Three years ago, the Executive Committee recommended a permanent dues increase to address our deficit spending and better build and maintain the resources necessary to be a strong union. Members requested that the dues increase be temporary for a three-year period. The EC ultimately accepted that proposal with the caveat that we would revisit our financial situation at the end of that period. That temporary increase is set to expire on September 30, 2024. The EC has made a strong recommendation to the membership that the dues remain at their current rate of 1.75%.

Our current dues rate of 1.75% has partially accomplished what it was intended to do; it has lifted our union out of deficit spending while ensuring we are able to bargain strong first and successor contracts, support job actions and strikes, manage internal and new organizing campaigns and keep our union growing and strong. However, we need to rebuild our reserves in order to remain fiscally strong and assured of our ability to continue to best represent and defend our members, and be prepared for the fights ahead.

If the membership approves this referendum, nothing will change. We are already paying 1.75% today. We will continue to do so.

Members should take pride in the democratic structures of our union, and participate in them! Voting yes on our current dues rate shows that we are all invested in strengthening our union for years to come, and sends a strong message to our employers that our strength has not wavered. It will also signal to employers that we are prepared for the fights to come.

Our Executive Committee created a Dues Working Group, comprised of rank-and-file members, which was tasked with determining exactly this. After analyzing the Guild’s finances, and our future forecasts, they determined 1.75% was an appropriate rate moving forward to achieve the goals of our union. The overwhelming majority of Dues Working Group members recommended 1.75% become a permanent rate, and the Executive Committee also voted overwhelmingly to accept the recommendation and bring it to members for a vote. Based on the financial analysis, achieving our goals will be a multi-year process, and passing another temporary increase would mean unnecessarily kicking the can down the road.

If this referendum fails, the dues rate will revert to the original, constitutional minimum 1.3846% on October 1, 2024. This will have serious, immediate consequences for our union, the first of which will be the return to deficit spending. Other likely results could include large cutbacks to member services, including but not limited to reduced legal support, reduced ability to arbitrate and staff cuts. 

Our dues have been spent on ensuring our union is as strong as it can possibly be. We have eliminated deficit spending, and are now in a position to rebuild our reserves. We’ve won 27 contracts that set new standards for our industry, as well as boosted our membership through organizing by nearly 30%.

1.75% was determined to be the appropriate dues rate by the Dues Working Group. Our dues are just as much as an investment in our financial, professional and personal health as any other expenditure, and they provide just as much value to us.

Dues pay for all of the work our union does on our behalf – bargaining and enforcing contracts, organizing new members, training and membership development, staff salaries and benefits, office space, legal support and services, etc. All of this costs money.