Non-Union CUNY Employees Win Court Victory Over Dues
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Handing a victory to the nonunion faculty and staff at the City University of New York, a federal court ruled yesterday that they would no longer have to file for annual refunds on dues that help fund the 20,000-member union’s political activities.
Instead, university employees who are not members of the union, called the Professional Staff Congress, will be able to file a one-time objection to the salary deductions that fund activities unrelated to collective bargaining, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.
All CUNY faculty and staff members are required by state law to pay 1.01% of their salaries to the union, as they benefit from the contract the union negotiates for them through collective bargaining. But university employees who opt out of union membership can be reimbursed for the portion of their dues that fund other activities, such as lobbying state lawmakers for more funding for public schools, as well as political rallies and concerts. They have been forced to refile the paperwork for refunds every year.
A geology professor at Brooklyn College, David Seidemann, who sued the employee union, said filing for refunds every year was a tedious process for thousands of faculty and staff who are not union members. “I believe that for decades they’ve abused the process by having burdensome procedures,” Mr. Seidemann said. The court agreed, ruling that the overly burdensome procedure amounted to a violation of the non-union employees’ constitutional rights.
“In a sense, it’s a benefit to the union for them to file annually,” an associate senior counsel for the umbrella union, the New York State United Teachers, Christopher Callaghy, said in an interview. “It’s in the union’s interest not to have folks opting out of projects they’re involved in.”
Mr. Seidemann in 2004 also sued the Professional Staff Congress for overcharging non-members and misspending their money on political activities. He appealed the suit last year, and the 2nd Circuit court yesterday sent it back to the U.S. District Court for a ruling. A spokeswoman for the union was not available for comment last night.
