Secretary-Treasurer News

John Brenton III
ITPE Secretary-Treasurer

NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES COVERED BY
UNION SHOP AGREEMENTS

The Industrial Technical & Professional Employees Union, AFL CIO ("ITPE") represents employees throughout the country and assists them by negotiating better wages, benefits and other conditions of employment and by pursuing meritorious grievances. All but a small portion of the ITPE's financial resources are spent on these and related activities. That remaining, small portion is used for organizing, support for political activities and community services. All of these activities are for the benefit of the members of this Union.

Many workers represented by ITPE are in units covered by collective bargaining agreements which include union shop clauses. Those are provisions which require the covered workers to be members of or otherwise provide financial support to ITPE. This annual notice is to advise those employees about their rights and obligations concerning membership and payment of Union dues. This notice will assist you in understanding the advantages and benefits of union membership and provides you with information on your obligations if you choose not to be a full member and instead to pay a non member fee.

Benefits of Union Membership
All employees covered by an ITPE collective bargaining agreement, including non members, receive the protections and benefits of that agreement. However, only members are entitled to attend Union meetings, to serve as shop stewards, to nominate and vote for candidates for Union office or Convention Delegate and to run and be elected to any of those positions. Only members are allowed to participate in the development of contract proposals and Union policies.

Dues for ITPE membership and a full voice in the Union are only $25.00 per month. In all but a few instances, you have the convenience of having your employer deduct the dues from your paycheck and send the money to the ITPE.

Non Member Fees
Employees who are covered by a union shop clause but choose not to be ITPE members must pay non member fees. These fees cover the ITPE's services related to the collective bargaining process and representation, such as negotiation of collective bargaining agreements, enforcement and administration of those agreements, meetings with employees and employers, and representation of employees in grievance and arbitration proceedings. Excluded from the services covered by the non member fees are the costs of any community service and of political activities. Also excluded from the current calculation are the ITPE's organizing costs and publication expenses.

The ITPE had certified public accountants review its expenditures for calendar year 2006 and determine the percentage of those expenses which are chargeable to non members (and, thus, included in the fee) and which are nonchargeable (and therefore excluded). The accountants determined that the chargeable costs were 88.9662% of the ITPE's expenditures for that year (i.e., the nonchargeable costs were 11.0338%).

Applying this percentage to the $25.00 per month dues paid by full ITPE members, the non member fee is $22.24 per month for the period from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2008. As noted above, any employee who chooses to pay the non member fee instead of full Union dues has no voice in any ITPE affairs.

Please note that since the chargeable and nonchargeable expenses may change from year to year, the non member fee may also fluctuate each year. Individuals who elect to pay the non member fee rather than membership dues must do so each year by filing an objection in accordance with the procedure set forth below.

Filing of Objections
Anyone who objects to paying membership dues (and who will, instead, pay the non member fee) must file an objection annually. That objection must be filed in writing with the ITPE Dues Objection Administration, ITPE Headquarters, 2222 Bull Street, Suite 200, Savannah, GA 31401. Any non member who is currently covered by a union shop clause and who objects to paying membership dues for calendar year 2008 must file that objection no later than January 31, 2008. (An employee who first becomes covered by a union shop clause after December 31, 2007, and any member who resigns from full ITPE membership will have thirty days from notification of the option to pay a non member fee in which to file an objection.)

Any employee who files an objection will be sent a detailed description of how the non member fee was calculated, including further information regarding for which categories of expenditures they will be charged and for which they will not be charged. They will also be informed of the procedure to be used by anyone who wishes to challenge the calculation.

Fraternally,

John Brenton III
Secretary Treasurer

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