ALL faculty benefited from the protections and benefits enshrined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  For example, whether or not a faculty member had joined the Union and paid dues, the Union would gladly and willingly represent that faculty member in the grievance process (we still will…the only difference is that the non-union member now pays an agency fee in recognition of that and other services of the union as his or her “agent”).  More fundamentally, that faculty member’s rights were enshrined in the CBA, protected, defended, and kept vital by the vigilance of the Union.  In short, a situation existed in which half (or fewer) faculty members were supporting a Union, in financial and other ways, that worked on behalf of ALL the faculty.

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In the historic negotiation that took place in 2007, the UFCT 1460 obtained the right to ask for an “agency fee” from those faculty members who choose not to join the Union but who still benefit from the work of the Union and Union protection.  The agency fee represents an acknowledgment that even if a faculty member chooses not to become a Union member, he or she continues to benefit from the presence and work of the Union.  Because the agency fee and Union dues are initially equivalent (the agency fee payer can apply for a refund of monies used for political activity by the parent Union at the end of the school year), it makes logical sense to join the Union because of the additional rights and benefits that come with Union membership that do not come with electing to pay the agency fee.

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The rights of a Union member differ from those of an agency fee payer.  The Union member can actively participate in the Union, helping to determine its direction and future.  The Union member can attend Union meetings, agitate for issues to be brought to the negotiating table, participate in Union elections either as a voter or as a candidate, and vote to approve or reject the CBA.  The agency fee payer is excluded from these activities.  Becoming a Union member gives the faculty member a VOICE.

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In The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau makes a distinction between the “subject” and the “citizen” that has some resonance here.  He writes: “With regard to the associates [those people who come together to create a sovereign state], they take collectively the name of people, and are called individually citizens, inasmuch as they PARTICIPATE in the sovereign power, and subjects, inasmuch as they are SUBJECTED TO the laws of the State.”

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Electing to become a Union member gives you the rights of the citizen; the agency fee gives one the rights of a subject.  The choice is clear.

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If you are a faculty member who has not yet indicated your choice, please contact the Union office immediately at (718) 636-3614, or stop by the office, 125 North Hall.

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From the September 22, 2007 status report:

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The dues authorization schedule for the UFCT, Local 1460, remains the lowest in the nation. For those part-timers making less than $10,000, one’s union dues remain @ 0.75% (of one’s pre-taxed gross income for the fall and spring semesters); for the vast majority of the part-time faculty who are making between $10,001 and $40,000, as well as for those younger full-time faculty on the lower end of the full-time salary spectrum, those full-timers with annual grosses less than $60,000, one’s dues will remain @ 1% (of one’s pre-taxed gross income for the fall and spring semesters). Lastly, for those faculty with grosses of $60,001 or more (at present the average full-time salary @ Pratt is: $62,000), one’s dues will remain at the all-time-low rate of: 0.75%!

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Dues Deduction Examples (keep in mind that the UFCT Local 1460 is obligated to pay its parent affiliates: NYSUT (New York State United Teachers) at the state level, and AFT (American Federation of Teachers) at the national level, an annual per capita rate in the vicinity of $418.00 for each union member making $28,000 or more. As you can easily surmise, the UFCT retains very little money at the local level with a dues structure in the range of 1%):

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(A)  Full-Timer with an annual salary of $62,000:

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Dues assessment @ 0.75% comes to: $465.00 a year. If on a 12 month pay schedule, this full-timer will have $38.75 deducted per check, if on a 10 month schedule, $46.50 per check.

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(B)  Adjunct making $14,000 per semester or $28,000 a year:

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Dues assessment @ 1% comes to: $280.00 a year. As the part-time faculty is paid in 8 installments per semester, divide $280.00 by 16 (8 x 2 semesters) to arrive at a $17.50 deduction per pay check.

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(C)  Visitor making less $4,750 per semester or $9,500 a year:

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