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Unions 101

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Unions 101: A Quick Study of How Unions Help Workers Win a Voice on the Job

What is a union?
A union is a group of workers who form an organization to gain:

  • Respect on the job,
  • Better wages and benefits,
  • More flexibility for work and family needs,
  • A counterbalance to the unchecked power of employers, and
  • A voice in improving the quality of their products and services.


How do people form a union?
When workers decide they want to come together to improve their jobs, they work with a union to help them form their own local chapter. Once a majority of workers shows they want a union, sometimes employers honor the workers’ choice. Often, the workers must ask the government to hold an election. If the workers win their union, they negotiate a contract with the employer that spells out each party’s rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

Does the law protect workers joining unions?

It’s supposed to—but too often it doesn’t. Under the law, employers are not allowed to discriminate against or fire workers for choosing to join a union. For example, it’s illegal for employers to threaten to shut down their businesses or to fire employees or take away benefits if workers form a union. However, employers routinely violate these laws, and the penalties are weak or nonexistent.

What kinds of workers are forming unions today?
A wider range of people than ever before, including many women and immigrants, is joining unions—doctors and nurses, poultry workers and graduate employees, home health care aides and wireless communications workers, auto parts workers and engineers, to name a few.

How do unions help working families today?
Through unions, workers win better wages, benefits and a voice on the job—and good union jobs mean stronger communities. Union workers earn 30 percent more than nonunion workers and are more likely to receive health care and pension benefits than those without a union. In 2007, median weekly earnings for full-time union wage and salary workers were $863, compared with $663 for their nonunion counterparts. Unions lead the fight today for better lives for working people, such as through expanded family and medical leave, improved safety and health protections and fair-trade agreements that lift the standard of living for workers all over the world.

What have unions accomplished for all workers?
Unions have made life better for all working Americans by helping to pass laws ending child labor, establishing the eight-hour day, protecting workers’ safety and health and helping create Social Security, unemployment insurance and the minimum wage, for example. Unions are continuing the fight today to improve life for all working families in America.

What challenges do workers face today when they want to form unions?
Today, thousands of workers want to join unions. The wisest employers understand that when workers form unions, their companies also benefit. But most employers fight workers’ efforts to come together by intimidating, harassing and threatening them. In response, workers are reaching out to their communities for help exercising their freedom to improve their lives. 

Steps To Creating a Union in Your Workplace

A union is simply an employee organization—protected by law—where a group of workers joins together to improve and guarantee their wages, benefits and working conditions. A union also gives employees a way to achieve respect and fairness on the job and a stronger voice to impact employer decisions. Without a union, employers have 100% control.  

By joining together you will have far more power to make positive changes and gain protections in your workplace than you would alone or with a just a few coworkers. Although work settings and issues vary, you can count on these 5 basic steps to create a union where you work. Are you ready to get started?

Step 1: Know your legal rights.

Before getting started you should learn about your legal rights to form a union. The National Labor Relations Act gives workers the right to:
  • Attend meetings during non-work time to discuss joining a union
  • Talk about the union whenever other non-work talk is allowed
  • Read and distribute union literature as long as you do this in non-work areas during non-work times such as breaks, lunch hours or before or after work
  • Sign a card or petition to show support for a union
  • Ask other employees to support the union, to sign cards or petitions requesting your employer to recognize and bargain with your union
​Click here for more Know Your Legal Rights.

Step 2: Gather information.

Next you’ll want to gather information about where you work. What are the issues facing your co-workers? Any common themes? For example, is there a need for pay equity or to end unfair treatment? Do other co-workers share your interest in exploring the idea of a union? How much do you know about your employer’s structure, industry and competition? Are there other unionized workers in your industry? How will you contact your fellow workers? Who will be your friends and allies in the community or political arena? These are just some of the questions you’ll need to answer. An OPEIU organizer can help provide the resources you’ll need to lay a good foundation to build a strong union.

Step 3: Build your own union.

Efforts to form a union vary depending on the workplace, but Local 2 believes the most successful way to create a union workplace is for employees to take charge of the process themselves. OPEIU organizers will help you create a plan that makes sense for you and your coworkers.

You’ll want to create a representative group of coworkers, usually called an “Organizing Committee,” to make sure that your efforts to form a union are successful. The Organizing Committee educates coworkers about the benefits of unionizing and their rights under the law, motivates coworkers to take action with confidence, and helps plan a winning strategy.

Step 4: Make your union "official."

Once you’re able to show strong majority support for creating a union, usually through the signing of “authorization” cards or a petition, the next step is to make your union official. There are different ways to do this depending on your type of workplace. One common way is to request that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a neutral government agency, to hold a secret ballot election. Depending on the state, public employees may have their own state agency conduct an election. Another way to gain official union recognition is to have your employer voluntarily recognize your union. OPEIU organizers can help you decide which method might be best for your situation.   
 
At this point, you may be asking, “What will my employer say to workers forming a union?” The typical employer will say that you don’t need a union because s/he will not want to give up any control or power. You and your coworkers need to be prepared for what to expect when your employer learns about your steps to form a union.
 
Click here for What will my employer do?

Step 5: Win a strong union contract.

Efforts to create a union don’t stop after you win recognition. The next step - winning a fair contract - is just as important. Once your union is officially certified, your employer will be legally required to negotiate in good faith with your union to obtain a written, legally-binding contract covering all aspects of your employment. You and your coworkers will elect a negotiating team and decide what changes and improvements you want to propose to your employer. Acceptance of the final agreement will be voted on by you and your coworkers. You can count on Local 2 staff to provide support at every step of the way.

Tips for Encouraging Coworkers to Action

Listen. Find out what issues are important to your co-workers. You know what’s important to you, but find out what’s important to them. Is there a recurring theme? Ask questions and don’t assume you know the answers. 

Give coworkers a reason to be involved. Coworkers will get involved if they believe their issues are at stake and they can really make a difference. Nobody comes to a meeting? Start smaller with 1:1 conversations or small group meetings. Try incorporating food or social activity and make it fun. Start with a smaller challenge to achieve a unity building victory. 

Be honest.  If you don’t know an answer to a question, admit it - but find out the answer and get back to the person quickly. You’ll be respected for your responsiveness to member concerns.

Push your coworkers harder. It’s easy to take on tasks yourself, harder to organize others to take action. A good workplace activist gets as many people involved as possible doing as much as possible. But you need to ask. It’s not enough to bug people to be more active. You need to ask them to do specific assignments…until it becomes natural to take on more without being asked. Don’t push so hard though that your co-workers avoid you! Know when to stop and try another tactic.

Stay positive and provide hope. Making people feel good about getting involved encourages them to stay involved and encourages other people to join them. Complaining about coworkers who “won’t do anything” doesn’t help. Management will attempt to make unionizing seem futile. You need to provide the hope that conditions can change.

Publicize victories. By letting coworkers know early on the issues a union will fight for, you’re in a better position to take credit for improvements management will try to make during the campaign. “If we got a better health plan by just talking about the union, imagine what we can do with a contract in place.”

Defend each other. If a coworker is treated unfairly, try to unite everyone to defend the person, even if s/he isn’t a union supporter. Maybe it’s time to start a petition or take some other kind of group action to show your employer you’re united. But don’t just complain—organize to act in a unified way.This information was found on OPEIU Local 2 website.