Here’s a good question from a concerned union member on the UFCW’s You Are Worth More web site: Upon applying for a deli position at Safeway, I was told I would have to join the union. I support this wholeheartedly, yet I was stunned when they told me I would have to pay $500 initially (or in payments) with $35/mo union dues. This is the first time I have ever heard of a union having an up front fee such as this! What is this for? If I get hired and they lay me off in 6mo, do I get any of it back? Did he actually ask if he gets any of it back? That’s rich (here I mean “rich” as in ironic, not “rich” as in the bank account of this union local).
