 Chicago Teachers Union, or CTU, members voted Sept. 22-23 to authorize a strike
– a move that could affect thousands of teachers and hundreds of thousands of
students. A strike date could be announced as early as Sept. 28. But not all
teachers think going on strike is a good idea.
These teachers are in an unenviable position. If a teacher decides the needs of
his or her students – or his or her own financial needs – should come before
union priorities, the union can punish him or her. The types of penalties vary
from union to union, but typically include fines or expulsion. CTU’s
constitution and bylaws include a trial process following which a member can be
suspended for one year (while still paying union dues) or expelled.
Fortunately, teachers facing this hard decision have a way out: They can become
fair share payers.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of
Education, public employees – including teachers – can opt out of full union
membership by becoming “fair share payers.” These employees still pay what is
deemed to be their “fair share” toward the cost of union representation in
negotiations with the employer, but the union cannot use fair share fees for
political purposes, such as supporting candidates for office. In other words,
these employees are no longer union members, but the union still represents them
in contract negotiations.
As nonmembers, fair share payers are not subject to union authority or
discipline.
As would be expected, unions do not make the process of becoming a fair share
payer simple. In fact, the archaic process for opting out of union membership
seems purposefully difficult.
When teachers initially join a union, they sign an authorization allowing the
school district to deduct their union dues from their paychecks. To become fair
share payers, members must revoke this dues deduction authorization.
But unions frequently place limitations on when members can revoke their dues
deduction authorizations. For example, CTU’s contract explicitly limits members
to a month-long window – in August of each year – to revoke their dues deduction
authorizations.
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 While it may be too late for CTU members to become fair share
payers before the potential strike, that doesn’t mean they are
stuck. Teachers can resign from the union at any time. They may not
be considered fair share payers yet, but their resignations would
ensure that the union cannot punish them if they do not support the
potential upcoming strike.
This means a teacher in Chicago could resign from the union now,
thereby preventing the union from taking any disciplinary action
against the teacher for failing to support the strike, and then the
teacher could follow up by completing the dues deduction revocation
in August 2017.
The union still represents teachers who become fair share payers in
contract negotiations. Because unions successfully lobbied for a
monopoly on representing workers, fair share payers are entitled to
all rights secured in union-negotiated contracts.
This means nonmembers are guaranteed the wage increases, health
insurance, pension contributions and anything else in the teacher
contract. Nonmembers may no longer be eligible for the liability
insurance the union previously provided, but teachers can find
support in organizations such as the Association of American
Educators, or AAE. AAE is an association of nonunion educators who
“put the educational interests of students first and foremost.”
Among other things, AAE provides liability insurance to its member
teachers.
And although a nonmember teacher is still entitled to all the rights
guaranteed under the contract, he or she is no longer subject to the
union’s rules and disciplinary procedures. This means the union
cannot not levy a fine or, as in the case of CTU, put a member
through a trial process before determining whether to suspend or
expel the member.
That’s good news for CPS teachers stuck between competing
priorities: supporting their students (and themselves) and following
union demands.
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