provision specifying to whom a resignation must be submitted; such requirements
have been upheld by the courts and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
You should also check with the union to see if it has a policy concerning
when and to whom Beck objections (objections to the amount of the
union fees) should be submitted. For links to union objection policies on the Internet,
click here.

If you have authorized payroll deduction of full dues, you might also have
to notify your employer that you wish to authorize only the deduction of
the portion of dues that is lawfully chargeable under Beck. Notifying
your employer of your change to Beck-objector status should be construed
as simply a change in the authorized amount of the deduction and be accepted
by your employer, for immediate implementation, assuming you have also notified
the union.

If you decide to resign and object, keep copies for your records of both
your resignation and your objection letter. You should send both by certified
mail, return receipt requested, so that the union cannot claim that it did
not receive them. If your union and/or employer refuses to honor your resignation
and/or objection, you should contact the Foundation immediately if you would
like assistance.

If your union or your employer refuses to allow you to resign, you would
be entitled to file an unfair labor practice charge against the refusing
party(ies) with your nearest NLRB regional office. However, you should be
aware that claims concerning conduct that occurs more than six months prior
to the filing of charges may be time barred, so it is important to pursue
claims promptly.

In addition to the rights discussed above (concerning ways to limit your association with the union), you should also remember that private sector employees covered by the NLRA have the right to seek a “deauthorization” election, which completely nullifies the compulsory unionism clause in the collective bargaining contract and eliminates ALL dues requirements. For more information on this option, click here.

This information is not intended to advocate that you resign from the union
and object to the amount of union fees. The intent is simply to explain
your legal rights in this type of situation.

Click here if you would like to see a sample
union resignation letter.