Monday, February 10, 2014

Payroll Deduction

The state legislature is considering a bill, HB 1507, that would prevent unions from deducting membership dues from paychecks.  This is concerning for a number of reasons.  One is that I'm a union member and I see this as a move to weaken the employee protections that unions guarantee, by weakening union membership.

Another is that this measure would affect other forms of payroll deduction.  My union has negotiated a benefit that allows me to have transit fees deducted from my paycheck.  Every year there is a charitable campaign encouraging employees to contribute to charities via payroll deduction.  Child support payments can be deducted from paychecks; in some cases this is done by court order.

I contribute to my retirement accounts via payroll deduction.

If one form of payroll deduction is eliminated by law, how can the others remain?  Is it because unions are involved in lobbying?  SEPTA employs lobbyists and I have the cost of my monthly trail pass deducted from my check.  The charities I contribute to, or most of them, employ lobbyists.  Some also have political arms that endorse candidates.

This is bad legislation.


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