I would like to address a few issues regarding the union security fee or “fair share” provision that has been an issue in the press lately.

First off, no one will be required to join a union. Effective July 1, employees who have completed six months of employment with the state must either become a member of their respective union or pay a service fee to the union.

The service fee represents a share of the costs of those union activities that are germane to contract bargaining and administration. Under the current law, the union is the exclusive bargaining agent of the employees in the various bargaining units. The concept of a service fee is distinct from the concept of union membership under the service fee provision. Because a union is legally obligated to represent the interests of all bargaining unit members regardless of union membership, all employees in the bargaining unit receive the salary increases, benefits and working conditions that have been negotiated by the unions.

The service fee provision does not require employees to become union members. Rather, the service fee is meant to have employees pay for their individual share of the union’s costs of bargaining these wages and benefits on their behalf.

Union security clauses requiring either membership in the union or payment of a service fee are the rule, not the exception, in most of the United States. State workers in all other Northeast states are subject to fair share provisions, including New Hampshire and Vermont

Dana Graham, president,

MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, Augusta