Question: What exactly is a “Rand”?
Answer: A Rand deductee is a dues-paying member of a bargaining unit, but not of the union itself. Justice Ivan Rand issued a landmark legal decision following a strike in Windsor, Ontario, involving 17,000 Ford workers. He granted the union, as part of the settlement in 1945-46, the compulsory check-off of union dues. Rand ruled that all workers in a bargaining unit benefit from a union-negotiated contract. Therefore, he reasoned they must pay union dues, although they do not have to join the union. This decision means that unless bargaining unit members sign and submit a membership application, they are not members of the RCEA, even though they must pay full union dues. A Rand member cannot vote on any matter of the RCEA and will not receive any information the RCEA forwards to its members.