Why Union?

Employers routinely harass, intimidate, and coerce workers who try to exercise their right to form a union.

More working people than ever—some 57 million—say they would join a union if they had a chance, according to a survey from Peter D. Hart Research Associates.

On April 19, 2005, a bipartisan coalition reintroduced into Congress the historic Employee Free Choice Act (S. 842 and H.R. 1696). The act would strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to choose by requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law when workers seek to form a union.

A union in the workplace can provide many benefits:

1. Respect on the job
2. Better wages and benefits
3. Flexibility for work and family needs
4. A counterbalance to the unchecked power of employers
5. A voice in improving the quality of their products and services

A union in the workplace provides a voice for employees. It is an organization that empowers people by bringing people with common goals together. When people work together they are more powerful than as one.

Why People Join Unions?  Read About the Union Difference


Employees shall have the right form…labor organizations [and] to bargain collectively….
National Labor Relations Act, 1935

The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Those who would destroy or further limit the rights of organized labor…do a disservice to the cause of democracy.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today, thousands of workers want to join unions. The wisest employers understand that when workers form unions, their companies also benefit. But most employers fight workers’ efforts to come together by intimidating, harassing and threatening them. In response, workers are reaching out to their communities for help exercising their freedom to improve their lives.

Learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act: http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/

Watch This Video - Are you just another cog?

Studies show that states in which more people are union members are states with higher wages, better benefits and better schools. While unions are just one of the factors that affect the quality of living, the pattern indicates that when workers have a voice, everyone in the community benefits—not just union members.

Looking for a Living Wage? Union Membership Helps Low-Wage Workers Move Up the Ladder

 Union and Labor Resources

• National Labor College - http://www.georgemeany.org/
  A national center providing continuous labor education for all union activists.
• Labor Radio News -  http://www.laborradio.org/
  Listen to the voice of labor on the Workers Independent News Network
• U.S. Department of Labor - www.dol.gov/dol/library.htm  
  Research Library for US Department of Labor Statistics, Research and Publications.
• National Labor Relations Board - http://www.nlrb.gov/index.aspx
  The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1935 to administer the National Labor Relations Act, the primary law governing relations between unions and employers in the private sector.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - http://www.bls.gov/
  US Department of Labor agency that maintains statistical information about the economy, population, demographics, unemployment, wages, staffing patterns.
• American Rights at Work - http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/
  American Rights at Work informs the American public about the struggle to win workplace democracy for nurses, cooks, computer programmers, retail cashiers, and a variety of workers who we all depend on every day.
• Eleanor Roosevelt Papers: Human Rights and Workers' Rights - http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/workers/
  American Rights at Work celebrates the legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt as a champion of workers' rights as human rights. The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project is a university-chartered research center associated with the Department of History of The George Washington University
• National Employment Law Project -  http://www.nelp.org/site/publications/ 
  View publication and content that promote policies and programs that create good jobs, strengthen upward mobility, enforce hard-won worker rights, and help unemployed workers regain their economic footing through improved benefits and services.
• AFL-CIO, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations - http://www.aflcio.org/
  The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is the voluntary federation of America's unions, representing more than 9 million working women and men nationwide.
• Labor Heritage Foundation - http://www.laborheritage.org/
  The Labor Heritage Foundation (LHF) is a great place to find resources that will help you bring creativity to your union program and explain why union.  Its mission is to strengthen the labor movement through music and the arts, working with unions to provide resources ranging from labor music CDs, songbooks, posters, movies and books to singers and musicians to perform at picket lines, rallies and other union events.
• How to Unionize - http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~amatth13/
  This site includes strategies for organizing the workplace, information about basic labor law, and links to other union and labor web sites.
• Resources for Labor Union Organizing - http://www.union-organizing.com/
  Resources to provide help to U.S. Workers in their efforts at organizing themselves and their co-workers into labor unions. It is also a resource for Union Leaders to assist in their operations, organizing, and bargaining efforts.
• Five Basic Steps to Organizing a Union - http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/org_steps.html
  Here are some basic steps involved in winning a union voice on the job.