To cancel your SEIU 2015 membership, mail a signed letter to the union’s Los Angeles headquarters by USPS Certified Mail with Return Receipt Requested, stating that you resign your membership and revoke your authorization for dues deductions. Time the letter to any revocation window printed on the authorization card you originally signed, then check your next pay stubs to confirm the 3% deduction has stopped. Leaving the union does not affect your job as an IHSS provider, your hourly wage, or your right to keep working.
Check Your Authorization Card Before You Write Anything
The card you signed when you joined controls when you can stop paying dues. Find it first. If you no longer have the physical copy, look through email for onboarding messages from SEIU 2015, or request a copy from the union.
Many SEIU authorization cards include a narrow annual revocation window, often a set number of days that opens before the anniversary of the date you signed and closes on that anniversary. If your card has this language, a letter sent outside the window will not stop deductions, and you will keep paying for another year. Read the card carefully and write down the anniversary date.
SEIU 2015’s published dues terms set dues at 3% of monthly gross earnings, with a $15.50 minimum and a $45 maximum, and state that “this authorization shall remain in effect until I revoke my authorization in writing to SEIU Local 2015 via U.S. mail or other permitted method.”1SEIU Local 2015. Union Dues Terms If your card contains no window language, that general written-revocation clause applies and you can submit at any time.
Why the Card’s Terms Still Bind You
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Janus v. AFSCME that public-sector unions cannot collect fees from workers who never consented to pay.2Justia. Janus v. AFSCME, 585 U.S. (2018) IHSS providers are funded through California state programs and are covered by that ruling. But Janus protects workers who never agreed in the first place. In Barlow v. SEIU, Local 668, the Third Circuit held that Janus does not release members from contractual promises they voluntarily made when they signed a card. In practice, the revocation window on your card is almost certainly enforceable.
What to Put in the Letter
The letter has to do two things: resign your membership and revoke your dues deduction authorization. State both. If you only resign, the union may keep deducting under the card; if you only revoke the deduction, you may remain a member on paper. Include:
- Your full legal name as it appears on your membership records
- Your current mailing address
- Your state-assigned employee identification number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number if you cannot find the ID
- A clear statement that you are resigning your membership in SEIU Local 2015 and revoking all authorization for dues deductions from your pay, effective immediately
- Your signature and the date
You do not need to give a reason. The right to resign is unconditional. Keep it to one page.
Where to Send It
Mail the letter to SEIU Local 2015 headquarters at 2910 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90057.3U.S. Department of Labor. Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual Report Use USPS Certified Mail with Return Receipt Requested. When the green card comes back, it proves the union received your letter on a specific date. Keep it with a copy of the letter.
The dues terms mention “U.S. mail or other permitted method” but do not spell out what other methods qualify.1SEIU Local 2015. Union Dues Terms Certified mail creates a verifiable record. Email and phone calls do not, and the union could dispute receiving them. A few dollars in postage is cheap protection against months of extra deductions.
Confirm the Deductions Have Stopped
Check your next two or three pay stubs, or the IHSS Electronic Services Portal. The dues line, 3% of gross monthly pay up to $45, should disappear within one or two payroll cycles.1SEIU Local 2015. Union Dues Terms Payroll runs on a lag, so one more deduction after the union receives the letter is not unusual.
If deductions continue past two full pay periods after your confirmed delivery date, call the California State Controller’s Office. The Controller handles payroll for IHSS providers and deducts dues on the union’s instruction, so a stale instruction can survive even after the union processes your resignation internally. Reference your certified mail receipt and delivery date on the call. Save every pay stub that shows a continued deduction; you may need them to request a refund.
What Changes and What Doesn’t
Resigning does not remove you from the bargaining unit. Under California law, the union’s contract with the state or county covers every provider in the unit regardless of membership. Your hourly rate, negotiated raises, and benefits tied to meeting your county’s hour requirements stay the same.
What you give up is your voice in the union: voting on contract ratification, electing officers, and participating in meetings as a voting member. You also lose access to member-only benefits such as SEIU 2015’s MetLife dental and vision plans.4SEIU Local 2015. MetLife Vision and Dental Plans If you are enrolled in one of those plans, call the SEIU 2015 Benefits Center at 1-877-421-0177 before you resign to find out how cancellation will affect your coverage and whether you need to line up replacement insurance.
If the Union Will Not Stop the Deductions
If you submitted your letter within any applicable window and the deductions still keep coming after several payroll cycles, you can file a complaint with California’s Public Employment Relations Board. PERB handles disputes between public-sector workers and their unions. You can file an unfair practice charge through the ePERB online portal, or mail the charge form to the appropriate PERB regional office if you are unrepresented. You must serve a copy of the charge on the union and include a proof of service form. The deadline is six months from the date of the conduct you are complaining about, so do not let it sit.5California Public Employment Relations Board. How to File an Unfair Practice Charge There is no filing fee, and you can represent yourself.
Several nonprofit legal organizations also help public-sector workers with union resignation disputes at no cost if the situation escalates beyond an administrative delay.