When choosing a union, the most important part is to trust your gut. The labor movement is decentralized, which means each union—and each union local—has its own culture of participation. Some unions are very aggressive and do a lot of direct action. Other unions have long-standing personal relationships with decision-makers. Some unions are very focused on more money in paychecks, while other unions focus almost exclusively on working conditions. Similar to choosing a life partner, knowing what you want is the first step to finding the right fit.

At the end of the day, a union is not much more than a contract between employees and their employer. Union staffers research, write, negotiate, and maintain your employment contract. Unions are determined by industry because they grow expertise in contract writing. Unions that have done a lot of contract writing in your industry are more attuned to your specific needs and they have a wheelhouse of solutions that help you get what you want out of your contract.

The AFL-CIO has a list of all their affiliates, and there are also a slew of unaffiliated unions you can join. The Industrial Workers of the World advocate for “One Big Union for All.” Sometimes, unions adopt new industries into their membership as they adapt to changing economies. For example, the first unionized Yoga Teachers were technically Machinists. Really, there are no rules.

While industry knowledge is important to consider, so are shared values. Some unionists are anti-abortion, misogynistic, and patriarchal. Many unions are too-large to be busied by small bargaining units, and you may not get the attention or direction you deserve, which can undermine your success. On the other hand, those very large unions often come with a lot of power, influence, and money.

You want to find a union that knows their stuff, can support you and your coworkers and isn’t too busy for you. Trust your gut.

https://www.reprojobs.org/blog/unionfaq

Any workplace can unionize, but you do need at least two people to form a union. Bargaining units are usually determined by two factors:

• Job description: all people who have similar duties at work are in the same bargaining unit.
• Supervisory status: people who are supervised (or paid) by the same people can be in the same bargaining unit. 

If your job description is very different from everyone else you work with it could be a huge barrier to getting a union contract. You can still do it, but you’ll have to get creative and stay persistent in the face of rejection.

To win your election, you need at least 50% of your bargaining unit to vote UNION YES, and you don’t have to include every corner of your clinic or office to form a union. As a general rule, for every 10 people in your bargaining unit, you need 1 dedicated person in your organizing committee.

It should be expected that your employer will challenge—in court—whether or not certain employees are valid members of the bargaining unit after a union election is won. They base their claims on things like the number of weekly hours, salary brackets, and role distinction; “they knock on doors but you do facilitation.”

If your organization uses a fiscal sponsor, is an affiliate of a national organization, or has different branches for the c3 and c4 work, you can figure out who actually employs you by looking at your pay stub, W4, or W2. There is an Employer Identification Number (EIN), which you can search online to determine who you’re really negotiating with.

If you’re already under a contract (like an independent contractor, campaign worker, or if your job had an end date when you accepted it), then you might not be able to unionize in a traditional sense, but you can still become a “Wobbly”, join industry-wide unions, form alliances, and innovate other types of organized leverage-building.

https://www.reprojobs.org/blog/unionfaq

If you have high staff turnover, you’ll need to think of your campaign as a 100-yard-dash rather than a marathon. Workplaces can have up to a year of tiptoeing around before they organize, but once the campaign goes public it is always the same sprint to the finish line. Your finish line just needs to be closer to the start. Graduate employee unions are particularly good at this, and are often very happy to discuss their tactics and strategies; never hesitate in reaching out to other locals who have organized under similar circumstances.

When you’re shopping around for unions to represent you, ask them how they handle high employee turnover. They should give you two answers:

The organizer should provide samples of solutions to the core issues which cause a high turnover in the first place

The union should offer to send you paid union workers (or provide you funds to pay local organizers) which will increase your capacity for a high-velocity organizing drive.

Organizing drives are really exciting, but they’re also exhausting. Ask the union to provide you with per diems to purchase morale-boosting and life-sustaining supplies like granola bars and coffee. Ask your union how the miniVAN or other databases can help you track and communicate your data during these high-intensity organizing times. Find a good babysitter so prospective members and other employees have the freedom to make house visits, track down friends from work, and make phone calls. Get a lot of masks and hand sanitizer. Get emotionally prepared to be organizing.

You’ll likely be talking to everyone you work with, and every conversation has to end with a signed union card or letter of solidarity and support. You’re not “selling” anything, so don’t worry about being like a used car salesman when you focus on the close. You’re giving people an opportunity to invest in their future at work, but the opportunity only lasts a few days. If they walk away from your conversation without signing a union card, there’s a chance they’ll tell your boss what’s going on.

We won’t have enough time for slow layers of building trust and slow tidbits of information revealed. The entire organizing trajectory: from “Hi, my name is Emily, I work over there” to a “yeah, I agree! I wish we had more XYZ here,” and finishing out with “Exactly, that’s why we’re forming a union, will you join us by signing this card?” is in ONE conversation. SEIU does them in 15 minutes, so yes it can be done. Whichever union you choose for representation will train you for house visits in their own way.

