COLUMBIA, Mo.—Missouri has stopped collecting union dues from the paychecks of state employees working under expired contracts. The change comes from a rule established last May, state Office of Administration accounting director Stacy Neal told the Missouri Correction Officers Association, the Service Employees International Union, and the Communications Workers of America in letters dated Dec. 9. Correction Officers Association Director Gary Gross calling the rule “an outright attempt to either eliminate the unions or make them powerless.” “I assume to put pressure on everyone to either get out of the organizations or sign these ridiculous agreements they came up with, they came up with this rule to stop payroll deductions,” he told the Columbia Daily Tribune. Union grievance officer Tim Cutt, however, said that many members preferred using electronic payment systems for their dues, as “people like the idea of the state not knowing if they are a member or not.” The rule does not affect the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 61, political action representative Alex Townsend said, because it has a clause in its contract that says an expired agreement must be honored until a new one is reached. Read more
