"Hudson Notice" process completed successfully

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Once a year, CSEA staff are on the front lines of the Hudson Notice process, which allows non-members of our two union affiliates - SEIU Local 1000 and the California State Employees Union (CSUEU) - to stop paying the portion of their “fair share” fees which fund activities considered “non-germane” to collective bargaining.

The law allows unions to charge non-members fees to cover their "fair share" of the cost of negotiating and administering contracts.  But the US Supreme Court has determined that these non-members have a right to refuse to pay for certain political and other activities, and that unions have the obligation to regularly notify them of this option.

“We go through this exercise every spring, says CSEA Membership Services Department manager Wendy Montero. “It’s very painstaking and time consuming because it’s closely regulated. And there’s a certain amount of verbal abuses from these non-members.”

“We just put our heads down and go through it in a professional way.”

“The courts have created this empty distinction for public employee unions between bargaining and political action” says CSEA President Dave Hart. “All you have to do is look at how corporate political power in Wisconsin and other states is being used to destroy public employee bargaining.

“How is political action not really related to collective bargaining power when your pay and benefits are in the hands of politicians? It’s not a level playing field.”

The bottom line is that CSUEU and Local 1000 are compelled to spend an enormous amount of time and money enabling “free-riders”—the folks who benefit from union representation but think it’s ok for everyone else to pick up their share of the cost of building union power—to opt out even further, by not paying for some portion of the expenses involved in political action, recruitment, communications and other essential parts of the unions’ work.

The process begins at the end of May, when all fair-share fee payers are notified that they can opt out of paying for “non-germane” activities.  They are invited to either mail or personally deliver a letter to that effect, usually between June 1 and June 30

It’s an enormous amount of work, requiring the highest degree of professionalism from CSEA staff. Staff works with the State Controller’s office, and with an independent printer and mail house to make sure the Hudson notices are sent out timely. Each letter submitted has to be scanned and reviewed by at least two sets of eyes, sometimes more if there are questions.  Some are not approved, either because they failed to meet the deadline or because they were filled out improperly.  Each approved letter must be processed so that fees covering activities which the courts have determined are “non-germane” are no longer deducted.

The unions are permitted to enclose membership applications in these Hudson Notice mailings. The process usually produces about 1,300 membership applications which must also be processed during the same time period.

“Most of the non-members who come in or call are friendly and businesslike,” says Montero. “But a small group, maybe 5 percent, are unhappy or hostile, and they’re sometimes verbally abusive. We have to just be patient, and let it all roll off our backs.

“We’re just glad it’s over. It’s something we have to do. But we’re glad to get back to our job of serving the members, and helping our affiliates run as smoothly as possible.”