Our Constitution (Articles 7.06 and 7.07) sets out monthly dues for all members and/or employees. The only difference between part-time, full-time, and temporary employees is in determining whether dues will be collectible for any given month.
Part-time and full-time employees will owe a dues payment for every month, even when they are on Leave With-out Pay (LWOP). Temporary employees will only pay dues if they work in a month and arrears will NOT accumulate when they have not.
Dues are determined by a pay rate and are currently 300% of the top rate of a PO 2. Therefore, when there is a wage increase, there is also an increase in dues. In addition, the Vancouver Local has a $4.50 local assessment per month. This is not unusual, 44 locals have assessments ranging from $1 to $12 per month.
Union dues can be particularly difficult to understand for temporary workers due to the timing of dues deductions.
For regular (part-time & full-time) employees the dues deduction for the month takes place on the first paycheque of the month, except for three (3) pay period months when the deduction will take place on the second paycheque. For this bulletin we will use the example of dues for the month of October. These dues were deducted from the pay received on October 10, 2013.
Theoretically, the date of the paycheque for the deduction is the same for all workers. In other words, October dues should be deducted for ALL employees on October 10, 2013.
However, a temporary employee may not have a paycheque to take the dues deduction from on October 10. When there is no pay to take the dues from, then the dues come off the very next pay that is available. This would result in the member experiencing two union dues in two consecutive pay periods and the belief that dues have been double-deducted.
The dates you are being paid for, for the most part (see next paragraph), are irrelevant for this deduction. Temporary and part-time workers are paid two weeks in arrears and full-time employees are paid current. So, when deciding if you have been over-deducted union dues you should only concern yourself with the date of the cheque or the Pay Period (PP) number. Both of these items are just to the left of the pay dates on your paycheque.
There can be a situation where a temporary employee is deducted dues for October and only worked in the month of September. This would result in an overpayment of dues and a refund will be arranged in this circumstance. To determine if there were any days worked, the refund will not be considered until the entire month of October is finished.
The best way for a temporary employee to determine if they have overpaid union dues is the use the Year-To-Date (YTD) total on their paystub. Divide the YTD total by the dollar amount of union dues ($78.87 for January 2013; $80.37 for February 1, 2013 to current). If the number is, for example, seven (7) and you have worked at least once in each of 7 months your dues are correct.
An example of this process is as follows:
The YTD total of $802.20 indicates ten (10) months dues. If you have worked a day in each of ten (10) months, your dues are not overpaid.
As with all processes that are automatically generated, errors can and do occur. Therefore, once you have applied the above process and still determine you have overpaid your dues, call the Secretary-Treasurer at the Union Hall and an investigation will take place. Where applicable, a refund will be arranged.
In Solidarity,
Andy Henderson
Secretary-Treasurer
CUPW Vancouver