HUDSON NOTICE INSTRUCTIONS
In order to qualify for the Non-Germane Fee exemption (Hudson Notice) for 2009-2010, you MUST drop your SEIU Local 1000 membership, (use the word document below to cancel your membership) and become a fair share fee payer. Only during the period, June 1st through June 30th, will you be eligible to submit your Non-Germane Objector letter to:
CSEA Membership Services
Attn: Wendy Montero
1108 O St.
Sacramento, CA95814
You also have an option of mailing your membership cancellation and non-germane objectorletter to CPPEA’s address:
CPPEA
P.O. Box 1436
Citrus Heights, CA95611
We will make a copy of all applications received and will deliver them, in person, to the CSEA membership office for a stamped copy of your application. This will certify proof and receipt that you have applied and will now reap the benefits of SAVINGSyou’ll enjoy between 30-35%.
During the period of June 1stthrough June 30th, you can submit to the above address, your membership cancellation form and your non-germane objector letter to qualify for the non-germane fee exemption which will reduce your fees by around 30%-35% of regular dues. This is a nice savings at a time when our checks are shrinking.
Note: If you are not sure whether you are a SEIU Local 1000 member, we strongly recommend that you submit both your membership cancellation request ANDyour non-germane objector letter at the same time to the above address to assure that you will be qualified for the non-germane fee exemption.
If you are a fair share fee payer, and the Hudson notice (non-germane audit letter) has not arrivedat your home mailbox yet, it will arrive soon.Please be aware that you do not need to have received a Hudson Notice to apply and qualify for the non-germane fee exemption.
Background:
2008 fair share fee notice (a.k.a. the Hudson notice)
The legal authority for fair share fees was established by SB 645.
California law permits SEIU to authorize the State Controller to deduct a fair share fee from the salary or wages of all SEIU non-members of the bargaining units for which SEIU Local 1000 is the exclusive representative. The fees are remitted to SEIU on a monthly basis and are to be used to support SEIU's work on behalf of fee payers and fellow employees with regard to their employment relations with the State. This notice and report are applicable for fair share fees collected by SEIU for the period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.
The legal authority for fair share fees was established by SB 645.
On October 22, 1999 -- Gov. Gray Davis has signed SB 645, a bill passed by the Legislature requiring state employees to pay Fair Share in form of mandatory pay check reductions for SEIU Local 1000, this law was and is applicable to other state employees who are represented by unions other than SEIU Local 1000. This fee was only meant to cover the union's costs for:
- Negotiation/bargaining
- Contract administration
- And related activities
This bill took effect on January 1,2000.
RIGHT TO OBJECT TO NON-GERMANE EXPENDITURES
The law provides that you have a right to object to the use of any portion of your fees for what you believe are activities not germane to the collective bargaining functions of SEIU LOCAL 1000, i.e., partisan political or ideologicalcauses only incidentally related to the terms and conditions of employment or the provision of benefits available only to members.
For purposes of understanding the SEIU LOCAL 1000 policy, SEIU LOCAL 1000's expenditures may be grouped into two general categories –
- Those which are germane to collective bargaining and, therefore, by law chargeable to all fee payers, even if they object.
- And those which are not germane to collective bargaining and, therefore, not chargeable to fee payers who object.
The chargeable expenditures include such activities as negotiations with STATE, informal meetings with employer representatives, discussion of work-related issues with employees, handling employees' work-related problems through grievance procedures, and the administration of SEIU LOCAL 1000.
The non-chargeable expenditures concern such matters as member-only benefits, charitable donations, a portion of the costs of affiliation with the Service Employees International Union, and recruitment of members to the SEIU LOCAL 1000 or SEIU International.
An analysis of what the SEIU LOCAL 1000 has determined would have been subject to "exception" from fair share fees as expenditures not chargeable to objecting fee payers in 2008 is set forth in the SEIU LOCAL 1000 2008 Audited Financial Statement for SEIU LOCAL 1000 provided along with this notice and incorporated by reference herein.
