What are unions all about?

Answer 1

What is a union?

A union is a group of workers who form an organization to gain:

Respect on the job,
Better wages and benefits,
More flexibility for work and family needs,
A counterbalance to the unchecked power of employers, and
A voice in improving the quality of their products and services.


How do people form a union?

When workers decide they want to come together to improve their jobs, they work with a union to help them form their own local chapter. Once a majority of workers shows they want a union, sometimes employers honor the workers’ choice. Often, the workers must ask the government to hold an election. If the workers win their union, they negotiate a contract with the employer that spells out each party’s rights and responsibilities in the workplace.



Does the law protect workers joining unions?

It’s supposed to—but too often it doesn’t. Under the law, employers are not allowed to discriminate against or fire workers for choosing to join a union. For example, it’s illegal for employers to threaten to shut down their businesses or to fire employees or take away benefits if workers form a union. However, employers routinely violate these laws, and the penalties are weak or nonexistent.



What kinds of workers are forming unions today?

A wider range of people than ever before, including many women and immigrants, is joining unions—doctors and nurses, poultry workers and graduate employees, home health care aides and wireless communications workers, auto parts workers and engineers, to name a few.



How do unions help working families today?

Through unions, workers win better wages, benefits and a voice on the job—and good union jobs mean stronger communities. Union workers earn 28 percent more than nonunion workers and are more likely to receive health care and pension benefits than those without a union. In 2004, median weekly earnings for full-time union wage and salary workers were $781, compared with $612 for their nonunion counterparts. Unions lead the fight today for better lives for working people, such as through expanded family and medical leave, improved safety and health protections and fair-trade agreements that lift the standard of living for workers all over the world.



What have unions accomplished for all workers?

Unions have made life better for all working Americans by helping to pass laws ending child labor, establishing the eight-hour day, protecting workers’ safety and health and helping create Social Security, unemployment insurance and the minimum wage, for example. Unions are continuing the fight today to improve life for all working families in America.



What challenges do workers face today when they want to form unions?

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.

Answer 2

Unions are all about Union Dues. They take advantage of the worker and profit off his work. They tell you they are looking out for you, but if you are a worker that is worth your salt then you don't need their "protection".
Unions had their place, From the turn of the century to about the 40's they vastly improved conditons and pay for the working American. Unfortunately, they continue today despite having outlived their usefulness. Union Labor is no more protected from layoffs than any other worker. In some ways they force the layoffs on them selves with rediculously high wages, low productivity, and the threat of a strike every couple years. I would rather not give x amount of dollars a paycheck to a group of mobsters who will negotiate(blackmail) the company that they dont work for for gobs of money and it ends up getting the Union worker a lousy 3 or 4% raise. While the Union "representatives" walk away with a sizeable chunk

Answer 3

Fryemall gives a good overview of unions in general. As far as revolutionary unions go (such as anarcho-syndicalist unions), union members seek more than simply trying to get a better deal from company owners. They want all employees to actually become the company owners, running their companies democratically and ensuring the revenues of the company are distributed fairly among the employees, rather than in a dictatorial manner that ensures big payoffs only for those at the top.

In Argentina, for example, when many employers ran out of money and told the employees they weren't going to pay them anymore, the employees often assumed control over their companies and ran them democratically, while still being able to pay themselves a decent salary when the former owners couldn't. More about Argentina's employee run companies at http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1482898