Cooperative Education

HOW A UNION WORKS

Sam Persad is 22 years old and works part-time for the Goodwin retail chain.
He needs this Job to help pay for the electronics program he is taking at the
local community college and to help support himself. Sam finds it hard to
make ends meet and would like to be making more than the minimum wage he gets at Goodwin.
Sam would like to work more hours, but the managers won't give anyone more than 20 hours a
week. Some of Sam's co-workers have real problems with a couple of the supervisors who are
constantly changing or cutting their hours. Another supervisor makes racist comments about some of
the staff and repeatedly asks all the young women workers in his department for dates. When they
say no, they find their hours are cut. The workers often complained to each other about their
working conditions, but because everyone was trying so hard to make ends meet they were afraid to
do anything about their complaints.
One day as Sam and his co-workers were entering the store; they were approached by several
people handing out leaflets. The leaflets said: "You deserve better wages and working conditions.
Goodwin Retail made $300 million dollars last year, what are they paying you? Are you tired of not
being able to live on the money you make? Call the Service Sector Workers Union (SSWU) - we can
help you get fair wages and hours and improve your working conditions. '' The leaflets caused a stir
within the workplace. At noon, the general manager called a staff meeting and told the workers that
they should ignore the leaflets and the people handing them out. Several days went by with some
conversation in the lunch room about the leaflets and management's reaction to it, but nothing else
happened until Sam got a call one night from one of his co-workers, Serena. Serena asked him if he
was interested in coming to a meeting at her place and talking to a union organizer about forming a
union at the store. Sam was interested, but waf}j but he said he'd go and hear what they had to say.
Sam went to the meeting and discovered that many of his co-workers were as unhappy as he was
with the small number of hours they were working. He also learned that some of his co-workers were
being given a hard time or harassed by supervisors. The union organizer explained the process of
forming a union and told the workers that they deserved better treatment than this and if they would
stick together and form a union they could improve their work situation. The workers at the meeting
decided to try and form a union.
How Local Unions are Formed

A labour union is an organization of workers dedicated to protecting their interests

and improving wages, hours and working conditions. Many different types of
workers belong to unions: mechanics, teachers, factory workers, actors, police
officers, airline pilots, janitors, doctors, writers and so forth. A local union can be
formed when a group of workers come together and a majority decides to join a
union. Most labour laws require that a majority of the workers sign
membership cards or that a majority vote in favour of the union in a government
supervised election. Once a union is certified by a labour board, it then becomes a
local union. A local union's most basic function is collective bargaining and
contract enforcement. Collective bargaining simply means that workers deal
collectively with their employer for discussing and agreeing on their primary concerns
such workplace harassment, wages, benefits and working conditions.
There are two principal types of trade unions: craft unions and industrial unions. Craft unions are
composed of workers performing a specific trade, such as electricians, carpenters, plumbers, or printers.
Industrial union workers include all workers in a specific industry, no matter what their trade, such as
automobile or steel workers.
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In general, it is legal for employers to try to persuade employees not to unionize. However, it is
illegal for a company to attempt to prevent employees from unionizing by promises of violence,
threats or other coercive action. It is also illegal for unions to use lies or threats of violence to
intimidate employees into joining a union.
Now back to our story ...
With help from the union organizer, Serena, Sam and their co-workers started to talk to their co
workers and ask them to sign a membership card and join the union. Sam and Serena were careful
to talk to people away from the store and to keep the results of their discussions to themselves and
their organizing committee. They were able to reassure their co-workers that management would not
know if they signed a card because this was a confidential process and only the labour board officials
would see the cards. Management at the store became aware of the organizing drive at the last
minute, but the meetings they held and the promises they made, just made the workers more
determined than ever to form a union. The organizing committee got the legally required number of
membership cards signed and applied to the government labour board for a government supervised,
secret ballot vote. This vote would take place at the store and be supervised by the labour board to
make sure it was done properly and everyone got the chance to cast their secret ballot to decide
whether or not to join the union. The date for the vote was set and in the days before it,
management had meetings with the workers, sent them lots of memos and threatened to close the
store if the workers voted for the union. Some of the workers were worried but most didn 1: believe
the store would be closed because it had only been open for 2 years. The vote was held and a
majority of the workers voted for the union. Sam's, Serena's and the committee's work had paid off
and now the workers were to elect their representatives and start bargaining for a fair contract. The
workers at Goodwin were now a local union of the Service Sector Workers Union (SSWU). They had
much work ahead of them organizing the local union and preparing for contract negotiations.

How a Local Union Operates

Once a local union is certified by the labour board, the members of a local union will develop a
better understanding that participation and democracy are key ingredients of a successful local union.
A meeting of the new local is held and the membership elects a President, Vice-President, Secretary,
Treasurer and Shop Stewards. All of these people will play important leadership roles
in the local. The members pay dues, part of which remains in the local and part of
which goes to the national/international union to pay for the support and services it
provides to the local. Most unions have paid full-time staff that helps to manage its
operations. Some unions also create strike funds that support workers in the event
of a strike. The local union has its own money then to look after its local activities.
Members of the local union will hold a series of meetings to decide on contract proposals which will
be made to management. They will elect some of their members to serve on the bargaining
committee. The contract proposals put forward by the union can cover a wide variety of subjects.
Wages and hours of work are the most common, but there are many other issues as well. Proposals
may be made with regard to vacations, a pension plan, medical and dental benefits, a grievance
procedure and seniority provisions governing promotions.
Bargaining is often a slow process. The employer is required by law to bargain in good faith with a
unions, although an employer is not required to agree to any particular terms. Once an agreement is
reached through negotiations, a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is signed. After a CBA
is signed, an employer can't change anything detailed in the agreement without the union
representative approval. The CBA lasts for a set period of time, and the union monitors the employer
to make sure the employer abides by the contract. If the unions believe an employer has breached
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Cooperative Education
the CBA, the unions can file a grievance, which may ultimately be resolved through a process
known as arbitration.

Benefits of Union Membership

Union members have the benefit of negotiating with their employer as a group. This basic right gives
them much more power than if they were to negotiate individually. On average, union employees
make 27 percent more than non-union workers. Ninety-two percent of union workers have job
related health coverage versus 68 percent for non-union workers. Union workers also have a great
advantage over non-union workers in securing guaranteed pensions.
Through their CBA's and the grievance and arbitration processes, unions help to protect their
employees from unjust dismissal. Therefore, most union employees cannot be fired without "just
cause," unlike many non-union employees who are considered "at-will" employees and can be fired
at any time and for almost any reason.
Another powerful union tool is the strike. A strike is when a group of workers stops working in protest
to labour conditions or as a bargaining tool during negotiations between labour and management.
There is significant debate about whether or not strikes are effective, but there may be
circumstances where a strike is a necessary last resort for a union.

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