do you have any advice on what to do when your workplace is unionized, but the union provides inadequate help to the workers?
an important question. the recent drive for unionising in the US is exciting, but many of the unions involved in these campaigns are about as complacent as it gets. organising for power within a union can be just as difficult as organising against the boss.
for the majority of unions, what they're willing to do for their members begins and ends with the contract they have bargained on your behalf. you have a right to see that contract, so request a copy. be persistent. be annoying if they are too slow. you have a right to see it within a timely manner.
the contract itself will be long and boring, but read the entire thing. it is the totality of what the company and the union have agreed to, and it dictates what you are and are not allowed to do within the limits of the contract.
there is nothing stopping you from taking an OT101 and learning how to speak with your coworkers about what they would like to see improved, and then build power from within to push for that towards the next contract negotiation. some unions are more democratic than others. some encourage membership to attend meetings, others aren't as comfortable with that. transparency differs greatly among the unions. regardless, organising is the same.
gather contact information, map your workplace, listen to your fellow workers and learn what they are frustrated about. agitate, educate, inoculate and continue to push. your union is supposed to represent you and the interests of all the workers performing covered work under the contract. get involved and stay involved. get the personal phone number of your steward and talk to them regularly. remind them again and again about what needs to change. don't suffer excuses, the most common of which will be "the contract is the contract." that contract can and will be renegotiated, so make sure everyone up the ladder knows your name, where you work, your local, and what needs to be changed. be a nuisance, and get as many of your fellow workers as possible to be nuisances until it gets fixed.
because if they don't represent you as you want to be represented, you can decertify from them and sign up with a union that will actually fight.
