I am talking about for an individual, not in the macroeconomic sense. For example, if a place was not unionized, and a union rep came and said it would be better for everyone if they were unionized, what would be possible downsides of unionizing? As far as I know, it would mean pay raises, job security and better benefits, so I can think of no real downsides other than union dues; and let’s assume this business cannot relocate oversees.
There are many things that can change when you unionize. For one, you can’t negotiate individual pay raises with your employer. If you’re a top performer and your employer is willing to pay for performance, then you’ll lose if your company goes union. Unions also often do some dumb things, like make promotion about seniority rather than merit. Again, very bad for you if you’re a top performer. Then there are work rules that can impede efficiency. If you ever plan on getting into management, you won’t want to deal with the added work rules that make your job a lot harder to do properly.
But if you’re an average worker who plans to do the same thing in the company for the duration of your stay, no, not much of a downside.
There’s also who you join. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but some unions can be thuggish. If you’re not a team player or ask a lot of questions, then you’ll want to be very diligent in learning about the people who are trying to organize you.
You’re right that being unionized can be a good deal if you can get it.
One downside is that it irrevocably changes the manager/worker relationship into an “us vs. them” scenario requiring perpetual vigilance - it often turns combative and underhanded on both sides of the divide, and sometimes downright aggressive like threatening to shut down the company.
Also, in some companies it is rare or simply not done for union workers to be promoted to non-union managerial positions - something to think about if you’re in a company for the long haul and want to become one of the bosses one day.
Union politics can also be heavy biased in favor of seniority, cliques and playing favorites.
The company may take scorched earth tactics to get rid of employees who are pushing for a union. Not for pushing the union, but you know, for performance or other issues.
During a union push the company will sit you through many meetings to show how they love you, they take care of you and that the company and workers do not need a third party to make your relationship work.
If you do vote to unionize, it is not a guarantee of all those bonuses you’re thinking. It will most likely be some give and take during negotiations. What the union is willing to settle for and what the workers want may not match up 100%.
If a contract can’t be reached the company can lay of the labor force and hire others.
If you do get a contract the union may add another layer of semi-management a worker has to work through.
That is off the top of my head. How do I know? I was pushing for a union at my last major job and was hired by the union for Membership Development after I was fired for sending personal e-mail over a company computer.
If you have any other questions send me a PM or ask here. Feel free to PM for more information as the company will search the net for stuff like this. The company has deep pockets and they will probably be willing to spend to keep a union out.
Or keep this open…
ETA: This was a bit over 5 years ago so my knowledge may not be 100%. I’m not up on NLRB rulings, etc.
I still believe that unions have their place, but get all the information you can. All unions are not equal.
That’s another good point. If your relationship with your employer is already one of mistrust or you believe you’re being exploited, then by all means unionize.
But if you do have a good relationship with your employer and believe you’re treated fairly then you’re already getting most of the benefits of a union without the downsides.
Yes, there are almost downsides and risks involved in doing the right thing.
Of course, the risks and downsides of not doing the right thing are often worse.
One of my friends unionized a shop. They got raises for everyone (yeah!) and after union dues everyone was making less per hour than pre union (boo!). And then the company shut down because they were no longer the lowest cost provider on a government bid. So everyone made less money for six months and then lost their jobs.
My husband is in a union. There are definite benefits. Downsides that he’s experienced that immediately come to mind are adversarial relationships between union and non (management), raises based on seniority not merit, guys who are total f*ck ups (which in my husband’s case means his life is at risk) being able to keep their job indefinitely because of union protection, and the fact that their raises always take three+ years to negotiate…and they are always working outside of a current contract.
A union gives you leverage. Without a union, every employee is just one lone individual against the entire business. (You’ll notice that while management tells its workers they don’t need to organize, management always organizes itself and speaks as a single voice.) With a union, labor can meet management on equal terms.
If you’re the kind of person who’s willing to just trust other people to have power over you and count on them to protect you, then you won’t fit in a union. But if you’re the kind of person who’d rather count on his own efforts for self-protection, then join a union.
My best friend worked at a company that unionized. He was not impressed.
It effectively closed what had been an open door relationship between management & employees & whatever raise they received was more than offset by the union dues.
Um, if you trust other people to have power over you and protect you, that’s why you would join a union. If you trust yourself, then you’ll have confidence in what you’re worth and know that you can get more money elsewhere if your current boss won’t pay you.
The only people who need unions are those without marketable skills.
