Posted October 16, 2008

TAUP seeks mandatory fees from all faculty

The Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP) has proposed that the new collective bargaining agreement with Temple contain a requirement that all faculty, librarians and academic professionals pay the union a fee for its representation of them, regardless of whether the individual wants to join the union, and regardless of how many bargaining unit members voluntarily decide to join the union. The university opposes the TAUP proposal.
   

TAUP wants Temple to deduct an unspecified amount from the monthly pay of all bargaining unit members and forward the funds to TAUP. Commonly referred to among labor professionals as an agency fee, TAUP has named this proposal “Fair Share.” At this time, 56 percent of the faculty in the TAUP bargaining unit have decided to join and pay dues to the union. The current agreement already provides that if 70 percent of the bargaining unit members voluntarily decide to pay dues to the union, then TAUP may collect the agency fee to the extent permitted by law.

“We oppose this mandatory imposition of a fee on all bargaining unit members for important reasons,” explained University Counsel George Moore. “First, we do not believe that individuals who may disagree with the union’s positions in collective bargaining should be forced to pay for the union’s advocacy and enforcement of those positions. Such a requirement fails to respect legitimate differences of opinion and choices that faculty have made on their own, especially when 44 percent have decided not to join the union.”

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