UAW raises dues for 1st time in 47 years

6/3/2014

DETROIT — Delegates at a United Auto Workers convention have voted to raise dues by 25 percent to shore up the union’s finances.

Representatives voted by a show of hands to approve the increase from two hours of pay per month to 2 1/2 hours.

It will cost the average longtime auto worker who makes around $28 per hour about $14 more per month. The increase will raise $15 million per year for the union.

The raise is the first in 47 years for the UAW, which has been selling assets and raiding its strike fund to pay operating expenses.

Dues revenue has dropped nearly 40 percent since 2006 to $115 million as membership dropped 27 percent.

UAW membership has dropped from a peak of 1.5 million in 1979 to about 391,000 today.