If you belonged to a union that brought you below minimum wage with dues, then something very wrong was going on. (disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, I just care about my rights A LOT) The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines the minimum wage and specifically prevents employers from deducting the costs of doing business from employee wages. Things like equipment, uniforms, cash drawer shortages, broken merchandise, etc. The FLAS does permit deductions for things like unemployment insurance, health savings accounts, etc., and does include union dues as exempt and able to be deducted as a general statement. That said, the two are not intrinsically linked. The FLSA generally states that minimum wage is the MINIMUM. I was not able to find an exhaustive list of exemptions, but what I did find was slim to say the least. I'm pretty sure that them reducing your wage below minimum with union dues, which were supposed to be voluntary as well, was illegal. I am more than open to being corrected though and I would love to have a referral to the FLSA section that codifies it.