NEWS ADVISORY

September 27, 2004

PERC: unions can deny voting rights to public employees

OLYMPIA, WA—The Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) today denied a petition filed by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) that would have allowed all public employees to have an equal voice in workplace decisions that directly affect their employment.

The petition, filed by EFF on August 25, 2004, requested that PERC adopt a rule change to prevent unions from denying voting rights to employees who opt out of union membership. Unions often present issues to employees in the bargaining unit for discussion and approval, including ratification of contracts, decisions on work calendars and selection of employee benefits.

Public employees can opt out of union membership, but must still pay the union for the cost of collective bargaining–usually about 80 percent of the total union dues. Many workers refuse to join a union because of concerns with the union’s political and ideological agenda.

Despite paying these forced dues, many non-union employees are barred from participating in employee decisions. Not only have employees been denied the right to vote, but some union officials have even withheld meeting minutes, vote results and relevant publications from non-union employees.

“Non-member employees pay the union for workplace representation,” said Jami Lund, Project Manager for EFF, “but they’re penalized for not supporting the union’s political agenda.”

EFF filed the petition after receiving reports of exclusion from many public employees. “These employees simply want an equal voice with other members of the bargaining unit. Union member or not, all employees should have a say in decisions that directly affect their workplace,” said Lund.

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org