Is it Worth it to Join the Union
Is it worth it to join the union? 6 points to consider when joining a union.
People hear lots of things about unions, some good and some not so good. It's hard to know what to believe. Deciding if a union is right for you is an important decision that needs hard facts for you to decide best for you. Let's look at some factors you should consider about unions.
THE ROLE OF A UNION
You can guess that unions look out for the interests of the employees. The first unions were formed many years ago, but gained a lot of bargaining power in the United States during the 1950's. Without unions there wouldn't be employee benefits, pensions, a 40-hour work week, proper overtime pay, and other perks that make life for an employee that much better. The union provides workers with a unite and strong voice when dealing with their employer. This tends to carry a lot of weight with the employer because if their employees all leave, business will suffer, and possibly suffer a lot.
When you are considering joining a union, you need to ask what can a union do or get for me that I otherwise wouldn't be able to do or have?
PENSION
Many jobs today, such as IT jobs, have no pensions. If those jobs had unions, chances are they would have pensions. But you need to look at the pension plan and the other people in the union before you sign on for that. If you are a young person in your 30s, and the main portion of the people in the union are age 50 and up, will you see anything from the pension? That is a good question because when you are 50 and still part of that union, your dues will be going to pay the pension of all those people who retired before you. If those people don't die, the number of people the pension fund is supporting keeps going up, while the people paying into the pension fund stays the same. If this continues, the pension fund will disappear. Hopefully this won't happen before your turn comes, but you need to ask questions to decide if this is likely to happen. If is it, you are better off investing your own money in your own plan.
HEALTH BENEFITS
While individuals can sign up for health plans by themselves, the rates they pay are very high compared to what large groups such as unions pay. The larger the group, the easier it is to get these good rates. From the insurance company point of view, they are guaranteed the money from this large group of people each month. Often, union members have families, which makes health benefits worth that much more to them than to single people. To decide if the health benefits are worth it, figure what you do in an average year from a health point of view (checkups, medicine, dentist trips, physiotherapy, etc.) and then add up what the health plan will cover for you and your family. After deductibles, and percentage coverage chances are you will find the health plan is a really good deal. Even more so if you have teenagers with braces, or a family member who is diabetic.
WORKING CONDITIONS
Depending on your type of work, working conditions can mean a lot to you. If you are a welder working on iron beams for highways, you really care if your workplace is safe or not. These issues aren't as pressing for most IT workers who worry most about repetitive strain problems. In both cases, if employees have safety issues, it is much harder to get them addressed by your employer if you are not part of a union. Often in those cases it is dismissed as one person complaining, even if it is not the case.
BETTER PAY
In some jobs you are forced to join a union. Often this is because the union has decided that they are responsible for the high wages offered in that position and without them you would not be earning that nice salary. Often this is the case, but its never nice to hear that you have to join. The up side is that the union will continue to negotiate higher wages each time the collective agreement is up for renewal. This can include more vacation time, more days off for emergencies or moving or giving birth. However, the flip side of this increased pay is that if the union doesn't get what it wants in those negotiations you might have to strike and go without pay for weeks on end. In a position where you have a choice, consider both sides of the pay issue carefully.
MORE WORK
In some types of jobs, such as construction trades, companies will hire more workers when they get large contracts. Often they hire from the unions. This means if you are a member of a union, and have your name on the list, you will have a shot at those jobs you would otherwise never have access to. If that company hiring you temporarily sees you are a good worker, there is a chance for a permanent job in some cases. If that happens, you have the union to that for getting you that job.
WORKPLACE HARASSMENT
Unions are supposed to support their members in any situation, almost always assuming the member is right in a disagreement. One such situation can be workplace harassment. Harassment can come in many forms from sexual harassment of both men and women, to a constant day-in and day-out belittling of an employee, to unjustified penalties for actions. If you are joining a union, ask a flat out question about a situation such as this to see how it would be handled via the union. Some unions are very good about supporting members in these situations. However, smaller unions frequently say things like "We have to pick our battles." This means you are being hung out to dry with your problem. At that point, your only course of action is legal and the costs associated with that. If you paid union dues for 15 years assuming they would back you, its very depressing to find out they won't. Its better to find out up front.
SO, IS A UNION YOUR BEST OPTION?
There are other benefits to joining a union such as possible bursaries for you or your children and community awards, and so on. However, when you are deciding if it is worth it to join a union, the 6 major points of pension, health benefits, working conditions, pay, more work, and harassment are the main points to consider. The best advice is to ask lots of questions both of union management and members, as well as look back to see what the union has a history of doing. No matter what you decide, if you have weighed your options and made an informed decision that is the best you can hope for. Ya know what I mean?
