Inflation pushes up trade-union fees

Press, 23 June 1978, Page 4

Inflation pushes up trade-union fees

Industrial reporter

A number of trade unions have had to raise their union fees this year to keep up with mounting inflation and to counter losses of union members through redundancies. The New Zealand Insurance Guild, for instance, increased its fees from $l5 a year to $26 after trying to keep the level down for two years. Of the $26, $4 a member will go toward clearing a bank overdraft. •’We had been charging too little and ran into a deficit for two years,” said the South Island field officer. Mr A M. Pringle. The Carpenters’ Union jaised its fees from $28.50 a year to $4O. reducible by $5 if paid before the due date. It is a union that has lost a lot of members through redundancies in the last year. Increases in fees are never popular, as the Canterbury , Storemen and Packers’ Union found to its chagrin when it decided to increase fees from 34c a week to 68c. The oppo- ( sition from a section of the , union led to a compromise J 50c a week being set. , Other unions, such as the | Journalists’ Union and the t Engineers’ Union, tie subscription increases to award t wage increases to avert the | need to set new fees each < year. i A section of the member- < ship of the Auckland Clerical i Workers’ Union is upset < about a recent rise in fees ; from $24 a year to $36, re- < ducible to $3O if paid by the .

s due date. 1 Their cause has been taken up by the organisation, Strike j Free. The orginsation has ’ said it will attempt to dis- _ band the union, according to the Press Association. The union’s secretary (Mr ’ C. H. Jamieson) said the in- ■ crease was the first for two 1 years, and would mean a rise ’ of 19c a week to 58c a week. ' "When an organisation ■ such as Strike Free gets ini volved in an area where there is no strike, it simply shows itself to be an interferer,” said Mr Jamieson. Fees vary from union to union, depending mainly on the numbers contributing, , and the level of service pro- , vided. The Canterbury Legal , Practitioners Employees’ Union had a fee of $5 a year until it was dissovled recently. It had a membership of about 500 and no paid officers or office. Its members are now in the Canterbury! Clerical Workers’ Union,, with a membership of over 7000. an office in the Trade

Union Centre in Christchurch, a secretary, assistant secretary, field officer, chief clerk, receptionist-typist, two membership clerks, a bookkeeper, and a junior clerktypist. There is a legal limit to the amount a union can levy. It is 1 per cent of the worker’s minimum weekly award wage. This maximum can only be changed by a majority of members by secret ballot. The restrictions are set out under section 182 of the Industrial Relations Act.

Other clauses deal with the presentation of the annual balance sheet, the levying of political subscriptions, and the right of every member of a union to a free copy of the annual balance sheet upon request. Most unions have a flat rate fee. but others, such as the Journalists’ Union, have a sliding scale, with junior reporters paying $29 a year and top reporters just over $lOO a year. The following table gives to $2 a week, but few would pay the full $lO4 a year because of the seasonal nature of their work. Workers in the related trades section of the union, such as chemical manure workers, pay 50c a week. The following tables gives a cross-section of union fees,] worked out on an annual! basis. Most workers pay the! fees weekly, either by auto-1 matic deduction at source, or| by collection by union field workers.

NATIONAL UNIONS L Members (1977) Fee <approx.) F Engineers’ 44,073 $26 1 Meat Workers ’ 22.209 S26-S104 ) Workers’ 16,249 $33 . Labourers' 14,444 $29 Carpenters’ 13,986 $35 Bank Officers’ 10,243 $22 Insurance ) Guild 6139 $26 1 Painters’ 2604 $26 • Plumbers' 1844 $52 • Firemen s 1300 $56 | Journalists’ 1041 $294100 1 CANTERBURY UNIONS i Clerical 7500 $21 . Drivers' 3871 S26 Storemen's 3170 $26 i Rubber ► Workers' 875 $56 Boilermakers’ 320 S52 ’ Gas Workers’ 100 $41 •Moulders’ 122 $41