2020 Georgia Code
Title 34 - Labor and Industrial Relations
Chapter 6 - Labor Organizations and Labor Relations
Article 2 - Membership in Labor Organizations
§ 34-6-25. Deductions From Employees' Earnings of Fees of Labor Organizations; Exceptions

1. No employer shall deduct from the wages or other earnings of any employee any fee, assessment, or other sum of money whatsoever to be held for or to be paid over to a labor organization except on the written authorization of the employee. Such authorization may be revoked at any time at the request of the employee.
2. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to impair any contract, agreement, or collective bargaining agreement in existence prior to July 1, 2013.
3. This Code section shall not apply to any collective bargaining agreement entered into pursuant to the Railway Labor Act, as amended, or to any professional association whose membership is exclusively composed of educators, law enforcement officers, or firefighters not engaged or engaging in contracting or collective bargaining.

(Ga. L. 1947, p. 616, § 6; Ga. L. 2013, p. 623, § 4/HB 361.)

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2013, "to July 1, 2013" was substituted for "to the effective date of this Code section" at the end of subsection (b).

- Ga. L. 2013, p. 623, § 6/HB 361, not codified by the General Assembly, provides for severability.

- For article on the 2013 amendment of this Code section, see 30 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 191 (2013).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Period of irrevocability.

- Authorization for a deduction of union dues is irrevocable for not more than one year, as set forth under federal law. SeaPak v. Industrial Employees, Div. of Nat'l Maritime Union, 300 F. Supp. 1197 (S.D. Ga. 1969), aff'd, 423 F.2d 1229 (5th Cir. 1970), 400 U.S. 985, 91 S. Ct. 452, 27 L. Ed. 2d 434 (1971).

- Checkoff authorizations irrevocable for year after date do not amount to compulsory unionism as to employees who wish to withdraw from membership prior to that time. SeaPak v. Industrial Employees, Div. of Nat'l Maritime Union, 300 F. Supp. 1197 (S.D. Ga. 1969), aff'd, 423 F.2d 1229 (5th Cir. 1970), 400 U.S. 985, 91 S. Ct. 452, 27 L. Ed. 2d 434 (1971).

Cited in Sandt v. Mason, 208 Ga. 541, 67 S.E.2d 767 (1951); Martell v. Atlanta Biltmore Hotel Corp., 114 Ga. App. 646, 152 S.E.2d 579 (1966); McDowell v. Clement Bros. Co., 260 F. Supp. 817 (N.D. Ga. 1966).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Union shop agreement.

- A union shop agreement between a railroad and a union is enforceable in Georgia in light of the amendment to the federal Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq., authorizing union shop agreements notwithstanding any state right to work law. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 70-12.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 48 Am. Jur. 2d, Labor and Labor Relations, § 15.

- 51 C.J.S., Labor Relations, § 110 et seq. 51A C.J.S., Labor Relations, §§ 351, 399 et seq.

- Constitutionality, construction, and application of statute prohibiting employer from deducting from wages of employees dues or assessments payable to labor organization, or otherwise assisting in collection thereof, 108 A.L.R. 1133.

Deduction or collection of labor union dues from wages of employees, 135 A.L.R. 507.

Contract provisions for deduction of union dues from wages of employees and their payment to union as within statute prohibiting or regulating assignment of future earnings or wages, 14 A.L.R.2d 177.