my union right or wrong

i got a lovely lime green postcard from the folks at the head office in indianapolis today...more "important information"... at least from a viewpoint of the financial health of the union anyway...it would seem that a goodly number of my union brothers are being suspended for non-payment of dues ( the company i work for has a dues check-off agreement with local 20 so my dues are paid even if the local doesn't get the cash on time...i said it could be deducted from my check so my hands are clean...if they try to suspend me for non payment while i'm working it's off to the nlrb and some nasty recriminations about "failure to represent" and any other ulp i can come up with) lay-offs in the construction industry are still running above the national average and the unemployed seem to be using their dues as a cost-cutting measure to make ends meet...this impairs the union's cash flow so in an effort to goad the unemployed into forking over their ( admittedly reduced) non-working dues the union has layered on a surcharge to be added onto arrears dues when a member seeks reinstatement...$100 for the first suspension...$200 for the second and so on to infinity of yankee bucks for the duration of the euphemistically termed "slump" ( wait til the euro implodes...just because leadership endorses treaty changes doesn't mean they won't get their nuts ripped off at home...the backlash is building...nick and angie's days are numbered)...this was done on may 14th, 2011 to take effect on january 1st 2012 by the action of local 20's executive board and "concurrence form the membership"...which membership, i wonder, was that? the boards? once again the union is putting the interests of the organization ahead of those it purports to represent...a special interest to the core run like a business and leaving union leadership closer to management in philosophy than with rank-and-file...thorstein veblen's "leisure class" has made inroads everywhere...ask the fucking democrats