You have to pay these fees because the U.S. Congress passed a law that was challenged and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. It all goes back to the time of unionization of railroad workers. At that time, the railroad workers who did not join the union got the same raises and benefits as the workers who joined the union. The Congress decided that it was unfair for those who did not join the union and did not pay dues to receive the benefits of the union efforts. The union members paid for the union's bargaining efforts and the non members were getting a "free ride". This is now referred to as the free rider provision. Congress outlawed the free rider provision and the Court held that non members must pay the costs related to bargaining.

The union bosses got so greedy that by the 1980's, most unions claimed that almost everything they did was related to bargaining. As they sat on their toilet, they thought about bargaining and then charged you for the water they used to flush. A fellow named Beck filed suit and the U.S. Supreme court set general guidelines as to what could be charged to agency fee payers. A few years later, a fellow named Hudson filed another suit and the Court set certain criteria for notification and verification of the so-called "nonchargeable expenses".

Judges and government agencies make rulings based upon these decisions, earlier decisions by lower courts and earlier decisions by federal and state government agencies. These are known as precedents. Judges are for the most part independent of political pressure, but government agencies are filled with political appointees. Democratic administrations appoint people who, for the most part, make rulings favoring the union's interests. Republican administrations appoint people who, for the most part, make rulings favoring the employer's interests. That's the way the system works.

I don't like this system at all but instead of bitching and moaning about it, I do something about it. I'm pragmatic, I know I can't topple the entire system, but parts of the system have weaknesses that can be exploited. Organizations are myopic basing their strategies on packaged "box models" that have worked in the past. They all have an Achilles heel and most of them don't know what it is.