Remember, if you lose or run out of time; you could be fired, so organize like your livelihood depends upon it.

Will you be burned out? Yes. But if you do it right, the team will have a second-wave of newly-fired-up workers who can come into leadership after recognition to ratify your first contract.

https://www.reprojobs.org/blog/unionfaq

Good question! Form your own union and be a double-agent for the cause! Middle managers have a lot of power during a union organizing campaign, but you’ll also be entirely without protection or recourse if your boss retaliates against you, so secrecy is the name of the game yet again. You can, and likely will, get fired for standing in solidarity with your unionizing coworkers. Unfortunately, worker protections afforded during a union organizing campaign will not protect you, and it’s unlikely the union will go to bat for your job if you get fired for your good service.

The very best way middle management can support unionizing workers is by forming a union of your own. Managers deserve union representation too! But, the only rule is that you cannot be in the same bargaining unit as people you supervise. By organizing separately at the same time, it is an immense amount of added pressure to leadership, and you’re both more likely to win big during ratification.

If you’re willing to stick your neck out, but not ready to unionize, you can be helpful by writing letters to the editor, getting signatures on a letter of solidarity and support that you deliver to leadership, and sending messages to donors and patients. Praise the unionizing workers every chance you get. Confirm in the public eye that they’re good employees and tell everyone you know that you think it’s really great they’re getting organized. Commit to the union you’ll walk out, too just in case it comes to that.

Union-busting activities are usually placed upon the shoulders of direct supervisors. You can refuse to distribute anti-union literature if you’re asked to do so. You may be given a script to stick to when talking about “The Union.” Never hesitate to report anti-union activities to the National Labor Relations Board and your state’s Labor Board, because disparaging union organizing at work is illegal.

Standing in solidarity with your unionizing coworkers means refusing to do the dirty work of the oppressors. Leadership often makes middle managers feel like they’re above, separate, or different than those they supervise. Don’t let them feed your ego or cloud your vision. Divest from the boss in your head, and always always always follow the lead and direction of the unionizing workers’ organizing committee before taking on any radical efforts of your own.

You may not be “The Boss,” but you are “a boss,” so don’t forget to unpack your privileges and believe the workers when they spill tea. You may be privy to privileged information like salary lists, records of performance reviews, or contact information. You may also get privileged information in closed-door meetings or leadership retreats. Don’t underestimate how important this information is for coordinating the unionizing campaign and garnering leverage. Offer to share what you know.

https://www.reprojobs.org/blog/unionfaq

There are two paths for workers interested in forming a union:

▶ Majority signup, or “card-check” recognition. Workers collect petitions, cards or other written statements from a majority of a designated group of workers (called a “bargaining unit”) and ask their employer to voluntarily recognize their union.

Employers do sometimes agree to recognize the wishes of their employees based on the petitions or cards. But under current law, employers can refuse to voluntarily recognize their workers’ choice, and can require workers to hold a secret ballot election to determine whether a majority wishes to be represented by a union.

▶ Secret ballot election. Workers file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board, or a state agency for state government employees, showing that at least 30% of the bargaining unit wants a union. The NLRB investigates the petition and schedules an election. If a majority of workers votes for a union, the union will be certified by the NLRB. The election process is fraught with problems.

If an employer refuses to voluntarily recognize a union designated by a majority of employees as their representative (i.e., majority signup or card-check), then the workers need to file a petition for an election overseen by the NLRB or relevant state agency.

Employers often manipulate and delay the NLRB process to slow down elections, because this gives them more time to campaign against the union. Three-quarters or more of private employers hire union avoidance consultants (union-busters) to quash the union campaign.

In 2015, the NLRB adopted modest reforms to streamline the election process and eliminate some of the unnecessary delays. The rules were upheld twice in federal court, and have helped to reduce delay in the election process.

Republicans have tried for years to overturn the election rules, and the Republican majority on the NLRB has asked for public comments on overturning or weakening the rules.

Not legally, but employers fire workers who are union activists all the time, because they know what a chilling effect this has on the organizing campaign, and they know the consequences they will face are little more than a slap on the wrist.

Data show that one-third of employers fire workers during organizing campaigns. This is illegal, and the NLRB investigates hundreds of charges of illegal firings and retaliation each year. In fiscal year 2018, the NLRB obtained 1,270 reinstatement orders from employers for workers who were illegally fired for exercising their rights under labor law, and the NLRB collected $54 million in back pay for workers.

But there are no monetary penalties against employers who illegally fire workers—only the back pay that the employer would have been paying the worker all along, minus any wages the worker did or could have earned in the meantime.

