December 4, 2012
Union dues keep PSAC working for you
This January PSAC's dues will rise to keep the union financially stable and to fund some new initiatives. Starting on January 1, 2013 the PSAC dues rate will go from 0.9007% to 0.9668% - an average increase of $2.83 per member per month.
Members' dues are used to:
- negotiate agreements,
- make sure employers respect the terms of those agreements,
- obtain justice for members unjustly disciplined or fired,
- support court cases to obtain pay equity or enforce human rights,
- provide education and training,
- deal with classification and health and safety issues and complaints,
- produce materials and tools on issues that matter to members such as the workforce adjustment.
Convention delegates decided a small dues increase was needed
Every three years, PSAC members review the union's financial situation at a national convention and adopt a three-year budget. They also debate and adopt resolutions about future activities.
The 2013 dues increase will be used primarily to
- increase the union's ability to protect members from cuts to jobs and public services;
- create regional youth committees that will allow young workers to develop skills and strategies on issues that they care about;
- and deal with an anticipated deficit in the PSAC staff pension plan.
The need to ensure the solvency of the pension plan is based partly on changes to regulations dealing with pension indexing but primarily due to historically low interest rates. However, if the next pension plan valuation in 2015 determines that these funds are not necessary over the next three years, any unused portion will be used to credit members' dues in the following three year budget.
There will be differences in deductions in January
The total amount deducted for union dues will vary.
Dues for members in PSAC components are made up of: PSAC dues + Component dues + local/branch dues
Dues for members in Directly Chartered Locals consist of: PSAC dues + Local dues
Some Components will be changing the amount of their dues as of January 1. Changes in local and branch dues may also apply.