Many OPEIU locals use a dues structure that is not equitable, so some members pay a significantly larger proportion of their wages in dues than others. Right now, the vast majority of Local 11’s membership pays $63.90 per month in dues. That means a member making $21 an hour pays about 1.75% of their wage in dues, while a member making $40 an hour pays only 0.9%. Another way of looking at it is that the lowest paid members are shouldering the largest financial burden for our collective financial resource. The International didn’t think that was fair and believed requring locals to update their dues structure would ensure every OPEIU member will continue the same proportion of their wage toward dues, no matter their salary. 

The Officers and Executive Board of OPEIU Local 11 held a special meeting in July to decide how to proceed with the required dues structure change prior to the December 31, 2025, deadline. They wanted to come up with two options for our members, so you all could vote on what works best. In determining the options, the Executive Board used the following criteria: 

• Make the dues structure more equitable
• Make sure the local is financially secure with either option
• Find options that will be financially sustainable into the future
• Make a the new structure easy to understand and easy to implement

September through October: Informational sessions & site visits, with time to answer questions. Keep an eye on your email for the dates.

September 30: Voting opens

October 14: General Membership Meeting at 7 p.m., voting closes 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time

October 17: Results of the vote tabulated and shared

November 1: Local 11 begins applying the news dues structure.

The vote will take place via an online Election Buddy ballot, using unique access codes for each of our members. In order to share your access code, we will need your personal email address. Please contact the OPEIU Local 11 office by email at opeiu11@opeiu11.org or phone at 360-719-1817 to provide your email address and ensure you receive your access code when voting opens on September 30. 

Visit http://bit.ly/45JZPkp to access our dues estimator tool, that will help calculate your expected monthly dues under each option. You can also do the math by hand: If you make a monthly wage, multiply that amount by the new dues percentages. If you make an hourly wage, use the following equations:

OPTION A: Hourly wage x Hours Worked Per Week x 52 (weeks per year) ÷ 12 (months per year) x 0.0125 (1.25%)

OPTION B: Hourly wage x Hours Worked Per Week x 52 (weeks per year) ÷ 12 (months per year) x 0.015 (1.5%)

Generally, under Option A, if you make $30 an hour or less (about $62,000 annually), your dues will remain the same or go down, and if you make more than $45 an hour (about $95,000 annually), you will pay the new $95 cap. Generally under Option B, if you make about $24.50 an hour ($51,000 annually), your dues will remain the same or go down, and if you make more than $34 an hour (about $72,000 annually), you will pay the new $90 cap.

Dues fund virtually all of the work we do, from negotiating your union contract, to paying for legal representation in arbitration cases, and from representing you in Weingarten (disciplinary) meetings, to organizing new members to improve the overall strength of our union. And under these dues changes, our Local will see our annual income increase. That means these changes benefit you by ensuring we can continue to provide the best representation possible and, in the long term, have additional resources to enhance our representation. For example, with more income, we will be able to pursue more class action arbitrations, like our recent multi-million dollar “Me Too” arbitration at Clark County.

Since our dues structure was set in 1987, inflation has nearly tripled the price of goods and services. Something that cost $100 in 1987 would cost about $285 now. Meanwhile, the portion of dues we get to keep locally has remained relatively flat. Both of the options the Executive Board proposed will increase our Local’s annual income to keep up with increased costs. Some of our current financial needs include leasing a new printer, replacing three rooftop heater/AC units, updating our data system, and covering increased hourly rates for legal representation by our attorney. This dues restructuring will help cover those expenses.

Per capitas are dues we pay to other labor organizations as part of our membership to those groups. The majority of our per capita spending goes to OPEIU International to cover benefits like scholarships, towing, supplemental insurance, and access to the union’s strike fund. We also pay per capitas to the state and local councils of the AFL-CIO, America’s largest federation of labor unions – and how we access Union Plus and Working Advantage benefits!

If you have additional questions that aren’t on this page, we encourage you to contact your union rep or your union stewards. We are here to support you and answer your questions throughout this restructure.