Workers Beware: Local 11 Hikes “Initiation Fees” 120 Percent

Being a Local 11 member isn’t cheap—and it’s getting more expensive by the year. According to UNITE HERE Local 11’s recently released financial filings with the Labor Department, the union has more than doubled the amount it charges to “initiate” new members since the Great Recession.

In 2009, the union charged anywhere from $30 to $98 in “initiation fees.” In 2017, the range was $66 to $126—a more than 120 percent increase for newly-represented employees! Meanwhile, minimum and maximum monthly dues have increased by 28 percent. Both hikes outpace the rate of inflation in the area: From 2009 to 2017, Los Angeles County’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) saw a roughly 15 percent increase.

You can see Local 11’s FY 2009 filing here, and the FY 2017 filing here.

This extreme increase in dues and fees is another bad look for the union, which is notorious for fighting to exempt its members from minimum wage hikes and overtime pay. It’s yet another reminder that Local 11 officials are primarily concerned with their self-serving development agenda—and the dues money it yields—not their members or the residents of the cities they continue to hassle.