I dunno; my skill as an electronics technician is pretty marketable. And I need my union because of the no-mandatory-retirement-age it has negotiated. I expect my monetary requirements to remain pretty much the same for the rest of my life, so I’ll probably want to keep the option to keep earning this much when I’m 100 years old.
Add to that the fact that I have zero ambition to be a manager, a supervisor, or a boss. And I have zero interest in negotiating salaries and benefits.
Bolding mine.
Depends on the management. Our management was totally neutral but I actually got the feeling they were in favor.
Been there done that. One you pay dues to the union. Most of the dues goes to the main branch who often are not there with lawyers or such when you may need them. In the case I was in the employers resorted to violating state,federal and osha laws and intentionally put people in the hospital. Took 2 years for it all to go to federal court and we were compensated in back wages with interest and damages but from a legal stand point the employers got away with multiple counts of attempted murder. You can all so go to the state and charter whats called a in house union. you wont have the support of a bigger union but you wont be burden bye the expense of some one who may or may not be there for you. So what ever is paid in union dues stays in house for your own lawyers and such or strikes. Some in house unions have been successful with making employees days cares and other things with the dues. But disadvantage of in house union is they can also sell you down the river if you affect the whole in negotiations. Basically you got to stay on the employers good side or who ever voted reps. Lots of stuff to think about with unions
If you feel your employer is fair in how you are compensated and treated. Avoid union reps. things can get better or a lot worse.
Now if your in a plumber carpenter or electrical type national union. They are suppose to help find you work if your current on your dues. But few catchs you got to get license in the states they send you to. Plus older members get first pick so you could be paying dues and out of work for a long time. Which isn’t good in some ways but most state and federal work is union. But between city requirements,state requirements,county requirements in some fields you be spending more time getting license than working. But those are union types that the work cant be out sourced over seas.
What adaher says is pretty much what a company will say to you. And they will repeat it over and over.
Of course an organizer will say a lot of what you’ve heard already and educate you about workers rights.
Just because both sides say something CAN happen doesn’t mean it WILL happen. Both sides will bring lots of statistics and information. Without going into specifics, which wouldn’t be good to in public, it is hard to say how well a union might work for you.
A company will find it easier to knuckle a single person, even the best-est most perfect worker, than a group of people willing to work together towards a common goal. Getting a big group of people to agree to a set of common goals can be like herding cats though.
Determine what support you have in a group. You can’t go alone, at least not out loud. Determine what is the guiding reason for going union; wages/benefits, making a better work environment or whatever is your guiding light.
Determine the likelihood that the company would negotiate and make a contract. If a company is not making money then there will be very little to gain for wages. If your workgroup is easily replaced then there is no real incentive for a company to give up a lot. During negotiations wages and benefits are frozen until a contract is agreed on.
Get educated. Stop by the union hall at random times and talk to people to see if they are happy. Use the net and know that a lot of what you find will be leaning one way or the other. Be aware this is just the very start of a union drive.
I support unions and workers unionizing, but educate yourself.
NLRB.GOV is your friend.
Let me state up front that I do not believe in unions and I hate them with a passion. However, I might join one if I thought it might be beneficial to me. That has never been close to the case.
I work for a very famous employer as a senior consultant in a very blue-collar industry. We do distribution and manufacturing and we are quite good at it…probably the best in the business. Our floor employees are not unionized and have not ever chosen to be because they get treated well and make well above average pay even within the mega-corporation. The only reason that is allowed is because we are that good and nobody can figure out a way to replace us despite consistent and repeated attempts.
The end result of any ‘successful’ unionization would just be the whole facility shutting down and operations moved to one of the competing facilities in a state with less favorable union laws. Congratulations, you just put 400 people out of work because you thought you deserve a dollar an hour more. That wins no awards in my book.
This is the sort of nonsense management tells workers. “You don’t need a union. You’re a special snowflake.” But you’re a sucker if you believe it.
The reality is an organized team works better than a bunch of individuals. That’s true for military units, for research labs, for sports teams, for organized crime syndicates, for orchestras, for political parties, for tribal hunters, and hundreds of other examples. Teamwork makes you stronger. As I said, management knows this - they’re organized. And they’d prefer to maintain an advantage by keeping their workers unorganized.
Yes. In both situations where joining a union was on the table, I heard not a peep from management. The first situation was in a right-to-work state, so I was not forced into the union. In the second, the employees voted against organizing.
In the first case, the union had an apparently congenial relationship with management. So a few of the downsides mentioned above come on a big YMMV sliding scale.