A Deeper Dive Into Dues-
- Dec 19, 2025
- 2 min read
But first: If you’d rather just get back to watching cat videos on Youtube- you’ll pay about $90 per paycheck in dues if you’re a Step 5, less if you’re a lower step. Good? OK, here’s a whole playlist of cats singing for you, thanks for your time.
All-rightly then, now that the short attention span peeps have departed let’s get into it-
Dues, as we’ve said before and before and before, are 1.45% of wages, but there is a set of formulas for “a Cap” at 2.8x your average hourly rate and this can come into effect big time for a lot of us. Unfortunately the formula and the math can get a little confusing, but fear not- we’ve got a write up explaining it and we’ve built a spreadsheet you can use to see how your hours work into this over a normal hitch, including your OT pay and shit.
Again, this is confusing, at least it was for me, so PLEASE carefully read the word document, understand how the “cap” can come into play (there are some examples shown on page 6). then mess around with the spreadsheet.
This is the word document from the USW Int. Treasurer explaining the dues (pages 3 and 6 is the info your looking for)- If you're an electrician find an instrument tec to read it to you.
This is the spreadsheet we built for you. (You will have to save a copy to your computer to modify it- we can't risk operators trying to bang on it with their crescent wrenches to make it work.)
In short- It’s a hell of a lot less than the company already stole from you, and its job insurance on top of that.
Full disclosure- We modified the examples on page 6 of the Dues Kit Document to simplify and clarify examples for our pay structure. (We removed examples that applied to weekly and monthly pay structures and replaced them with 2 examples using our wages and time structure.) Other than the above stated modifications this document is unaltered from the original USW letter, hence the references to Dues Reporting Forms and several other things that don’t apply to us.
PS- Please note that if I've hurt your feelings with the crescent wrench, cat, or 'electricians can't read big words' jokes... tough shit- this is an oilfield not a daycare. AND I'm just messing around to keep myself motivated at 1am, this shit gets old. Besides, I'm WAY more illiterate than the average electrician. You know I love you all.
I’d like to add to WOA operator’s comment. First, thank you for that information. We welcome more input from you guys. Please participate, because right now in these captive audience meetings, they are smearing USW and what it is like to be a member of the USW. It’s only angering people more, but still speak up every time you get the chance.
I previously worked for Hilcorp as a WOA worker and am now a Conoco non-USW-represented employee. First and foremost, you do not want to work for Hilcorp without representation—full stop. The reality is that Hilcorp taking over operation of some of these assets is more likely than not. When Hilcorp took over the EOA and WOA, the USW…
Good evening, thought I would share real data, as a WOA operator (Lead Tech) we are close to the end of the year and I will share exactly what I have paid in dues up to this point. Please keep in mind I have worked 443.5 hours of Overtime this year. Total dues for the entire year is $3054.86. To put in perspective I have paid $4211.50 in Medical, and another $1000 in Vision/Dental. I say this in a hope you understand that Dues are my least expensive cost in deductions, and would gladly pay triple that for the benefits it provides me.