Life with a Union
When a union is elected, it becomes the exclusive representative of bargaining unit team members. Often, this means changes to team members’ daily work life.
The Downside of Union Representation
Union organizers can (and often will) promise team members anything to get them to support unionization. However, what you’re unlikely to hear from them is the potential downside of having a union and how a union could affect our teams.
Union Membership Costs
Union representation typically comes with a price tag. Here are a few examples of financial obligations you may encounter with membership:
- Union dues (calculate your union dues)
- Initiation fees
- Reinstatement fees
- Union assessments
- Union fines
Loss of Personal Freedom and Individuality
Due to union disciplinary rules and procedures (e.g., member conduct, union trials, penalties, fines, suspension, expulsion, etc.), union members often lose many of their personal freedoms.
Change of Atmosphere
Unions often increase dissension and create an environment where mission, values, purpose and culture are unaligned – leading to less friendly and more tense work environments.
The work atmosphere becomes less collaborative as unions often generate an “us versus them” mentality, inevitably affecting our ability to best serve our communities.
Finding common ground and quick solutions to routine problems becomes more challenging as unions stand between team members and management. Innovative and creative thinking often becomes stifled due to the challenges of having a union represent team members against management.
Loss of Benefits and Possibility of Strikes
It’s critical you understand there’s no guarantee a labor union will get you higher wages and more, or better, benefits. Collective bargaining is a back-and-forth process that takes time.
In fact, team member can end up with less just as easily as they can gain benefits and wages through good faith collective bargaining. If the union can’t achieve what was promised at the bargaining table, it could draw team members into costly and unsuccessful strikes—requiring members strike even when they’re not in support.
