HOUSE BILL No. 4252


     February 15, 2001, Introduced by Reps. Gosselin, Garcia, Voorhees, Birkholz, Ehardt, Meyer,Vander Roest, Bishop, Vear and
Jansen and referred to the Committee on Employment Relations, Training and Safety.


        A bill to require certain labor organizations to obtain an

   individual's written authorization on a specified form before

   using certain dues or fees paid by the individual for political,

   social, charitable, or other activities that are not related to

   collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance pro-

   cessing; to impose certain duties on certain departments; and to

   provide for penalties and remedies.

               THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

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           Sec. 1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the

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      "contribution disclosure act".

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           Sec. 2.  As used in this act:

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           (a) "Labor organization" means that term as defined in sec-

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      tion 2 of 1939 PA 176, MCL 423.2.

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           (b) "Written authorization form" means a document described

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      in section 4 that is signed by an individual who is required to


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      pay dues or fees to a labor organization under a collective

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      bargaining agreement or other agreement authorized by law.

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           Sec. 3.  A labor organization that accepts payment of dues

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      or fees from an individual as a condition of that individual's

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      employment in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement

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      or other agreement authorized by law shall not expend any portion

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      of those dues or fees for political, social, charitable, or other

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      activities that are not related to collective bargaining, con-

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      tract administration, or grievance processing unless the labor

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      organization has obtained the individual's written authorization

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      on a written authorization form described in section 4 at least

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      once each calendar year.

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           Sec. 4.  A written authorization required under this act

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      shall be on a form that states the following, using at least

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      12-point print:

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           "A labor organization may solicit and obtain funds from you

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      for political, ideological, social, or charitable events or

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      activities, lobbying for legislation, organizing employees of

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      other employers, or other activities that are not collective bar-

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      gaining, contract administration, or grievance processing on an

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      automatic basis, including, but not limited to, a payroll deduc-

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      tion plan, only if you affirmatively consent in writing to the

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      contribution at least once every calendar year.

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           Your dues or fees for membership in, or union representation

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      from, the __________ are __________ dollars and __________ cents





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      ($__________) for the year beginning __________ and ending

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      __________

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           __________ dollars and __________ cents ($__________, or

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      __________%) of your dues or fees may be used for political,

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      ideological, social, or charitable events or activities, lobbying

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      for legislation, organizing employees of other employers, or

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      other activities that are not collective bargaining, contract

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      administration, or grievance processing only if you voluntarily

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      consent below.

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           Under state and federal law, you do not have to pay this

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      amount.  This amount will be subtracted from the dues or fees you

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      owe if you do not sign this form to have your dues or fees used

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      for organizing employees of other employers, lobbying, or partic-

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      ipating in political, social, charitable, or other ideological

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      activities that are not related to collective bargaining, con-

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      tract administration, or grievance processing.

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           I, __________, voluntarily authorize __________ to use

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      $__________ (__________%) of my dues or fees for political, ideo-

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      logical, social, or charitable events or activities, lobbying for

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      legislation, organizing employees of other employers, or other

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      activities that are not collective bargaining, contract adminis-

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      tration, or grievance processing.







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           ____________________           _______________
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              Employee Signature           Date
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      cc: Your Employer

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           Your Union President".

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           Sec. 5.  The department of consumer and industry services

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      shall prepare and make available to a labor organization upon the

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      labor organization's request a written authorization form

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      described in section 4.

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           Sec. 6.  (1) If a labor organization that has not obtained

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      an individual's signature on a written authorization form in

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      accordance with this act expends all or a portion of an

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      individual's dues or fees for political, social, charitable, or

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      other activities unrelated to collective bargaining, contract

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      administration, or grievance processing, the labor organization

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      is liable to the individual for double all of the following, plus

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      reasonable attorney fees and costs:

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           (a) The amount of dues or fees that were collected from the

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      individual without the individual's express consent on a written

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      authorization form.

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           (b) Interest at the lawful rate.

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           (2) In addition to awarding money damages under subsection

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      (1), a court may award equitable relief to an individual injured

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      by a violation of this act.










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