[LETTER TO UNION:
SEND BY CERTIFIED MAIL,
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED]
[insert your Name]
[insert your Mailing address]
[Date]
[insert Name of appropriate union officer]
[insert Name of union]
[insert Address of union]
I object to the collection and expenditure by the union of a fee for any purpose other than my pro rata share of the union’s costs of collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment, as is my right under Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977). Pursuant to Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson, 475 U.S. 292 (1986), I request that you provide me with my procedural rights, including: reduction of my fees to an amount that includes only lawfully chargeable costs; notice of the calculation of that amount, verified by an independent certified public accountant; and notice of the procedure that you have adopted to hold my fees in an interest-bearing escrow account and give me an opportunity to challenge your calculation and have it reviewed by an impartial decisionmaker.
[If you pay dues by payroll deduction, include this paragraph: Accordingly, I also hereby notify you that I wish to authorize only the deduction of representation fees. If I am required to sign a new deduction authorization form to make that change, please provide me with the necessary form.]
Please reply promptly to my request. Any further collection or expenditure of dues or fees from me made without the procedural safeguards required by law will violate my rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Finally, please consider this objection to be permanent and continuing in nature.
Sincerely yours,
[name]
[LETTER TO EMPLOYER:
SEND BY CERTIFIED MAIL,
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED]
[insert your Name]
[insert your Mailing address]
[Date]
[name and address of department
responsible for payroll deductions]
To whom it may concern:
Today I notified [name of union] that I object to collection and expenditure of a fee for any purpose other than my pro rata share of the union’s costs of collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment, as is my constitutional right under Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977). A copy of my letter to the union is enclosed. Pursuant to Teachers Local 1 v. Hudson, 475 U.S. 292 (1986), I request that you ensure that the union provides me with my First-Amendment procedural rights, including those outlined in my letter to the union. If it does not, I ask that [name of employer] provide them.
[If you pay dues by payroll deduction, include this paragraph:] Accordingly, I also hereby notify you that I wish to authorize only the deduction of representation fees limited to those costs that are lawfully chargeable under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. If I am required to sign a form to make that change, please provide me with the necessary form.
Please reply promptly to my request. Any further collection or expenditure of dues or fees from me made without the procedural safeguards required by law will violate my rights under the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, and the U.S. Constitution.
Sincerely yours,
[name]
