• Employees are not required to be part of a union to become or remain employed.
• Nonmembers must pay their share of union costs for certain activities, such as collective bargaining.
• In right-to-work states, individuals cannot be required to join a union as a condition of employment.
• A state law may have an exception to the at-will employment doctrine with relation to unions.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) permits a union and an employer to make an agreement, called a union-security agreement, which requires employees to make certain payments to the union to retain their jobs. A union-security agreement cannot:

• Require that applicants for employment be members of the union to be hired; and
• Require employees to join or maintain membership in the union to retain their jobs.

Under a union-security agreement, individuals choosing to be dues-paying nonmembers may be required, as may employees who join the union, to pay full initiation fees and dues within a certain period of time (a “grace period”) after the collective-bargaining contract takes effect or after a new employee is hired.

However, the most that can be required of nonmembers who inform the union that they object to the use of their payments for nonrepresentational purposes is that they pay their share of the union’s costs relating to representational activities, such as:

• Collective bargaining;
• Contract administration; and
• Grievance adjustment.

Some states have right-to-work laws which allow employees to decide for themselves whether they would like to join or financially support a union. These laws stipulate that individuals cannot be required to join a union as a condition of employment.

Find more state-related information here.