Opinion ID: 379094
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dues Claim

Text: 5 In 1975 SISA raised its dues from $4.00 to $10.00 per month. The election that approved this increase was not accomplished by secret ballot, as required by 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(3)(A). The increase was ratified in 1977 by an election allegedly conforming to § 411(a). The district court held that appellants had waived their right to challenge the 1975 dues increase by their failure to revoke a dues check-off authorization. SISA does not deny that the 1975 election was invalid but urges that appellants waived their right to challenge it, or, alternatively, that appellants were guilty of laches in asserting their claim. 6 It is undisputed that the 1975 dues increase was invalid. The sole question is whether appellants waived their right to challenge the increase. This court has held that failure to provide a secret ballot invalidates a subsequent check-off. Steib v. New Orleans Clerks and Checkers, Local No. 1497, 436 F.2d 1101, 1106 (5th Cir. 1971). The check-off in this case was therefore invalid and failure to revoke it could not serve to waive appellants' claims. See also Local No. 2, International Brotherhood of Telephone Workers v. International Brotherhood of Telephone Workers, 362 F.2d 891 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 947, 87 S.Ct. 321, 17 L.Ed.2d 226 (1966). This is but one aspect of the general rule that rights under § 411 cannot be waived. Tincher v. Piasecki, 520 F.2d 851 (7th Cir. 1975); International Brotherhood of Boilermakers v. Rafferty, 348 F.2d 307 (9th Cir. 1965). Nor could the increase be ratified retroactively by the 1977 election. Telephone Workers, supra. 7 The district court should have held that appellants stated a prima facie case under § 411(a) and granted reimbursement for the dues collected between 1975 and 1977 unless it found laches. The court should also have determined the validity of the 1977 election in order to determine the appropriate scope of relief.