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Dues are only $21.66 per pay period, which is about $10 a week.
Why do the dues we pay matter to all of us??
The portion of dues that support International, National, and State level efforts are responsible for us having benefits such as sick days, vacation days, and medical insurance. Did you know AFSCME lawyers fought the Illinois Governor who planned to raise state employees’ medical insurance premiums to have a $6,000 out of pocket expense? AFSCME lawyers fought that budget for over 2 years and won. Because NIU adopts the same medical insurance plan the state offers, the portion of your dues that funded the insurance battle benefited you with your existing low premiums and high coverages.
Illinois state employees represented by AFSCME worked without a contract since 2015. The governor froze their pay and prevented employees from progressing through their negotiated pay plan. AFSCME took the case to court to keep negotiations open. As of June 22, 2019 the Governor and AFSCME ratified a new contract by an overwhelming majority of eligible union members voting. Remember- What happens to state employees affects NIU employees. The dues we pay helped them wage their battle just as much as it helps us wage ours.
The portion that goes to Council 31 (regional level) provides support from the Rockford AFSCME office to your executive board, stewards, and other volunteer roles. Support that helps us build our membership base, represent our more serious grievance cases, and negotiate better terms in our collective bargaining agreement. This support is critical to Local 1890 because becoming an active union is very important.
A portion of your dues comes back to your local. As a relatively new local, we are building our foundation. Paying dues entitles you to participate in setting Local 1890’s guidelines because only dues-paying members are eligible to vote on such matters.
More important than the right to vote is showing NIU that our local is strong and that our stewards and officers have the backing of the over 500 represented employees in our unit. When we have 100% of our members paying dues, management knows that any action we take to negotiate better working conditions and pay for our members will be effective.
The power of a strong local union has a direct relation to the number of dues-paying members. More members mean management listens, management adapts, and everyone benefits.
We encourage you to visit the Council 31 (Illinois) website. We think you might be interested in how much they do for civil service employees across the state. https://www.afscme31.org
You can read the AFSCME Local 1890 contract https://www.niu.edu/hrs/_files/labor/1890-afscme-clerical.pdf on the NIU HRS website to become familiar with your rights as an employee within our unit.
While you are not required to pay dues, please recognize we stand stronger and have a louder voice when we all stand together- in solidarity.
Dues are only $21.66 per pay period, which is about $10 a week.
Don’t put it off. Don’t wait. Join today. Help us help you.
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