Cite as: 525 U. S. 33 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
in any labor organization: Provided, That nothing in this subchapter, or in any other statute of the United States, shall preclude an employer from making an agreement with a labor organization . . . to require as a condition of employment membership therein on or after the thirtieth day following the beginning of such employment or the effective date of such agreement, whichever is the later . . . . Provided further, That no employer shall justify any discrimination against an employee for non-membership in a labor organization . . . if he has reasonable grounds for believing that membership was denied or terminated for reasons other than the failure of the employee to tender the periodic dues and the initiation fees uniformly required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership." 29 U. S. C. § 158(a)(3).
This section is the statutory authorization for "union security clauses," clauses that require employees to become "member[s]" of a union as a condition of employment. See Communications Workers v. Beck, supra, at 744-745.
The conclusion that § 8(a)(3) permits union security clauses is not the end of the story. This Court has had several occasions to interpret § 8(a)(3), and two of our conclusions about the language of that subsection bear directly on this case. First, in NLRB v. General Motors Corp., supra, at 742-743 (citing Radio Officers v. NLRB, 347 U. S. 17, 41 (1954)), we held that although § 8(a)(3) states that unions may negotiate a clause requiring "membership" in the union, an employee can satisfy the membership condition merely by paying to the union an amount equal to the union's initiation fees and dues. See also Pattern Makers v. NLRB, 473 U. S. 95, 106, n. 16, 108 (1985). In other words, the membership that may be required "as a condition of employment is whittled down to its financial core." NLRB v. General Motors Corp., supra, at 742. Second, in Communications Workers v. Beck, supra, we considered whether the employee's "financial core" obligation included a duty to pay for support of
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