How Can A Union Help?

By uniting with others who do the same type of work, you will have a stronger voice on the job and in your community—and you can help create a better future for yourself and all Americans.

Here are five good reasons to join your co-workers in uniting to form a union:

  Working together, union members have the strength to win better wages, affordable health care, a secure retirement, and safer workplaces.

  The "union advantage" is substantial. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, union members are much more likely to have health benefits and pensions.

  For people of color and women workers, the union impact is even greater. Women workers who are union members earn nearly $9,000 a year more than their non-union counterparts. For African-American workers, the union differential is also about $9,000, and for Latino workers the yearly advantage is more than $11,000.

  In addition to helping workers win better wages and benefits, unions help all workers by giving working families a stronger voice in our communities, in the political arena, and in the global economy.

  By joining together, we can build the strength to hold elected officials accountable, stop the "race to the bottom" by employers who cut wages and benefits in favor of bigger profits, and win improvements such as affordable, quality health care for all.

Change doesn't happen just because you ask.  It happens when we join together to make it happen! 

JOIN US.

Weingarten Rights

Know Your Rights: the Right to Representation

If you are ever called into an interview meeting with your supervisor or manager so they can investigate a situation which might result in discipline, you have specific representational rights. These rights are summarized below:

• You have the right to have a Union steward present.
• If you want a steward there, you must ask for him or her.
• If you do not know why your manager wants to meet with you, ask him/her if it is a meeting that could result in a discipline.
• If your manager refuses to allow you to bring a steward, repeat your request in front of a witness. Do not refuse to attend the meeting, but do not answer any questions either. Take notes. Once the meeting is over call your steward at once.
• You have the right to speak privately with your steward before the meeting and during the meeting.
• Your steward has the right to play an active role in the meeting. She or he is not just witness.

These rights are called Weingarten Rights based on a 1975 Supreme Court decision (NLRB vs. J. Weingarten). As with all rights, if we do not use them we lose them.

This Statement Could Save Your Job:

"If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, I respectfully request that my Union Steward be present at the meeting.  Without representation present, I choose not to respond to any questions or statements."