Article 40
Dues Withholding

This Article authorizes eligible employees who are members of Local 12 to request the Department to withhold the dues of Local 12 from their salary as provided herein and by Statute.

It is understood by both parties to this Agreement that dues withholding is to be voluntary on the part of the individual member. Both the Local and the Department will undertake to fully inform members and employees respectively of the voluntary nature of dues withholding and of the conditions governing when a member cancels dues withholding.

Section 1. Procedure for Authorizing Dues Withholding

a. Any eligible employee who is a member in good standing in Local 12, AFGE, may authorize dues withholding at any time during the life of this Agreement provided that his/her regular biweekly salary is sufficient to cover the amount of the deduction.
b. Dues are defined as the regular periodic amounts of money required to maintain the member in good standing in Local 12.
c. All authorizations must be made on a Standard Form 1187 or a substantially similar form. Local 12 is responsible for purchasing this form, distributing it, and instructing eligible employees on its use.
d. The President of Local 12 is responsible for certifying on each member's authorization form as to the amount of employee organization dues to be withheld each pay period before the form is forwarded to the Department. All authorizations for Local 12 are to be sent by Local 12 to the Office of Accounting.
e. Deductions will be made beginning with the first pay period which begins after the form is received by the Office of Accounting and be made in each subsequent pay period until terminated as provided herein.

Section 2. Automatic Reinstatement of Dues Withholding

a. The Department will automatically reinstate the dues withholding of bargaining unit employees returning to a bargaining unit position from a temporary reassignment or temporary promotion to a position outside the bargaining unit.
b. The Department will automatically reinstate the dues withholding of bargaining unit employees returning to a pay status from a non-pay status (e.g., Leave Without Pay (LWOP)).

Section 3. Terminations

a. The President of Local 12 will notify the Office of Accounting in writing within ten (10) calendar days when a member of Local 12 who has authorized dues withholding and is currently employed by the Department of Labor is expelled or ceases to be in good standing. Deductions in this situation will be stopped at the end of the pay period in which the notice is received by the Office of Accounting. An authorization will be automatically terminated if the member leaves the Department of Labor or the bargaining unit for any reason.
b. Eligible employees may submit a dues revocation to cancel a withholding authorization by sending written notice or Standard Form 1188 (Revocation of Voluntary Authorization for Allotment of Compensation for Payment of Employee Organization Dues) to the Office of Accounting, provided that the revocation is received no more than sixty (60) calendar days prior to the beginning of the pay period specified below.

(1) Revocations must be submitted in duplicate to the Office of Accounting, who will send one (1) copy to the Union.
(2) No withholding authorizations will be revoked for a period of one (1) year following the effective date of the authorization. For employees on dues withholding:

(a) Prior to September 1, 1978, revocations shall be effective the first full pay period following September 1 of each year.
(b) Effective after September 1, 1978, revocations shall be effective the first full pay period following the anniversary date of such authorization.

Section 4. Change in Dues

a. The President of Local 12 shall certify to the Office of Accounting the regular dues for membership in Local 12. In the event of a change in the regular dues of Local 12, the deductions from the salaries of those members who have previously authorized dues withholding for Local 12 will be adjusted upon certification of the dues change by the President of Local 12 to the Office of Accounting. This change will be made beginning with the first complete pay period which starts after the certification is received. A change in the deductions under this Section may not be made more frequently than once every twelve (12) months.
b. The dues allotment for a member of Local 12 shall be changed by the Department when his/her grade changes so as to place him/her in a different dues group.

Section 5. Remittance to Local 12

a. The remittance for dues withheld will be sent to:
AFGE, Local 12
P.O. Box 7708
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044
after each pay period. The check will be made out as follows: AFGE, Local 12.
b. Each remittance will be accompanied by a list containing the name and Agency of each member from whose salary dues have been withheld and the amount withheld for each person listed. Duplicate copies of revocations made and SF-1188s processed under Section 3 will be sent with the check.
c. This service shall be provided without charge to Local 12.

Section 6. Correction of Errors

a. The Department shall contract for a service on a biweekly basis which will facilitate the reconciling of the list of employees on dues withholding with the Union's membership listing to identify administrative errors.
b. Administrative errors in remittance checks will be corrected and adjusted in the next remittance check to be issued.
c. In the event the Department fails to collect dues from the employee(s) who has properly authorized withholding due to administrative error, the Department will comply with the Comptroller General Decision issued on this subject on November 16, 1989, Case Number B-235386.

Section 7. Reopener Clause

If, during the duration of this Agreement, changes in the law affecting union security occur (by enactment of law, administrative determination of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, or judicial interpretation), either party may reopen this Agreement by submitting proposals addressing this area. Such negotiations shall involve those areas that the change in law affects and the arbitration payment(s) agreed to in Article 44.

Section 8. Duration of Agreement

The provisions of this Article will remain in effect so long as Local 12 maintains exclusive recognition under the Statute. Deductions for all members will be automatically terminated at the beginning of the first pay period after loss of recognition.