Union-busters are hired by employers to discourage workers from forming a union, or to turn workers against the union that already represents them. Union-busting is a big industry in the United States. Three-fourths or more of private employers hire union-busters when their workers are seeking to form a union, and they pay these union-busters $200 million a year.

Union-busters prepare anti-union propaganda (videos and other materials), and they advise employers on tactics to discourage unionization, such as one-on-one meetings where supervisors pressure workers not to support the union, and mandatory meetings where employers make dire predictions about adverse consequences if workers choose to organize.

The union-busting industry operates in the shadows. An Obama administration rule to bring about more transparency and disclosure of union- busters and their work—known as the “persuader rule”—was repealed by the Trump administration in July 2018.

For private-sector workers, the primary law establishing their right to form unions and engage in collective bargaining is the National Labor Relations Act.

Workers in the airline and railroad industry are covered by the Railway Labor Act.

Federal-sector workers are covered by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.

The rights of state and local public employees, such as teachers, firefighters and other public service workers, are determined by state and local law. These rights vary widely from state to state, and public-sector workers only have comprehensive collective bargaining rights in 23 of the 50 states.

In some states, there is no comprehensive collective bargaining law for public employees, but cities and counties within the state might provide these rights for some or all public employees in their jurisdiction.

No. The NLRA protects workers in the private sector, not the public sector. Certain groups of workers are excluded from the NLRA’s protections, including agricultural workers, domestic workers who work in a private household, supervisors, independent contractors and workers who are covered by the Railway Labor Act. Some of these workers may be covered by state law in some states.

No. The NLRA protects the right of all private-sector workers covered by the law to engage in “concerted activity” for their “mutual aid and protection,” regardless of whether the workers are in a union or seeking to form a union.

So, for example, the Google workers who recently went on strike to get Google to end forced arbitration were protected by labor law, because they were engaged in a group activity for their mutual aid and protection. Similarly, the law protects workers who protest safety conditions at their workplace, or wage

issues, or other issues of concern. It is illegal for employers to retaliate against workers engaged in concerted activity, but unfortunately it happens all the time, and many workers who do not have a union are unaware that the employer has broken the law and violated their rights.

Not directly, but it contains rights and protections for workers who take action against sexual harassment. The NLRA protects the right of workers to join together in mutual aid and protection. So if a group of workers is concerned about sexual harassment, the workers can join together in demanding that their employer institute stronger measures to prevent and address harassment, and it is illegal for their employer to retaliate against them for engaging in this action.

However, the NLRA does not require the employer to agree with its workers. Workers who form a union typically have protection against sexual harassment through their collective bargaining agreement, which usually includes anti-discrimination protections and prohibitions against sexual harassment. These provisions are enforced through the grievance procedure or other means at the workplace.

Many unions have negotiated additional protections against sexual harassment for their members. For example, UNITE HERE, the hotel workers union, recently won panic buttons and other protections for housekeepers to protect them against harassment and assault at work.

Right to work is a system advocated by anti-union groups by which unions chosen by a majority of workers are legally prohibited from reaching an agreement with the employer that all workers represented by the union share in the costs of that representation, either through joining the union and paying union dues or paying the union an agency fee.

Unions under a right to work system are required to represent all workers by negotiating collective bargaining agreements and handling grievances over workplace problems, but workers can choose to pay nothing for that representation.

More than half of the states (27) now have this system for private-sector workers, and it has been accompanied by lower wages and worse benefits for workers.

Janus was a case brought by wealthy, anti- union organizations as part of a multifaceted campaign to try to weaken unions and workers’ rights. In a 5–4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for employers and unions in the public sector to agree that all workers represented by the union should pay their fair share toward the cost of representation, in the form of union dues or agency fees. In other words, the majority in Janus made right to work the rule for the public sector. Four justices dissented, pointing out that fair share has been the law for decades and has worked well.

The legislation does not change the ruling in Janus. Nothing in the legislation addresses the dues or fees that unions can charge workers the union represents. But importantly, the legislation provides the right to all public service workers to join together and form unions—a right that currently is lacking in half the states.

Workers still want unions. In fact, recent polls show that public support for unions is higher than it has been in decades, and young people are the most pro- union of all. A recent study by the National Opinion Research Corp. found that 48% of workers who don’t currently have a union would like one.

 The actual number of union members has held relatively steady for the past decade. But union density—the percentage of workers who have union representation—has declined as the overall workforce has increased. Union density has eroded for three main reasons.

First, trade policies and outsourcing have eliminated millions of good union jobs in the manufacturing sector and related industries.

Second, employers have gotten much more aggressive about resisting organizing campaigns by their employees. They hire union-busters and engage in aggressive anti-union tactics that previously were stigmatized.

Third, anti-union politicians and anti-union special interests like the Koch brothers and the National Right to Work Committee have attacked unions through policy initiatives and the courts. They have spearheaded legislation to eliminate or weaken unions, which has passed in a number of states.