I work for Ralphs down in Southern California and have since my senior year of high school. I go to a 4 year university in a different state and as of last summer (where I was back working at Ralphs), the company enabled an educational leave of absence where I could essentially work while I'm home/on breaks and be granted LOA to go back for school. This, so far, has been amazing. I worked through September, went back to school, and came back for winter break and was able to be scheduled for 3 weeks. Only issue is that when I came back, I found out my union dues were accruing. This makes it clear that when coming back for summer, I will owe a good amount in unpaid dues.
I am unsure of what to do. Should I obtain another withdrawal card from the union and reinstate once I'm back working again? I am considering asking for a transfer up to where I'm at school due to wanting to stay with the company and a store up there already offering to take me in as a cashier/barista. If that happens, this problem won't be an issue as I'll be paying dues while I work. However, if I decided to stay on LOA, is there anyway to only pay dues when I am actually working? the amount I had to pay coming back after only 2.5 months was over $80, so I can imagine what would be due after 6 months.
