Friday, November 16, 2012

Dues and fees

If your current salary exceeds $42,420, on the current fee schedule over a 30-year career, you will pay $18,930 if you are a member, and $12,510 if you are not a member. 

AFMSU struggled to determine legal membership and representation fees.  They finally set a fixed fee of $631/year for those with salaries in excess of $42,420 per academic year (most of the faculty). Nearly 60% of those fees are forwarded to MEA-MFT and another 30% to NEA.  At the lowest level of this range, the fees represent 1.5% of your annual salary if you are a union member -- substantially higher than the 0.9% number mentioned earlier in the process.  For the highest salaries, the membership fee may represent less than 0.5%.  Thus, the highest percentages are being applied to those with the lowest annual faculty salaries.

In terms of dollars rather than percentages, for a union member whose salary is greater than or equal to $42,420, the annual dues are $631, of which $370 are paid to MEA-MFT, $205 are paid to NEA, and $56 are paid to AFMSU.  For a member of the bargaining unit who is not a union member and whose salary is greater than or equal to $42,420, the annual dues are $417, of which $263 are paid to MEA-MFT, $114 are paid to NEA, and $40 are paid to AFMSU.