To opt out of UPW dues:
- Enter your information into the form below and click “submit.”
- On the resulting page, click the link to open your customized form. You will also receive an email with a link to your form.
- Print the form. If you check the appropriate box about needing a printed version, we’ll mail you a copy of the form.
- Sign and date the form.
- Mail the completed form to the address at the top of the form. We highly recommend sending it via certified mail.
UPW is the designated union for many public employees for state and local utilities and services.
For years, public employees in Hawaii have been forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment, allowing unions to take their members for granted. However, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that public employees can no longer be required to financially support a labor union against their will. (Janus v. AFSCME, 2018).
“States and public-sector unions may no longer extract [funds] from nonconsenting employees. . . . This procedure violates the First Amendment and cannot continue.”
Consequently, public employees may decline to pay these private organizations without losing their jobs or employer-provided benefits.
It is important to know that UPW may continue to automatically withhold dues from employees pay even if they never signed up for membership in the first place. The best way to ensure the deductions stop is to submit a request to the union in writing.
Frequently Asked Questions
You should receive some acknowledgement of your request from the union within a few weeks.
Because it has a financial interest in continuing to withhold dues from your pay, the union may contact you and attempt to persuade you to keep your membership. Their sales pitch may include untrue claims and scare tactics. It is a good idea to try to document any questionable claims made by union representatives. Do not be bullied! If you stand your ground, there is nothing the union can do to retaliate against you for opting out.
Monitor your paychecks to make sure the dues deductions stop. Contact the union if the deductions continue more than a couple paychecks after you submit your resignation request.
Some unions have tricked employees into signing membership forms with fine print waiving their right to resign except during a short annual window period. If the union claims you signed such a form and therefore cannot cancel the dues deductions from your pay, ask to be provided with documentation that you ever signed such an agreement.
According to federal filings, UPW charges its full-time members 1.5% of their salary and a flat fee of $164 each year. The minimum dues rate is set at $623 per year, except for those working less than 20 hours/week, who have a reduced minimum rate of $467.
Yes. UPW has been empowered by the state to represent those in your workplace. Employees are not allowed to negotiate their own compensation or handle their own grievances with their employer, nor can they hire another person or entity to represent them.
In exchange for this unusual benefit, UPW is legally obligated to represent all employees in the workplace, including those who choose not to join the union as members.
Consequently, the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the union and your employer will continue to set the terms and conditions of your employment and the union will continue to represent you in grievances, contract enforcement, discipline assistance or other proceedings governed by the collective bargaining agreement.
While the terms of the collective bargaining agreement will still govern your employment, as a nonmember, the union may choose to prevent you from participating in internal union affairs, such as attending union meetings or voting in union elections, including contract ratification votes. Unions also commonly withhold any special “members-only” deals or discounts the union has arranged for with businesses. You may no longer receive the union newsletter or similar publications.
People have many reasons for not wanting to support the union. Some simply do not believe the services the union provides are worth the dues it charges. Others may find the union’s one-size-fits-all agenda does not serve them well because they are new to the profession, have a specialty that is not acknowledged in bargaining, or they believe their effectiveness is undercompensated. Some resent the union’s role in enabling and defending underperforming employees. Many find the union’s political activity and use of dues to advance partisan causes, candidates and ideology distasteful. Still others believe that union officials are corrupt and unaccountable to their membership.
Unions representing public employees are not governed by the usual consumer protection or anti-trust laws, so abuses are common. Unions can charge whatever they wish. They can spend dues money on anything they want. Often, they do not have to disclose how dues money is spent to members. They can speak for employees without consulting or informing them. They can injure some members’ interests while advancing the interests of others. Unions even have the ability to prevent employees from getting help in their workplace from other sources. They are not governed by any obligation to provide quality service, and almost never have to seek approval of the people they represent in an election to continue as the exclusive representative.
Sometimes people have a faith-based objection to unions’ expenditures. To learn more about some of the major public unions’ expenditures in light of common faith beliefs, click here.
United Public Workers
UPW collected $9.6 million in dues and fees from its members in calendar year 2019, according to reports the union must file with the U.S. Dept. of Labor.
In 2019 alone:
- $1.8 million went to the AFSCME International headquarters in Washington, D.C., to support its massive political, economic and social agenda. AFSCME International regularly supports a host of controversial organizations.
- $46,700 was spent by UPW on political activity and lobbying.
- $17,800 was paid or contributed to various outside organizations.
- $350,000 was spent on airfare, travel and hotel venues, including $221,000 on a convention at Sheraton Waikiki, a four-star hotel in Honolulu.
- $2.5 million was spent on attorneys and private consultants.
UPW paid 76 officers and employees in 2019, eight of whom were paid six figures. State director Dayton Nakanelua received $186,700. In May 2020, Nakanelua was removed from his position after an AFSCME audit uncovered “severe” financial mismanagement.
Also, despite having stockpiled $13.9 million in spare cash by the start of 2019, UPW increased the minimum dues for members working over 20 hours/week from $610 to $623 per year. By the end of 2019, its cash reserves grew to $14.1 million.
UPW’s most recent LM-2 reports are available here: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015.
A portion of the dues paid by UPW members goes to support AFSCME International.
AFSCME International
AFSCME collected $183 million from its members nationwide in 2020.
- $62 million was spent by AFSCME on divisive political candidates, causes and lobbying. This includes $115,000 in campaign support to Michael Madigan, former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, who recently fell into disgrace under accusations of corruption and cronyism.
- $2.9 million was paid or contributed to largely ideological organizations. This includes $5,000 donated to the Alliance for Global Justice, a left-wing, anti-capitalist organization that grew out of the Nicaragua Network, which supported the Communist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.
- $1.3 million was spent on airfare, hotels and travel for union staff.
- $4.6 million was spent on attorneys and private consultants.
- $71,500 was spent on food and catering.
AFSCME paid 484 employees in 2020, 211 of whom were paid six figures. AFSCME’s international president, Lee Saunders, was paid $357,000.
AFSCME’s most recent LM-2 reports are available here: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016.