WASHINGTON—In the face of a Trump administration campaign to stop letting federal employees have their union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks, the American Federation of Government Employees has created its own “E-Dues” system for members to pay electronically. The White House, the union says, has imposed contract provisions that summarily cut off dues deductions after one year, tried to force workers to recertify their union membership each year, and sought to prohibit unions from submitting employees’ applications for membership to the agency they work for. The administration has stacked the boards overseeing federal personnel matters “with union-busters who will rubber-stamp any proposal that management sends their way,” AFGE President J. David Cox Sr. said in a message to members Sept. 16, “The only way to stop these attacks is to declare our independence from government-controlled dues collection and put the power back in our hands with AFGE E-Dues. Collecting our own dues gives us the freedom to fight the fights of our choosing.” The government allows automatic payroll deductions “all the time” for things like health-insurance payments and contributions to the Combined Federal Campaign charity-donation program, the union noted. Read more
