ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997             TAG: 9701200095
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: A-8  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON

NLRB: UNIONS MUST TELL HOW NONMEMBER DUES SPENT

Unions can't avoid disclosing how they spend dues from employees who are not members even if the money goes to charity, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled.

The board acted in the case of Jack Bodenstein, who objected to portions of the spending by Local 943 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters in Tulsa, Okla.

In some states, not including Virginia, workers can be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment, even if they choose not to become members of the union that represents them.

Under a 1988 Supreme Court ruling, such workers can demand to know how much of their dues is used for actual representation and they can object to paying amounts used for other purposes.

The board last year ruled that unions did not have to supply this information if they don't require nonunion members to pay dues. In this case the union was still requiring the worker to pay full dues.

-Associated Press

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