How to Organize a Union at Your Workplace
Federal law protects your right to organize a union at your workplace. The National Labor Relations Act states that employees have the right to form or join labor unions and engage in collective bargaining. The law further states the employers may not restrain or coerce employees against forming unions. Organizing a union at your workplace gives you and your co-workers a stronger voice that enables you to work with management to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. However, a successful organizing campaign requires careful planning and a united front among your colleagues.
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Instructions
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Talk with co-workers whom you think may be interested in organizing a union. Discuss workplace issues such as wages, benefits and the overall work environment. Find out whether you share similar concerns and identify the most important workplace issues. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) advises talking only on breaks or off company property at this early stage in the process to avoid tipping off management, which may derail your efforts to organize.
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Build an organizing committee and identify a union that can provide hands-on assistance. Organizers with national unions specialize in helping workers organize. The website of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) contains a list of affiliated unions and website links that can help you determine the best one to represent you and your fellow workers.
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Contact the union of your choice so an organizer can assist your organizing committee. CWA advises that an organizing committee should represent at least 10 percent of the employees at a workplace.
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Build support among a majority of the employees at your workplace for the union. Talk about important workplace issues with employees. These discussions should occur only during breaks or away from company property. Circulating a petition among your co-workers is an excellent way to build support for the union, according to CWA.
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Conduct a card campaign, followed by a union election. Workers declare their support for the union campaign by signing membership cards. The cards are necessary to petition a state or federal labor board to conduct a formal election on forming a union in your workplace, according to the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE). If a majority of workers vote in favor of the union, the employer must recognize and bargain with the union to negotiate a labor contract. The union and management negotiate a contract that covers issues ranging from wages and benefits to how to resolve disputes between labor and management.
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Tips & Warnings
Some public sector workers do not have collective bargaining rights but still have the right to form unions and lobby for higher wages and working conditions, according to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
CWA reports that employers use various tactics to prevent union organization and create division among employees. Employers may threaten plant closings or layoffs, intimidate union supporters with disciplinary actions or termination and try to label the union as an outside agitator that will exercise power over employees. Strong majority support for a union is the best defense against employer efforts to prevent workers from organizing, according to CWA.
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