About Dues
Pooling of our relatively small contributions gives us more strength. We can do more together than we can apart.
Dues are just 1% of gross salary and cover all of the services we receive. They have not been increased in AMAPCEO's history. Dues are 100% tax deductible.
What our dues give us
- Strong bargaining teams—elected by us—to ensure the collective agreements outlining the terms of our employment are fair and equitable.
- A Labour Disruption Reserve to give us power when negotiating with our employers and to provide compensation in the last-resort event of a strike or lockout.
- Experienced representation if our employers violate our collective agreements, including Canada’s leading labour and employment lawyers.
- A team of professional support staff including specialists in negotiations, dispute resolution, benefits, health and safety, research, and more—to help protect us and our priorities.
- Workshops, training, and conferences on a range of topics to help us in our careers and to develop a stronger voice at work.
- Informational, equity, and social events to grow our collective power and foster our communities.
- Organizing initiatives to help give other workers the same chance to form a union for a collective voice at work.
- Democratic governance to ensure our union is accountable, equitable, and transparent from top to bottom.
- ...and for signed members, ServicePlus for preferential rates and discounts on a wide variety of products and services.
How our dues are set
Dues are set by AMAPCEO members who are elected as Delegates to the Annual Delegates' Conference, our union's highest governing body. Delegates also approve our union's annual budget—in other words, how our dues are spent.
AMAPCEO's current operating budget is available for signed-up members.
Why we should pay dues
The requirement that union-represented employees pay dues is based on the Rand Formula, named for Surpreme Court Justice Ivan Rand, who issued an historic arbitration award in 1946 that has set the framework for collective bargaining in Ontario ever since. At that time, Judge Rand wrote:
I consider it entirely equitable that all employees should be required to shoulder their portion of the burden of the expense of administering the law of their employment: the union contract. They must take the burden along with the benefit.
In other words, it prevents employees who benefit from union representation from doing so entirely at others' expense.
Rand's rationale is not unlike the argument that all citizens must pay taxes, regardless of their personal convictions about the role or legitimacy of government or about which political party happens to be in office at any given time.
At AMAPCEO, the Rand Formula was adopted as part of our Voluntary Recognition Agreement that was negotiated with the Ontario Public Service Employer in March 1995, making it possible for AMAPCEO to begin paying our lawyers and hiring staff, and to start providing services to members.
About membership
If you're in an AMAPCEO position, our union will represent us no matter what.
While membership dues are deducted by our employer from our pay, we are not automatically signed members of AMAPCEO. Becoming a signed member has no extra cost but has many benefits.
