AUGUSTA – A letter mailed to as many as 600 state employees carries a bah-humbug message for the week before Christmas: Pay up or pay the consequences.

As part of its collective bargaining agreement with the Maine State Employees Association, the state mandates that all employees, whether they are union members or not, pay what’s called a service fee.

On Friday, the Bureau of Employee Relations sent letters to workers who the union says haven’t paid, warning them that payment of the fee is a condition of employment.

The fee is supposed to pay for the work the union does on behalf of all employees, which includes negotiating salaries and benefits. It cannot lawfully include the cost of political activities, and the workers who pay the fee are not union members.

“An employee who fails to comply with the terms of this lawfully negotiated Union Security article must be dismissed,” the letter reads in part.

Some employees who received the notice said the timing couldn’t be worse.

“I have heard from numerous state employees that have now received this letter, and unfortunately, the Baldacci administration has just thrown a wet blanket on countless holiday celebrations,” wrote Mark Turek in an e-mail to the newspaper.

Turek has been a vocal opponent of the service fee, which is sometimes called a “fair share” fee, and participated in at least one protest outside the State House this year over the mandatory union payment.

“So many people are upset over this,” Turek said Monday. “This has pretty much ruined some holidays.”

According to Becky Wyke, the commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, which includes the Bureau of Employee Relations, the state started phasing in the service fees four years ago. About 18 months ago, they became a requirement for all state workers.

“This is a reminder letter,” Wyke said of last week’s mailing. “It’s not the final notice. Nothing happens if employees don’t respond. It’s meant to make sure employees are informed.”

The fee and the contract have been upheld by an independent arbitrator, the Maine Labor Relations Board and in U.S. District Court, Wyke said. And Maine is the last state in the Northeast to implement the requirement.

“Our hope is to make sure employees understand their obligation under the contract,” Wyke said.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has already determined that service fees are lawful,” said Joyce Oreskovich, chief counsel for the Bureau of Employee Relations.

While employees can challenge whether the contract includes appropriate rules about notice and fee structure, “there’s no question that service fees are lawful,” Oreskovich said.

According to Tim Belcher, the executive director of the MSEA, the service fee is $4.60 a week for most people, or about $240 a year. “The arbitrator found that we had calculated our fee very conservatively,” Belcher said.

“It’s not about the money,” said Turek, who works for the Department of Tourism. “It’s about accountability; and the lack of accountability about where the money goes is disgusting.”

The letters’ holiday arrival is necessary to make sure the process can continue in January, Wyke said.

“The timing may be unfortunate, but nothing bad is happening in regards to this letter,” he said.

That’s not to say something bad won’t happen. Paying the service fee is required of all state employees. Failure to pay can cause a state worker to be fired.

But before that can happen, Wyke said, the state has to conduct an inquiry.

“By contract, the state is required to launch an investigation into why an employee did not pay,” Wyke said. “There could be any number of reasons why someone hadn’t paid.”

No state employee has been fired for not paying the fee since it began to be phased in four years ago, Wyke said.