What your boss says vs. reality

The union is you. The union is us. The union in your workplace is organized, set up and controlled by the workers of that workplace. Unions are governed by democratic rules set by workers. Remember: You can’t spell union without U N I!

Unions don’t choose to close businesses. greedy owners do. Text in Decorative Font. Without a union, your employer only listens to those at the top, harming the business by having fewer voices solving problems. While owners may threaten that a union could close the business, normally, this is just a scare tactic.

Only workers can help ourselves. HR is controlled by the bosses. The human resources department exists to protect the company. With a union you get a legally binding contract to hold the boss to their word. HR will never give you that.

Your family is your family. The company will put itself before you. Only you and your coworkers will stand up for yourselves and each other. Your boss’s company must work in the best interests of the shareholders, or if it’s not publicly traded, the owners. There’s no family that operates that way. A union brings bosses and workers together to reach a mutually-beneficial agreement. Corporate structures divide us.

United in unions, we can make “perks” permanent and guaranteed for everyone. Through our union, we can negotiate contracts around the perks that workers demand. If you and your co-workers want those perks, you can negotiate them, but without a contract your employer can unilaterally decide to end any perk at any time. Beyond perks, the union can negotiate for things like fair wages, breaks, time off, paid sick leave, insurance and more!

Legally, unions can’t use dues dollars for political contributions or election work. Unions have political action arms which may be involved in electoral work on behalf of their members. Members choose to donate to those funds. Bosses have trade associations which operate in a similar fashion; most likely, your labor is already funding anti-worker candidates through these associations.

The union is YOU and your coworkers. As members, you decide the priorities of the union.

As we’ve seen, it’s the boss who lies. We can only win what we fight for. Uniting in a union gives us the power to make big demands.You deserve a voice in decisions at work.

We don’t just need an open door; we need a contract to hold the boss accountable. Bosses can claim to listen, but we need action, and only laws with real penalties or a legally binding union contract can force the boss to act.