Dear Unit II/III Employee,

We extend to you an invitation to join your colleagues as a member of ASASP.  ASASP was founded to provide representative services to all administrative and supervisory personnel in the Prince George's County school system.

If you have been with the system for awhile, you may recall life before ASASP.  Administrators and supervisors’ salaries were lower and they had no representation or anyone to come to their defense.  All that is in the past now, but only because of the role ASASP plays in representing administrators and supervisors.  It is to your benefit to become a union member; especially, in view of budgetary uncertainties.  Administrators and supervisors have been given more responsibility than ever.  Everyone will be held accountable and careers could be on the line.  ASASP is the exclusive bargaining representative for employees of Units II and III, which means this is the only Union that can handle problems or grievances for you.  What will you do if you are falsely accused of something, like sexual harassment or assault?  Who will you go to if you receive an undeserved poor evaluation?  Think about it – in today’s world, these things happen every day.

For your membership dues, not only do you receive the benefits provided by ASASP, that include your step and salary increases for which we negotiate, but you also get the benefits provided by the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA), our national Association.  AFSA benefits include $1 million professional liability insurance and the AFL-CIO Union Privilege Legal Service’s free consultation and low costs, as well as various group discounts.  Payroll deduction of your dues will be made distributed over all pay periods.  Persons becoming eligible during the year shall have their dues pro-rated if they apply for membership within 30 days of eligibility for the Unit.

If you, nevertheless, do not wish to be a member and do not wish to pay the equivalent amount of dues paid by over 800 of your colleagues, then you must as a condition of employment pay to ASASP a representation fee in lieu of membership dues.  You are entitled to pay only that amount of our dues that relates to collective bargaining including contract enforcement.  This amount, of course, includes ancillary expenses that enable ASASP to meet its responsibilities as the collective bargaining representative for Unit II and Unit III.  If you do not join ASASP within 30 days after becoming eligible to join, payroll deductions of the representation fee will automatically begin.  The fee will be pro-rated if your eligibility begins during the year.