How would someone go about creating a Union? (I don’t work, but my friends are treated like garbage at their job and i wanna see what any of us can do about it.)
So unionizing is a process that is driven by the people who work for a given company or at a given location — meaning the most you personally can do is help them with the process. But as for how you start a union organizing campaign:
The first step in creating a union is to talk to your co-workers about it. At this stage, you want to keep things as quiet and low-key as possible. Although there are laws protecting employees who want to unionize, there is nothing to stop management from launching its own anti-union misinformation campaign and that can very quickly kill your chances if i happens in the early stage. So try o keep management in the dark as long as possible.
This means that you want to think carefully about who to talk to and how to frame the conversation. You shouldn’t go to anyone who seems more friendly than average with management or has a history of throwing their co-workers under the bus. If there are employees you think would be receptive who are also well-liked by other co-workers or hang out with co-workers you don’t know as well, they can be especially good to talk to.
You should also be careful how you frame the discussion. You can actually spend a while talking about unions without using the word union. A good first conversation might just be about problems at work or things they wish were better — like any good work-related bitch session with your co-workers. After a while, maybe say something like, “I wonder if we pushed back as a group if they would have to listen to us.” And see how it goes over.
The point is that at this early stage, you should be careful and move slowly. Take your time, don’t feel the need to get things done immediately.
Once you have a group of people who are onboard with the idea, the next step is to contact a parent union.
When employees at a given workplace unionize, they do so as a unit or shop within a parent union. This parent union will specialize in representing employees in your industry — things like retail, food service, or a certain kind of manufacturing. If you can’t find a union that seems to fit, reach out to the AFL-CIO, which is the largest labor union in the country — most parent unions are part of the AFL-CIO in some capacity.
Unlike your shop, which will be made of ordinary people who work for your company and do union stuff on the side, the parent union will have full time employees who specialize in union stuff and know how to organize — and if/when your union is officially recognized, the parent union will continue to help you negotiate with management to ensure that things get better in your workplace.
In order to make this possible, members of the union pay dues to the parent union — usually less than 2% of each paycheck. Members are also allowed to vote in union elections to elect the leaders in their parent union.
All that stuff is far down the line if you’re just starting out, but it’s good to have an idea of what the end goal is.
I hope this was helpful, and best of luck to you and your friends!
