How can forming a union help me?

Right now, without a union, employment laws heavily favor your employer, not you. For example, did you know that under the law you are an “at will” employee, and can be fired for no good reason at all? Labor laws also permit the employer to change work rules and compensation packages on a whim. As a worker without a union, you have very few protections, and little or no job security.

How exactly does a union work?

Unions are all about workers joining together to improve their jobs. The U.S. Government gives workers the right to form or join a labor union of their choosing in order to improve their working conditions. Each year, hundreds of thousands of workers successfully organize a union where they work.

Labor unions are built on the simple principle of solidarity, or unity, between workers. By sticking together, organizing to solve common problems, and pooling their financial resources, workers can do far more to improve their working conditions than they can individually. The proof of this comes from government statistics.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, union workers have a weekly median income over $160 more than non-union workers. That translates into $8,320 more each year for union members. Union members also enjoy more vacation time, health coverage, sick time—and a host of other benefits too numerous to mention—compared to their non-union counterparts.

Unions are democratic organizations, run by members who elect other members to lead the organization. Any existing member that has the drive and motivation can participate in their union to help build it and make it stronger.

Aren’t unions just an elaborate scheme for taking our dues money?

The media will certainly try to convince you of this. But what they won’t tell you is that the job protections, benefits, and compensation packages a union contract provides far outweigh what you’ll spend on dues.  The simple facts are that you will not pay anything until your contract is voted on by the membership.  You will never pay any initiation fees or fines.  Dues will be $60/per month.

Remember, it doesn’t cost you money to belong to a union, IT PAYS!

The company is frightening some of my coworkers with fears of strikes. What can I tell them to make them less nervous?

Be sure to tell them that 98% of all contract negotiations are settled without a strike. Also, workers must vote to strike before it will happen. If they don’t want to go on strike, they can vote against it. And the union leadership will recommend a strike only if they think the strike can be won.

Strikes are very costly for companies and, just like workers, they will do anything to avoid them. So it’s in everyone’s best interest to reach a fair agreement and settle the contract without a strike and that’s why they often are.

How do I respond to the company’s assertion that the union can’t guarantee us anything?

We guarantee that you’ll pay no dues money until your negotiating committee wins a contract the workers vote to accept. If the contract is rejected by members because they don’t think it’s worth the dues, the negotiating committee will go back to the negotiating table to try to win more concessions from the company. This is how the workers can guarantee themselves a contract that’s worth it.

What will be in our Contract?

It is the decision of the Union negotiating committee, made up of UWUA 433 Utility workers & our satellite unions, to determine what should be included in a Collective Bargaining Agreement.  Examples are job security, health care benefits, retiree and pension benefits, and working conditions.