The agency shop

TTUTA IS the recognised majority union (RMU) for Schedule 1 (Bargaining Unit 1) of 1979 and Schedule 3 (Bargaining Unit 2) of 2019 of the teaching service.

TTUTA has and continues to make collective representation for all the people in these units – members and non-members alike. These include, but are not limited to, salary negotiations, terms and conditions of employment and collective agreements.

It also advocates at the Ministry of Education, Division of Education, Research and Technology of the Tobago House of Assembly, Chief Personnel Officer (CPO), Teaching Service Commission (TSC), as well as negotiates numerous memoranda of understanding and agreements.

TTUTA maintains offices and personnel at all the eight districts throughout Trinidad and Tobago to effectively serve its members. Affiliation to regional organisations such as the Caribbean Union of Teachers and international bodies such as Education International ensure that TTUTA keeps abreast of best practices in the provision of educational and industrial relations services. These services are quite costly and are funded by membership dues.

The Industrial Relations Act (IRA), section 71, states, inter alia, “Every worker as between himself, his employer and co-worker shall have the following rights, that is, (a) the right to be a member of any trade union or any number of trade unions of his choice, (b) the right not to be a member of any trade union or other organisation of workers or refuse to be a member of any particular trade union or other organisation of workers.”

There is no doubt that the IRA clearly preserves the freedom of affiliation and choice on the part of the worker. However, section 72 of the act gives provision for every worker in the bargaining unit to "pay contribution" to the RMU. The provision is referred to as an "agency shop order." This contribution may be 50 per cent of the contribution to the union and the remainder to the Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies or to the Industrial Relations Charitable Fund.

The worker bound by the agency shop order may indicate, by a prescribed form, that the entire payment be rendered to the union. The non-member continues to be a non-member under the agency shop, so the right to not be a member is preserved.

However, the union "shall represent every worker comprised in the bargaining unit for which it is certified in any dispute in which the worker is concerned and the recognised majority union may not refuse so to represent a worker by reason only of the fact that the worker is not a member of the union" (section 75 (2)).

For over two decades, TTUTA has acknowledged the wisdom of the agency shop order. Despite numerous recruitment drives, sensitisation and promotions through the achievements of the organisation, some people in schedules 1 and 3 have consciously elected to exercise their right under the law to not be a member of the RMU.

Such people have reaped the many benefits which TTUTA has negotiated and advocated for its members by virtue of its RMU status. Simply put, these people benefit from the work of the union without making any contributions, despite various efforts at persuasion to join TTUTA.

This has incurred the ire of many members, seeing it as grossly unfair and exploitative, especially when many non-members blatantly question, without remorse, the need to join the union when they can benefit from its work without paying dues.

Given the role of the RMU as defined in the IRA, and to avoid the appearance of self-contradiction, the act cleverly makes provision for the granting of an agency shop order to treat with this apparent inequity, by ensuring that all the people who benefit from the work of the RMU make commensurate contributions.

TTUTA applied for the agency shop order in 2014, reapplied in 2016 and 2019. It was also forced to threaten legal action to get the Registration, Recognition and Certification Board (RRCB) to get this far. The RRCB must now proceed to take a ballot to determine the number of workers comprised in the bargaining unit(s) for which the union is certified who are in favour of granting the order. The requisite two-thirds majority must be achieved in both bargaining units for the agency shop to be enforced in each unit.

While the RRCB has been tardy in treating with TTUTA’s request over the years, funds have finally been allocated by the Ministry of Finance to facilitate this process. The RRCB has set things in train and the association looks forward to a successful outcome. It will indeed be precedent-setting!