Why join a Union?

A Union is really a simple thing – it is you and your coworkers coming together to speak with a unified voice, and to negotiate a legally-binding contract with your employer that spells out the terms and conditions of your employment. If you are not in a Union, you are an “at will” employee, which means that while you can make suggestions to your employer, one hundred percent of the power to make decisions about your job is in management’s hands, and they can accept or reject your suggestions and change your terms of employment whenever they like. Once you are organized into a Union, however, YOU gain half of that decision-making power. If you and your co-workers form a Union, your employer can’t just decide to change things tomorrow on a whim, since they must get you to agree to any changes first.

Some of the things that are usually included in a Union contract include:

• Pay, including salary, raises, and cost of living adjustments (COLAs).
• Benefits such as insurance and pensions.
• Fair work rules and work practices that cut down on favoritism and protect employees from unfair or arbitrary discipline.
• Layoff protections.
• A grievance procedure to legally enforce the terms of the contract.

The Union Advantage:
According to the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, union workers make 29% more than non-union workers, on average. The median weekly earnings for full-time union wage and salary workers were $801 in 2005, compared with $622 for their non-union counterparts.