Our union is only as strong as our members—being a full dues-paying member will add to our collective strength, help us stand up to UMMC, and allow you to have a say in what we do with this power. A strong, united membership gives us the power to enforce our new union contract and win what we’re fighting for in future bargaining.

Dues FAQs

    • Dues = fees we pay on a monthly basis to the union in order to obtain the full rights of union membership

    • Agency Fee/Financial Core Fee = fees housestaff who choose not to be a union member are required to pay to our union

      • These fees cover the costs of the union's collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance and dispute settling, as well as the activities reasonably employed to implement or effectuate the duties of the union

      • The above are functions which benefit all employees in the bargaining unit, regardless of their union membership status, so they require everyone’s contribution

  • Our Dues = 1.5% of Base Pay

    Dues are calculated using the following 3 components:

    • Per capita dues to National Union  → AFT National

    • Per capita dues to State Union → AFT Maryland

    • Local Costs → budget estimates of cost to run our union

      • Union Representation

      • Legal Defense Fund

      • Support Staff & Office Costs

      • Membership Meetings

      • Union Communications and Swag

      • Annual Financial Audit

      • Contingency Funds

    Final dues % = combined amounts of the 3 components + some wiggle room for budget estimate error & exigencies

    • Everyone benefits from our union contract regardless of whether or not they’re a member, so non-members still pay an agency/financial core fee

    • This fee is calculated annually, and for our 2025-2026 year is based on the most recent audit of AFT’s expenditures for chargeable activities

    • Agency/financial core fee = 1.09% of base pay

      • Compared to 1.5% of base pay if you were a full dues-paying member

      • This is a difference of only a few hundred dollars per year between members and non-members, and stronger membership means our union has more power and leverage. So why not become a member to fight for a continually strong contract and have direct voting power?

    • Dues are used to give our union the resources needed to represent us, defend our contract, continue to grow, and support the labor movement more broadly.

    • Dues will pay for us to maintain the work current AFT staff have been contributing to our campaign on AFT’s dime (before we’ve even started paying dues), like: full-time organizers to help guide our campaign since it’s inception, negotiators, lawyers, communications and PR material, folks to manage data and do research for our contract, and more.

    • This magnitude of work is not possible without staff, and we will use dues to pay for our own.

    • Everyone benefits from our union contract regardless of whether or not they’re a member, so non-members still pay an agency fee/financial core fee

    • This fee is your contribution to sustaining the union’s broad range of programs in support of you and other housestaff.

    • This fee correlates to the percentage of the dues members pay that are germane to the collective bargaining process.

    • There is a difference in fees/dues of only a few hundred dollars per year between members and non-members, and stronger membership means our union has more power and leverage. So why not become a member to fight for a continually strong contract and have direct voting power?

    • It would take a majority vote from all housestaff who are full dues-paying union members to raise dues, and because we’re all housestaff, we know how tight money is for folks.

    • No, AFT simply tells UMMC’s HR payroll office who they need to deduct dues from and who they need to deduct agency fees / financial core fees from.