AFSCME Council 5 Union Dues
What are they? Where do they go?

The Minnesota State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 5, AFL-CIO, is the executive bargaining representative for all employees in your bargaining unit. Employees within bargaining units represented by AFSCME Council 5 are encouraged to become full dues paying members of the local union representing your particular group of employees. Your
union dues work for you, your local union, AFSCME Council 5, and AFSCME International in a host of areas of interest and concern to you and your co-workers. Your dues also support the costs of representing you and protecting your interests in legislative bodies, from the local to the national level. That is important protection because the rules and regulations which govern your job are written by those legislative bodies. There is demonstrated relationship between the numbers of dues paying members and the benefits won by state and university employees. Dues paying membership in AFSCME Council 5 establishes power to state and university employees in protecting their rights and their future. However, only full dues paying members of the union can participate in the democratic processes which determine the union's goals, select its officers, negotiators and grievance representatives, and accept or reject the negotiated collective bargaining agreement. Membership guarantees you a VOICE and a VOTE on issues affecting you.

How are dues determined?

Dues are established by the members of each individual local union. AFSCME Council 5 is currently composed of 71 individual local union affiliates, representing six bargaining units. The membership of each local union determines what their dues will be.

How much are the dues?

While there are minimum dues levels required to support your local union, your Council, and your International Union, the amount varies from local to local. Some locals set a flat rate for all members; some base dues for each member on a percentage of the members' hourly wage; some locals use a mix of these two approaches. What is important is that the membership of each local determines which is the best for them to meet their needs.

Where do my dues go?

The portion of your dues which is paid to affiliates is referred to as "Per Capita Tax".

1. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME International).
This per capita supports the organizational, administrative, legislative, public affairs, educational, and other related programs of this over 1.3 million member union, as well as the State and National AFL-CIO. Examples of the International's services your local benefits from include: organizing grants; steward and leadership training programs; media and publications; state and national lobbying.