Those bound by CBAs must pay agency fees

Claris Ogangah

QUESTION: My employer has deducted dues even from some of us who have not been active union members for the past 15 years. Is it right for the management to effect the deductions in arrears? If so, is it in order for the union to compel the same management to effect the deductions without notifying the affected employees?

A previous article on this issue indicated that joining a trade union was a voluntary action. Section 6 of the Labour Relations Act provides for freedom of association, where employees have a right to join and participate in the activities of a trade union.

We further stated that as a requirement, every member of a trade union must pay subscription, also known as trade union dues, which is the amount of money paid as a condition for retaining membership.

However, employees who are not members of trade unions, but who are subject to a collective bargaining agreement by virtue of working for a company that has such an agreement with a trade union have to pay agency fees.

This is provided for in Section 49(1) of the Labour Relations Act.

It states: "A trade union that has concluded a collective agreement registered by the Industrial Court with an employer, group of employers or an employers’ organisation, setting terms and conditions of service for all unionisable employees covered by the agreement may request the minister to issue an order requiring any employer bound by the collective agreement to deduct an agency fee from the wages of each unionisable employee covered by the collective agreement who is not a member of the trade union."

Authorise deductions

An official request (signed by the employer and the trade union) is made to the minister, in this case the Minister for Labour, to authorise the deductions of this amount from the employees’ salaries.

The authorisation is not automatically given and the minister has to satisfy himself that it is necessary to make the order for deductions.

Section 49(3) provides that members of trade unions who have since resigned from the trade unions must pay this agency fees, so you and your colleagues are not exempted from these deductions.

The second part of your question, however, raises fundamental issues as to whether agency fees can be collected in arrears. Section 49(6) of the Labour Relations Act states: "If a collective agreement is implemented retrospectively after registration by the Industrial Court, the agency fee shall be deducted and paid to the trade union for the period of retrospective implementation in accordance with this section.

The labour laws came into place in 2007 and that could be the reason the payments have been backdated to the said year. In view of the above sections, your employer has a right to deduct arrears. But it is important to find out whether these deductions as well as the arrears were authorised by the minister.