The Union Difference
Everybody knows workers earn more through bargaining for fair pay, stronger benefits and justice at work. But few people know how large that difference is. Statistics don’t lie and whether it comes to pay, retirement benefits, health care coverage or security for one’s family in the event of a catastrophic loss, members have been able to secure a better life for themselves through their Unions.
Workers Earn 27% More When Working Union
On average, workers earn 27% more in take home pay when they are working under a collective bargaining agreement. Without a collective bargaining agreement in place terms and conditions of employment are dictated one way with only one side, the employer, dictating terms. With a collective bargaining agreement workers and management meet as equals and spell out how they can grow together, fairly.
Union Members Have Strong Retirement Plans
Union members are also more likely to have a guaranteed retirement plan. In today’s day and age, the stock market can fluctuate wildly like its decline from 1999 to 2004. Workers at Enron know the benefits of a guaranteed retirement plan, they didn’t have one and lost millions of dollars in their 401(k) savings due to management greed.
Union Members Have Better Health Care Coverage
Health care coverage and its cost is one of the most important issues affecting Americans today. While many private employers who operate on their own are finding it hard to continue providing health care coverage to their workers, Union members and employers are able to pool their resources in order to negotiate better deals for their members and provide better value in terms of quality health care. This is echoed in the chart below which shows that union members are far more likely to receive health care coverage than their nonunion counterparts. In fact 3 out of every 4 union members receive health care coverage, a 26 percent difference over the nonunion counterparts. The vast majority of these health care benefits for union workers are mostly employer paid, rather than health care coverage that is passed on to the employee.
Union Families Are Better Protected Against Catastrohic Loss
Union members are far more likely to have life insurance coverage than their nonunion counterparts. 82% of all union members enjoy life insurance coverage while only 51% of nonunion workers have coverage. Nobody wants to see themselves of their loved ones harmed and nothing can take away the effects of a catastrophic loss, however, working with the piece of mind that one’s family will be secure is a major advantage many union members possess and all workers should be able to have.
Job Security
In a time of high unemployment and uncertain
economic conditions, the right to retain your
job is critical to you and your family’s
economic condition. It is important to know that
you can't be fired without just cause.
Union contracts establish strict rules about job
security and the conditions under which layoffs
or reductions in the work force take place. This
makes sure that everyone is treated fairly, and
that no one is discriminated against for voicing
an opinion on the job, or for insisting on
adherence to the terms of the contract.
Without the protection of a union contract, you
are at the mercy of the employer. You have the
ability to change that; you have the power and
legal right if you act collectively.Career Advancement
Union members are afforded the opportunities to
improve and upgrade their skills – and,
consequently, their wages and responsibilities
-- through union-sponsored education and
training programs. The IUOE is acknowledged as
the leader in providing the most comprehensive,
highest quality craftsmen training programs in
the construction and maintenance and operations
industries.
A Grievance Procedure In a non-union workplace, workers are at the
mercy of the boss. If an employee has a
complaint related to the workplace, he or she
can attempt to talk to a manager about it, but
the manager doesn't have to do anything. The
manager might act on the complaint, ignore it or
even punish the employee for raising the issue -
it all depends on the nature of the complaint,
the company's labor-management philosophy or
even the manager's mood on that particular day.
In a unionized workplace, on the other hand,
grievances and complaints are handled in an
entirely different manner. Unlike the non-union
environment where the workers are basically
subject to the whims of management, workers in
unionized firms have a clear set of rights which
are outlined in detail in their collective
agreements. If the employer breaches provisions
of the collective agreement - for example, if he
or she fires a worker without just cause or if
an employee is being harassed in some way on the
job - then the worker can take defensive action
through the established grievance procedure.A Voice at Work Belonging to a union gives workers contractual
and other legal rights they do not enjoy without
the protection of a union contract. Being union
gives workers a voice on the job, and their
cumulative voices make them more forceful and
more influential with management than any
individual voice..
Belonging to a union allows you to establish a
written agreement that specifies the terms of
your employment which your employer also has to
follow. Once you have formed a union, your
employer is required by law to bargain with you
over your wages, hours and working conditions.A Right to Health and Safety on the Job
Far too many workers are killed, injured,
disabled and exposed to risks and diseases on
the job. Working under a union contract, workers
have built-in mechanisms to monitor and even
correct the work environment, and to ensure that
health and safety concerns are addressed.Better Sickness and Accident Benefits Sickness and accident benefits provide needed
income to working families in the event of
non-work related sickness and injury. Among
union workers, 71% have sickness and accident
insurance; in non-union work sites, only 36%
receive economic security during times of
illness and injury.
Improving Industry Standards Unionizing strengthens and improves health and
safety, economic and other standards within
industries and professions..
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