Unions 101

so, i’ve been a union officer since 2023 and as a unionist, i wanted to write a piece that simply puts what unions are and what their function is.

what is a union?

Unions are a group of employees who have banded together to tell their bosses that they demand better working conditions (like their paycheck or safety in their work).

“Unions exist to give workers power in society, where the bulk of the economic and political power is held by those few who control the corporations. When unions make working people more powerful, they are imposing some democracy on a society which otherwise is not very democratic at all.” –Democracy Is Power, 1999, Mike Parker & Martha Gruelle for Labor Notes

We as employees provide labor to business owners and they pay us for that labor.

Business owners want to pay employees less since they want to make their own profits go up.

A single employee is paid what their boss tells them they will be paid.

The boss has all the power.

The employee on their own doesn’t have any power to change things.

But together, employees can change that and balance out the power.

This is what unions do.

The key is that employees do this together and that they remain strong in their belief in each other.

Bosses will try to tempt individual employees to break trust with the group by promising higher pay to one or several employees specifically, or some sort of other favors.

Those promises are empty though.

Without a contract that guarantees your paycheck and rights in the workplace, they can change any of your conditions at any time.

This is why establishing that trust (which is often what we call solidarity) is so important: a worker can’t win unless all the workers win.

Unions are democracy in the workplace: union leaders are elected or are appointed by an elected person

The leverage that employees have is their labor: they can collectively (and with solidarity) withhold their labor in a strike in an attempt to force the employers hand.

A strike is the final tactic that employees have to get what they need in order to improve conditions at work.

A strike reveals something that employers would prefer we not notice: they need us. Workplaces are typically run as dictatorships. The discovery that your boss does not have absolute power over you—and that in fact, you and your coworkers can exert power over him—is a revelation. There’s no feeling like it." –How to Strike and Win by Labor Notes Staff, 2019

This step is democratic because the employees vote whether to strike or not.

Without a high yes vote to strike, the power of the worker is diminished and the employees may have to give on their demands to the boss.

The democratic process also extends to the contract: the employees vote on whether to accept the contract that their team bargains with the business owners

A team of people is appointed or elected to represent the interests of the workers when creating a contract between the workers and management.

This process is called collective bargaining since both the employer and the employees are crafting the contract.

“Collective bargaining is the mechanism or process for an organized group of workers (“labor”) and their employer (“management”) to pursue mutual agreement over workplace issues. The results of these labor-management negotiations are contained in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA is a legally enforceable, written contract between a union representing a group of employees (“bargaining unit”) and their employer.” –workcenter.gov

A contract is then enforced by either (or a combination of) state and federal laws.

The NLRB governs the federal side of things for most workers.

Public workers in Oregon (where I am) are under another set of laws called PECBA.

These laws make it so that an employer cannot just large-scale fire people in the union, as it is actually unlawful for employers to monitor union activity, retaliate for union activity, or ignore the process of employee discipline.

Dues are gathered from your paycheck for the union to function: labor organizers, web designers, graphic artists, and physical things like t-shirts or buttons are needed for the union to function and the people who are staff for your union are often doing this work full time for their job.

okay, so together we win! that sounds simple right?

While unions sound simple in theory, in practice (which is where it really counts), unions are complex and messy, just like all human things.

Each union may have many tiers of leadership and many layers of bureaucracy

These layers may have people in place who actually don’t have your best interest at heart and instead are there to advance their own agenda of retaining a position of privilege or power

“a union will act in the interests of members only if those members control the union. If members do not control their union, then others tend to run it in their own interests—management, the mob, or officials seeking to preserve their easy job and comfortable lifestyle if not line their own pockets; the opportunities are just too rich to be passed up. Even a leader with a personal commitment to the members’ interests, but who lacks serious input from them, is vulnerable to the other interests just mentioned.” –Democracy Is Power, 1999, Mike Parker & Martha Gruelle for Labor Notes

This is why union elections are important: a healthy democracy involves a healthy mix of debate and conversation to bring about the best outcome for the workers that the people elected or appointed to union leadership represent.

“One of the reasons members don’t take control of their unions is that they don’t equate democracy with power. Why not? Partly because corrupt union leaders, and even more so corporations, have an interest in maintaining a smokescreen around democracy and power. Members are led to see themselves as dependent on their elected officials, and to see democracy only as a question of mechanics.” –Democracy Is Power, 1999, Mike Parker & Martha Gruelle for Labor Notes

Okay, I’m inspired! Now what?

Well first, if you’re in a workplace that has a union, make sure you’re a member! There are a lot of places were you aren’t automatically a member.

Second, read through your contract (if you have one) cover to cover.

Third, read the Labor Notes book “Secrets of a Successful Organizer” and/or look through the handouts they provide for free which have a lot of the content there for understanding organizing.

Lastly, get plugged into your local labor movement!

The easiest way to do this is probably to join your local DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) chapter and attend meetings or socials to get to know people who are doing this work.

The workers have the power to change our society for the better

“It’s easy to forget that unions fought for many of the protections we take for granted in today’s workplaces: the minimum wage, the eight-hour work day, child labor laws, health and safety standards, and even the weekend. Today, unions across the country are still on the frontlines advocating for basic workplace reforms like increases in the minimum wage and mandatory paid sick leave.” –Unions 101 by Jobs With Justice

Unionism is inherently political (as is everything actually) and it’s important to have context about our situation and what can be done to improve the lives of others.

As I said in a previous post:

we must unite under a banner of having passionate, progressive, and unyielding hearts where we support one another, and believe that, no matter how bad it gets, there is always hope bc we have each other

workers of the world unite!