NTEU Chapter 71

BIG NTEU NEWS!

Keep an eye on your home email addresses:

A lot of you have been asking us when dues withholding is going to start up again. Well, that's not going to actually happen until we finally win our court case against the executive orders excluding the union rights from federal employees like us.

But in the meantime, NTEU is taking action to make sure that your union remainss equipped to defend your rights.

All dues-paying members will be getting an e-mail from NTEU at the home email addresses we have on file; it should come to you this Saturday (though some of you may get the e-mail earlier, as the mailing list starts to roll out), Valentine's Day.

The e-mail will have a personalized link to the new dues collection website we're unveiling.
You can use credit cards, debit cards or back accounts to set up recurring dues payments until we win our court case. (The union recommends that you use your bank account; that easy you don't risk getting charged Abby card fees, and NTEU won't be charged any processing fees.)

The dues rates are NOT being raised; they will be whatever they were last year when dues stopped being withheld in the spring.

Just to address a few questions:

* Yes, the website will be securely protected; NTEU is committed to keeping your money and your identity as safe as we are to keeping your rights safe.
* No, you cannot share the link with anyone else; part of that commitment to keeping you safe is the fact that every link we send in every e-mail will be personalized only to the recipient.
* No, you do not run the risk of having any double payments when we finally win the court case and dues withholding is started back up. Built into the system is a mechanism to immediately stop payments as soon as that happens.
* NO, you will NOT be charged for any back dues that missed while dues withholding was not being taken out.

The reason we are doing this is to ensure that NTEU is properly equipped to keep on protecting your rights, even in these challenging times; your dues--the bulk of which go toward paying legal fees and arbitration fees--will make certain that the protection of our members is not in jeopardy.

(If you joined the union over the past year, you will probably not see an e-mail just yet; that will be coming in the next phase of the mailing list rollout, likely in a few weeks.)

If you have any questions, or if you don't get an e-mail, just reach out to Chapter 71.

In case you missed it, the House of Representatives just passed a two-bill "minibus” funding package, funding both the State Department and the Treasury Department, in overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion (the vote was 341-79).

Assuming the Senate follows suit, that will mean no shutdown for us at the IRS.