Most new state employees opt against joining union

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Most new employees in the Department of Mental Health are opting against joining a union in favor of paying a slightly reduced union fee to cover the costs of union negotiators.

But Republican legislators argue the choice between paying the union fee or declining a state job is really no choice at all.

On Tuesday, a House committee took the first step toward blocking a new rule that would allow for the automatic deduction of union fees from the paychecks of several thousand state employees. The vote by the House Rules Committee now sends the measure to the full chamber.

At issue is whether union service fees, sometimes called fair-share fees, can automatically be deducted from the paychecks of state employees who are covered by union bargaining units but are not union members.

The fees are authorized under an executive order by Gov. Bob Holden and are included in new contracts negotiated by the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees union.

Under terms of those union contracts, prospective employees since Sept. 1 have been given the choice of either joining the union, paying union services fees or not accepting the state job.

From Sept. 1 through mid-December, the Department of Mental Health hired 353 employees covered by the two units. Of those, 133 joined the union and 220 opted for the union service fees.

The 38 percent of new employees choosing to join a union is far below the 55 percent union membership reported in October for all Mental Health Department employees covered by the two unions, said Paul Buckley, the state's chief negotiator.

Employees choosing to accept the union service fee deductions typically will pay about one-quarter to one-fifth less than those paying full union dues.

The difference partly constitutes the amount that would go to the union's political functions. Until the proposed rule is finalized, however, no service fees are being deducted.

Republican Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau, an opponent of Holden's collective bargaining order, said the relatively low percentage of new employees joining the union indicates employees "are being coerced to pay service fees to an organization they choose not to join."

But AFSCME spokesman Kevin Heyen said some new employees who might otherwise have joined the union likely are opting to pay the service fees instead because they cost less.

"It is typical, as far as what they've seen in other states, to initially have more people signing up for fair-share (fees) instead of union membership," Heyen said. "Generally we do see a rise in union membership after people get hired on, because when people first get hired by the state they don't know anything about the union or what the union does."

Although the AP's information request was made one month ago, the administration has provided only partial information for veterans home employees and no information on corrections employees.

The Office of Administration said 160 veterans home employees have been hired since Sept. 1 under the new union policies, but the office did not have the breakdown on union choice for most of those employees. Three prospective veterans employees had turned down state job offers.

Administration officials said they would continue to try to compile complete information from the veterans and corrections agencies.