I think what all you gentlemen are referring to is what's known as the Beck Laws (Beck Vs. Communication Workers), and it's various permutations. You can be what's known as a "Fair Share" payer in a state that hasn't passed Right-to-Work laws. You have to pay your "Fair Share" for Union representation minus any determined portion of dues that go to Political Action. Technically, you are not a Union member, but they have to , ahem, "represent" you because your work is covered under a negotiated collective bargaining agreement. As I've said before, Unions are the only organization that can't pick it's own members. The employers do that for us. And sometimes they pick us some real doozies. If you don't understand the battle going on now for the hearts, minds, and souls of working people, present and future; I would suggest going to the library and checking out some books, starting with Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". Once you're through that one, I'll give you the rest of the list.....in the hope that you are able to self-educate. At the turn of the century, we were in what was known as the "Robber Baron" era, where the millionaires used, abused and discarded working people like used tissue. For all their money and power, though, they could'nt make it illegal to be in a Union. Something bothersome like the First Amendment prevented it. Now we are in what I call the "Weasel Baron" era. Same tactics, except you have to go through a layer of lawyers to get to the billionaires. The lawyers are there to chisel away at the First Amendment and things like the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the National Labor Relations Act. Right-to-Work laws, Beck rulings, employment-at-will-laws are the chisels...and ,God Forbid! the working man is holding the chisel while Big Business swings the hammer! Good Grief! As my hero Pogo said, "We Have Met The Enemy, And He Is Us!"
