A recent letter referred to the service fee in state employee contracts. Your readers deserve an explanation of that fee and the reason for it.

The Maine State Employees Association, Local 1989 of the Service Employees International Union, represents more than 13,000 workers in Maine, including Lewiston city and school workers.

MSEA-SEIU negotiates contracts determining the wages, benefits and working conditions of everyone in our bargaining units. MSEA-SEIU also provides representational services to ensure their contractual rights are protected. MSEA-SEIU is required by law, to provide these services.

These services cost money. In our nation, service fees are the only legal way for unions to recover their pro-rata costs of these services from non-members. Before the service fee was in state contracts, union members paid for the “free riders” who benefited from the union’s work but chose not to join.

Every year, the union’s finances are reviewed by an independent auditor and reported to the U.S. Department of Labor. An arbitrator then reviews the fee and decides whether the union acted appropriately. Challengers can receive relevant documents and cross-examine union witnesses.

After three days of hearings in 2006, the arbitrator determined the union’s process protected non-members rights and that the union withstood “withering scrutiny.”

If an organization is required to provide services, that organization has a right to be paid for those services provided. That’s what the service fee is about. It’s that simple.

Dana Graham, president, MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, Augusta