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AGENCY SHOP Q & A |
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What is Agency Shop? |
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An agency shop school district is where the union has made a bargain with the school
board that all professional teachers are required, as a condition of employment,
to either join the union, or pay its “fair share fee. |
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Why do school boards agree to an Agency Shop clause? |
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School boards agree to the deals and compromises offered by union officials who
push to have Agency Shop instated. School directors are told that this will not
cost the district any money, so they feel free in compromising the freedoms of their
teachers with regard to professional association affiliation. |
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Does an Agency Shop contract cost the school district money? |
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Yes it does. District time and staff must be used to process union deductions. Do
I have to join the union if my school district is Agency Shop? No you do not. However,
if you choose to abstain from union membership, you are still required to pay their
agency fee.
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Does my agency fee pay for more than collective bargaining? |
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By law, the union is only authorized to use your fee to pay for collective bargaining.
However, there are ongoing court cases where the union was found to have illegally
used agency fee money to fund political agendas and other nonauthorized services.
In several states, the union was required to refund teachers for the illegal use
of fee payer funds. |
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Can I challenge the “Fair Share Fee”? |
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Yes. By law, the Hudson Packet is to be issued to all fee payers of a bargaining
unit explaining their rights and responsibilities concerning the agency fee. You
also have a right to challenge to amount of the “fair share fee”. If you wish to
challenge the fee, please contact KEYTA and we can assist you with this challenge. |
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Can the Agency Shop Status in my school district by reversed? |
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Yes. The school board has the power to remove the agency shop clause from a proposed
teacher contract. However, once a contract is approved, the agency shop clause will
remain in effect until the contact expires. |
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