Beginning July 1, every IEA member who makes the switch from payroll deduction to IEA AutoPay will be automatically entered to win one of these three prizes:
- An Apple iPad (worth $329)
- Apple AirPods Wireless Ear Buds (worth $139.99)
- A $100 Visa gift card
The July Giveaway may be fun, but switching to IEA AutoPay is critical to ensure the future of the union.
IEA Autopay is a proactive effort to fight anti-public education politicians’ efforts to eliminate payroll deduction as a way to pay union membership dues — with the intent to shrink membership and weaken the union. It’s a union-busting tactic that has had success in states like Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky and Arkansas.
LEARN MORE OR SWITCH TO IEA AUTOPAY HERE
May’s primary elections, which saw several key public education allies lose their seats in the Idaho Legislature to extremist challengers, added extra emphasis to the need for union members to make the switch.
“The urgency of switching to IEA AutoPay grew exponentially after last month’s election,” said IEA Executive Director Paul Stark. “Anti-public education politicians are already planning how to weaken the IEA — and stripping your ability to pay your dues through payroll deduction will likely be at the top of their list.”
Educator unions other states where payroll deduction was stripped suddenly lost every member paying their dues through that method. For some statewide unions it created an existential crisis.
The best way for IEA members to protect their union from this attack, Stark said, is to proactively remove payroll deduction as an issue altogether.
“If all of our members switch to IEA AutoPay this summer, we will take this issue right out of the hands of those who want to hurt public schools, educators and this union,” Stark said. “The sooner we remove payroll deduction as a potential issue, the sooner we can focus on issues like improving educator pay, reducing class sizes and providing better mental health resources for students.”
Designed to be simple and easy, switching to IEA AutoPay only takes a few minutes. To complete the switch, members will need their membership number and the ZIP code on file with IEA. Members will also need their banking information (routing and account numbers) or credit card information. Please email autopay@idahoea.org with any questions about converting or your membership number.
“To those who already use IEA AutoPay — THANK YOU! You have taken a crucial step to protect your union membership.” Stark said. “But you are not done: You can support our campaign to switch every IEA member to IEA AutoPay by talking with other members about why you made switching to IEA AutoPay a priority.”