Why Unionize?

While workers in the United States have minimum rights under the National Labor Relations Act, a union collective agreement builds on those rights, adds additional rights, and just as important gives you the means to enforce them. From salary and benefits to protection against bad employers, there are numerous ways organizing a union can make life better for you and your co-workers.

How unions improve working life:

1. Better working conditions: If you dread work, feel exploited, overworked, or undervalued, there are solutions. Union members work together to bargain for better working conditions. We provide checks and balances to employers’ constant desire to raise profits, often denying employees a proper work/life balance in the process.

2. Money:  By bargaining together, unionized employees tend to receive better wages than non-union workers. Prosperous employees make communities healthier and stronger by sharing the wealth. The Union employs professional negotiators to get you annual increases so you don’t have to go begging to the boss as an individual.

3. Benefits: Decent benefits should be part of every job. If that’s not the case now at your workplace, forming a union will ensure it’s part of your future. By negotiating together for contracts, workers get benefits that take care of both their needs and the needs of their families.

4. Did we mention money?: Retirement might seem way off in the future but it’s never too early to start saving money. And that pension plan that the Union helped you negotiate will come in handy when you are looking to buy a home. SMART Local 55 also lobbies state and federal governments for better sheet metal worker Pension Plan benefits for all workers, not just those with a collective agreement, so everyone has more money in their pockets in their retirement years. Retirement plans and pensions are complicated. You need someone on your side to show the way.

5. Your employer is the worst: We help ensure that job expectations are clear and reasonable. When everyone knows the rules, and you have an expert representative in your corner, employees can be shielded from bad employers. And when the employer doesn’t follow the rules, a grievance process gives you the mechanism you need to fix the problem without having to hire a lawyer.

6. Your employer is the best: Today’s companies are constantly shifting directions with mergers and acquisitions, which means the employer you love today could be replaced by the employer from hell tomorrow. A good union contract will offer protection from favoritism and provide a just-cause clause in your contract — meaning you can’t lose your job just because your new manager doesn’t like the look of you.

7. You’ll learn so much: SMART Local 55 and the SMART Union training can cover anything from conflict resolution to grievance handling; labor law to human rights; communications to health and safety.

8. Fair layoff practices: If layoffs occur, unions ensure that severance packages are fair and priority is given to the length of service when determining who keeps their job. This provides job security for more senior employees, who can also opt to leave with a severance package to save a more junior employee’s job.

9. The airing of grievances: Unions offer a listening ear to all workers — especially those who feel alone or powerless in their jobs. Grievance procedures are built into union contracts, giving employees the power to be treated with respect.

10. Power to the People: The voice of many is much stronger than the voice of one. Working with co-workers as members of a union creates a much stronger presence when negotiating with management.

Together, workers can’t be ignored. We are ready to help — contact us to learn more about how you can form a union at your workplace. Call us at 509.545.8340, or send us a private message online.