Law requires that SEIU Local 1000 to provide to nonmembers a statement, which itemizes and describes the major categories of expenditures by SEIU LOCAL 1000. The amounts attributed to these categories of expenditures are taken from an independent audit of SEIU LOCAL 1000's 2008 financial records contained in the Financial Statement that is prepared by a certified public accounting firm. These statements show that XX.xx% of SEIU LOCAL 1000's expenditures were chargeable to objecting fee payers in 2008.
Effective July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010 (the "2009-10 Fee Payer Year"), SEIU LOCAL 1000 will charge fee payers who object to expenditures not germane to collective bargaining a fee of no more than XX.xx% of regular membership dues for that salary level. In order to obtain this reduced amount, you must send an objection letter to CSEA's Member Records Unit, 1108 "O" Street, Sacramento, CA95814, stating that you object to any use of your fees during the 2009-10 Fee Payer Year for activities not germane to collective bargaining.
RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE AMOUNT OF THE FEE
Law provides to fair share fee payers (nonmembers of SEIU LOCAL 1000) who object as described above to the use of their fees for expenditures not germane to collective bargaining the right to challenge the calculation of chargeable expenditures. By law SEIU Local 1000 is obligated to schedule a reasonably prompt hearing before an impartial decision-maker, the determination by SEIU LOCAL 1000 to set the fee for objecting fee payers for the 2009-10 Fee Payer Year, at no more than XX.xx% of membership dues for the fee payer's salary level.
A hearing date will be set no later than August 31, 2009 regarding the determinations set forth in the above paragraph that were challenged by objecting fee payers. The hearing is to take place before a neutral arbitrator selected by the American Arbitration Association. SEIU LOCAL 1000 will pay for expenses and costs of the arbitrator. Participants in the hearing will be notified of the precise date and location of the hearing.
Fee payers, who wish to participate in such a hearing before an arbitrator and thus challenge the amount of the fee, in the 2009-10 Fee Payer Year, must notify SEIU LOCAL 1000's Member Records Unit at 1108 "0" Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 of their desire to so participate by letter postmarked no later than July 6, 2009.The notice need not be sent separately from your objection letter, so long as it clearly indicates your desire to participate in a hearing to challenge the fee before an arbitrator. Such notice should, if possible, include the grounds for the challenge so that SEIU LOCAL 1000 may be able to consider those grounds and determine whether any further reduction in the fee is warranted before the matter proceeds to a hearing.
Pending the hearing challenging the amount of the fee, SEIU LOCAL 1000 will place in an escrow account one hundred percent of the fee that is collected from any fee payer who has timely filed an objection to the use of fees for activities not germane to collective bargaining. Fees deposited in such escrow account earn interest at a variable money market rate, the highest rate available for a limited withdrawal account. In the event of a determination at the hearing that the amount chargeable under the law to such objecting fee payers, is less than the amount of the fee charged by SEIU LOCAL 1000 during the 2006-7 Fee Payer Year, SEIU LOCAL 1000 will reduce the amount of the fee for all eligible objecting fee payers in accordance with the results of the hearing.
POLITICAL ACTION REDUCTION
Fee payers are also entitled to have their fees reduced by the pro rata portion of the fee that goes to the Political Action Fund that SEIU LOCAL 1000 sets aside for contributions to candidates and initiative campaigns, and other partisan political activities. This amount changes periodically.
If you do not wish to make the political action contribution, please notify in writing SEIU LOCAL 1000's Member Records Unit, 1108 "O" Street, Sacramento, CA95814, stating that you object to the collection of fees from you for the Political Action Fund. Your monthly fee will then be reduced as soon as possible by the pro rata amount set aside for the Political Action Fund (currently 50 cents per month), and any amount deducted after receipt of your request will be promptly refunded to you. If you have already requested and received the reduction of the political action contribution, you need not do so again.
For verification of receipt of your membership cancellation and/or non-germane objector letter, you can contact Wendy Montero of CSEA/SEIU membership services at:
Ph: 916-326-4315
Email: