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 27 percent more than nonunion workers and are more likely
to receive health care and pension benefits than those without a
union. In 2003, median weekly earnings for full-time union wage
and salary workers were $760, compared with $599 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.
Source: AFL-CIO
