Public Employee Press

You never signed the union card?
Get the benefits of membership now!
Are you a city worker who never bothered to join the union? Then you're missing out on a lot of benefits.

All municipal workers are entitled to standard union welfare fund benefits - such as the prescription drug benefit and tuition reimbursement.

These benefits are won through contract negotiations between the city and the union. But a wide array of other union benefits funded outside the collective bargaining process are only for members.

"You're losing out if you don't sign the union card," DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts said.

By law, nonmembers must pay their "fair share" - known as the agency fee - to cover the cost of union services, which include work-related legal aid, on-the-job safety protection, and grievance representation, in addition to collective bargaining.

The more employees become members, the stronger the union will be in bargaining on these issues, and workers who haven't signed up as members don't have the right to vote on contracts and elect their union leaders.

Don't miss out

"By not taking that extra step to join the union, you are really disenfranchising yourself," DC 37 Associate Director Henry Garrido said. "You're also giving up the opportunity to take advantage of many programs the union offers, whether it's discounted cell phone service or cheaper car insurance." The agency fee doesn't cover the many benefits provided for members only by DC 37 locals, DC 37's national union and the AFL-CIO coalition of unions.

What opportunities for savings and benefits are agency-fee payers missing out on?

Some of DC 37's locals award thousands of dollars worth of scholarships and tuition reimbursement that are only available to members and their children and grandchildren.

District Council 37's parent union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), offers 40 membership benefits, including a credit card, cell phone service and a mortgage program.

And the AFL-CIO Union Plus benefits are available to the 14.5 million union members in the United States, but not to the million agency-fee payers represented by AFL-CIO unions.

A few examples of member-only benefits:

• Data Processing Employees Local 2627 offers its members tuition reimbursement worth up to $800 a year on top of the $800 provided by the DC 37 Education Fund.
• Computer workers need to upgrade their skills constantly," Local 2627 President Robert Ajaye said. "So our benefit is very important to members, who voted to support our education program."
• Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 has a scholarship program for the children and grandchildren of members. Local 1549 also provides members with a one-time reimbursement for the cost of civil service exams, and it has a disaster relief fund to help out members who face financial or personal hardship.
• Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375 provides a total of $20,000 in scholarships every year to members' children.
• Local 299 also awards scholarships.
• Many DC 37 members save a lot of money and receive helpful services through AFSCME Advantage (http://www.afscme.org/members/advantage) and Union Plus (www.unionplus.org). The programs work together on a number of benefits while also offering their own benefits.
• The AFSCME Advantage Union Plus credit card program offers 1.5 percent cash rewards on purchases, hardship assistance and competitive rates. About 130,000 members have the card. Other benefits include an auto-buying service; retirement savings; discounts for tires, auto insurance, health clubs, home heating oil, car rental, and retail savings, including discounts for computers, clothing, flowers and even pet services.