Seasonal Employee Gets $0.00 Paycheck after Teamsters Boss Takes Their Cut

One UPS driver in California worked the entire holiday rush… and took home a paycheck of $0.00 after Teamsters deductions. That single paystub captures how today’s labor laws can funnel power and money to union bosses at the direct expense of students and other temporary seasonal workers.

A $0.00 Paycheck in a Holiday Crush

Imagine hustling through snow and traffic during peak season—long shifts, tight delivery windows, and extra routes—only to open your paystub and see “Net Pay: $0.00.” That is what happened to a UPS driver after compulsory Teamsters deductions and fees drained an entire paycheck. For many new, student, or seasonal hires, this “union surprise” shows up only after they have already done the work and the deductions are locked in.

Stories like this are part of why the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is warning temporary and seasonal workers to learn their rights before union bosses and employer–union contracts decide their pay for them.

How the Law Tilts Toward Union Bosses

Under federal and state labor laws, once a union is certified as the “exclusive representative,” union officials gain legal authority to bargain for every worker in the unit—supporters, opponents, and the uninformed alike. Contracts can include “dues checkoff” arrangements that authorize employers to pull dues and fees directly out of paychecks and send that money to union accounts.

For short‑term and seasonal employees, including many students, this structure often means:

• They are swept into a bargaining unit they never consciously chose.
• They face deductions and rules negotiated by union bosses they have never met.
• Their individual objections are subordinated to what union officials and management agreed to at the bargaining table.

The union boss’s legal power is broad; the individual worker’s leverage is narrow.

Students and Seasonal Workers: Short Job, Long Costs

College students often sign up for a holiday job to cover tuition or books, not to finance a permanent union bureaucracy. Yet many discover only later that they are subject to union rules and deductions under a preexisting contract covering their workplace. The same is true for seasonal warehouse and farm workers, who may be hired for just a few weeks but find themselves bound by a union’s decisions over wages, scheduling, and discipline.

The National Right to Work Foundation’s 2025 holiday legal notice explains that in many situations, workers cannot be forced to join a union and may not be required to pay full union dues just to keep their jobs. However, the practical reality is that complex legal language, onboarding paperwork, and social pressure from union organizers and employers can make it difficult for workers to exercise those rights.

You can read the Foundation’s notice and related case updates at nrtw.org, which offers guides on objecting to dues, resigning from union membership, and challenging coercive practices.

Rights on Paper vs. Reality on the Ground

New York’s Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFLPA) and similar frameworks elsewhere illustrate the broader pattern: laws that promise “protections” for workers, but deliver power and leverage to union officials as gatekeepers. Once a union is installed, dissenting workers—whether farm laborers, warehouse pickers, or UPS drivers—often cannot negotiate their own terms, cannot choose a different representative, and face hurdles if they try to stop dues deductions.

That is why legal notices like the Foundation’s holiday advisory stress the difference between what the law technically allows and how it is actually used. The law may say you have a choice; the system is designed so that union bosses are your only voice with the employer.

Protecting Paychecks and Freedom of Choice

No worker—especially a student taking on extra hours or a seasonal hire trying to make ends meet—should discover after the fact that union deductions erased an entire paycheck. A system that enables $0.00 paychecks while guaranteeing union bosses steady revenue is a system with its priorities upside down.

If you are a temporary, seasonal, or student worker and have questions about union membership, dues, or your rights:

• Visit nrtw.org for legal notices, FAQs, and contact information for free legal assistance.
• Review your paystubs carefully to identify any union‑related deductions or fees.
• Ask for written information about your rights regarding union membership, nonmember status, and objection to dues.

Workers should control their paychecks and their voice at work—not union bosses and the laws that shield them.