AFT Discovers That Deadlines Should Be Easy to Prove

Proposed Resolution 80 demands reliable postmarks tied to the date a person deposits mail. AFT argues that people need dependable proof for tax filings, ballots, employment offers, hiring agreements, and other legal deadlines.

Correct. A person exercising an important right should have a simple, reliable way to prove when the action occurred.

That principle becomes especially funny when applied to public employees trying to resign from a union. Unions have supported processes that route resignations through the union itself, restrict when they may be submitted, and turn a worker’s simple decision into a dispute over timing, delivery, and paperwork. Reformers have pushed to let employees communicate their decision directly and electronically.

AFT seems to understand deadline fairness perfectly when discussing the Postal Service. The date should be clear. The sender should not be punished for processing delays. The receiving institution should honor the person’s timely action.

Excellent. Now apply that rule to union resignation.

If an educator sends an email saying, “I resign my membership and revoke authorization for dues deductions,” the date and intent are easy to verify. There is no need for a narrow annual window, certified letter, special form, or internal union processing ritual. The employee’s choice should control.

Instead, AFT wants dependable evidence when government deadlines affect its members, but resists reforms that give members dependable evidence when they exercise rights against the union’s financial interest.

Resolution 80 is therefore more useful than its authors may realize. It establishes a clean standard: people should not lose important rights because an institution controls the processing date.

AFT should endorse that standard everywhere, including at its own exit door.