Stopping SDA Fees
Paying SDA fees means funding attacks on working people. Find out more about about what the SDA does and what it stands for on our special SDA Facts page.
Most SDA members pay fees by Payroll Deduction. You can stop funding SDA by emailing your payroll officer the following text:
I hereby rescind any and all authority for SDA membership fees to be deducted from my pay. This serves as advice under s.324 (2) (b) of the Fair Work Act.
You should include your name and store in the email. For Woolworths workers, send it to pspayroll@woolworths.com.au
Coles store workers can send to their OIC at coles.xxxx.office@coles.com.au where xxxx is the 4 digit code for your store. Coles Services workers can email their dedicated colesservicespayrollsupport@coles.com.au
Don’t rely on just verbally saying that you want deductions to stop. Don’t believe anyone who says you need an ink signature hand written letter. Don’t believe anyone who says you need permission from SDA. Such lies are spread to try and stop workers leaving SDA. Send the email and keep a copy.
Once you give them this in writing they must stop deductions immediately. Continuing to not pay you your full wages (by deducting SDA fees) is wage theft. RAFFWU members should report all wage theft to us so we can take action.
Resign from SDA
Stopping fee deductions does not mean you are resigned from SDA. You can resign from SDA by emailing your name and store to general@sda.org.au and stating you resign from SDA. We encourage workers to also say they do not want to ever be contacted by any SDA person ever again. Some suggested words are:
Dear SDA Secretary
My name is xxx, my employer is yyy and my store is zzz.
I hereby resign from SDA. Do not contact me further about any matter. By resigning I rescind all authority of SDA to arrange deduction of any amount from my wages. I require SDA immediately take all necessary steps to cease any deduction from my wages of any amount to be paid to SDA.
Note, SDA Agents are notorious for contacting and harassing you about quitting SDA. They often misrepresent the truth about worker rights. If you take their calls or are confronted on the shop floor you may want to keep a record of the things they say. They won’t put many of their claims in writing. You do not have to take their calls and you may want to put in your resignation email that you demand they never contact you again. Since Woolworths, Coles and some other employers allow SDA Agents to harass workers on their shop floors you may want to lodge formal complaints about being harassed by SDA Agents with your employer. Complaints should be in writing and you should keep a copy.
Resigning from SDA will not guarantee deductions stop. In fact, many workers report their deductions continue and SDA does nothing to stop them. Make sure you stop SDA deductions too (see above.)
Join RAFFWU
We encourage all retail and fast food workers to join the fighting union – RAFFWU.
Join RAFFWU
We are your grassroots, member-led union — a union for workers, not bosses.
RAFFWU is the only union fighting to replace the rotten workplace deals struck by the SDA and employers.
Our members have stood up and fought for their real workplace rights: for their penalty rates, job security, workplace safety and dignity. At RAFFWU we also support our members in pursuing their right to domestic violence leave, gender affirmation and transition leave, protection from workplace sexual harassment and more.
Join us today.
