Texas Tames Dues Deductions

Texas State Senators have passed legislation that will end the government deducting dues from government employees’ paychecks.  Automatic dues deduction is practiced in man states and union bosses benefit by not having to spend a dime collecting members’ dues.  The government does it all for them, saving union bosses a ton of cash.  Mike Ward has the story in the Houston Chronicle.

Senate Bill 1968 would allow the payroll deductions to continue for police, fire and emergency-services employees — groups that generally vote Republican in most parts of Texas — but would not allow them for other unions, such as those for teachers, construction trades and other unions.

“Government has no business collecting union dues,” said state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, the author of the measure, denying that politics in any way were involved in her bill. “This will not affect charitable contributions in any way.”

Democrats attacked the measure as a way to thwart union membership, a charge that Huffman denied. Several senators said police, fire and EMS unions that carry clout with GOP leaders in the Legislature opposed the proposal until they were exempted.

In addition to covering payroll deductions at government agencies, a Senate analysis of the bill shows it will also “protect employers from picketing when the employee’s entity is not involved in a labor dispute, keeps state resources from funding political campaigns and protects non-union employers from union representatives intimidating their employees during a mandatory federal inspection.”