RE: John Rustad is trying to limit unions' rights
I'd like to thank Ken Fowler for his letter raising issues about my proposed bill "Workers' Dues Transparency and Rights Act." Unfortunately Mr. Fowler's comments were inaccurate.
This bill in no way limits unions from participating in politics, charities or other activities. Unions simply have to ask their members for the money just like anyone else. Union members' rights would be protected, as per what Justice Rand wrote, by making sure mandatory union dues would have to be spent on administering the law of their employment. This bill also brings transparency to how those dues are spent.
For example, most union workers don't realize that some of their hard-earned union dues have been spent in support of Occupy Vancouver. It's hard to imagine how that expenditure could be justified as being in support of a union's law of employment.
Furthermore, there is a discrepancy in B.C.'s tax laws. A union member whose dues go towards Occupy Vancouver gets a tax benefit while if anyone else were to donate they receive no tax benefit. Donations to political parties or charities are handled differently for non-union members versus the 100 per cent tax deduction that union members receive. This is an injustice that my proposed bill corrects.
Once again, this in no way limits a union's opportunity to participate in activities they believe are worthy. The bill simply protects workers from a potential abuse of their mandatory dues while bringing equality to union and non-union taxpayers in B.C.
Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad
