Article XIII - Dues And Assessments

  1. Regular Dues

    1. Dues shall be 1.49% of gross pay, subject to the following exceptions, and subject to amendment by the Local membership.

      1. Members in new bargaining units being organized by the Local shall commence payment of dues and any assessments upon the execution of the first collective bargaining agreement covering their bargaining unit. Such members shall have all rights, privileges and obligations of membership.

      2. Members not employed by the Local who are working in a shop not under Local contract for whom the Local does not hold bargaining rights shall pay an amount equal to the normal per capita tax.

      3. In newly organized units, those earning the provincial minimum wage shall not be assessed dues until they receive a union-negotiated pay increase.

  2. No Initiation Fees

    Each applicant for membership not under contract shall pay any initiation fee required by law.

  3. Special Assessments

    By vote of a membership meeting or referendum, the Local, or an individual unit, may levy monthly an assessment of not more than one percent of weekly salary or a flat fee of not more than $10, per member, per week. Such special assessments are intended for purposes such as the development of a strike preparation fund to provide members with additional benefits in the event of a work stoppage. The funds are to be returned to the members if they are not used for the original purpose.

  4. Increase in Regular Dues

    Dues will be set at 1.783 per cent of gross pay when defence fund balances fall below $1-million. The higher assessment will begin one quarter after the defense fund falls below $1 million and will continue for one quarter after the balance returns to $1 million except that once the fund achieves a balance of $4 million, the trigger for the extra levy shall continue for one quarter after the balance returns to $2 million. During periods when dues of 1.783 per cent of regular gross pay are assessed, six per cent of the total dues received by the Local in each quarter shall be transferred to the Local Defence Fund at the beginning of the following quarter.

  5. Property of the Local

    All money collected on behalf of or in the name of the Local shall be the property of the Local.

  6. The Local may transfer the property held by it, known municipally as 1253 Queen Street East and the assets held in the Local Defense Fund and such other of its assets as the Representative Council shall in the future deem advisable, to a non-profit corporation established by the Local which shall hold such assets in trust for the Local, pursuant to a Declaration of Trust in the form attached as Appendix “A”. This authority shall continue until expressly revoked by subsequent resolution.