If you go to a union meeting, here are some questions the IAM organizer may not want to answer…but you have a right to know the facts:

• Will the IAM guarantee that it won’t trade away any current wages or benefits?
• Can you guarantee that a contract will include an increase in pay?
• Can you guarantee that a contract will give us incentive pay?
• Can you guarantee faster promotions?
• Can you guarantee that I will have better job security if we unionize?
• Can you guarantee I will be able to trust my union steward if we unionize?
• How much are dues? Will they increase over time?
• Can the union guarantee that employees who don’t pay dues will be represented the same as employees who pay dues?
• Can you guarantee I won’t ever have to strike?
• Can you guarantee that my job will not be replaced by someone else if I am out on strike?
• How much will the union pay me if I am out on strike?
• Will you protect me from harassment by union members?
• Will the IAM guarantee any of its promises in writing?

Always think for yourself.

"Are the risks and costs of a union really needed, or am I just hearing a sales pitch with empty promises?"

Like it or not, everyone who joins a union is stuck with whatever deal the union negotiates, even if the contract includes things you don't want, don't like, or don't benefit from.

You are paying, with any dues or agency fees, a union steward to speak to your manager on your behalf regarding working conditions, pay (including overtime), promotions, and how assignments may be assigned. The way you do work today may not be the way you do work in a union environment.

The union will use any dues or agency fees for their purposes – meaning they may spend them on causes or political candidates/philosophies you don’t believe in. They are advancing their business interests, not yours.

Need another bill? The union has that covered. Dues can be automatically taken from your paycheck through automatic payroll deduction if the parties agree to that in bargaining (which may also require a dues checkoff form before anything is deducted from your paycheck). It’s like paying another bill – money that you could spend on yourself or your loved ones.

Collective bargaining is the process of negotiating wages, hours and working conditions between an employer and a specific group of employees represented by a union. Through collective bargaining, employees may get less than, more than or the same as they have before collective bargaining. And, if the parties are unable to reach agreement through collective bargaining, it often leads to a strike or a lockout.

Unions cannot

• Guarantee a union contract
• Guarantee higher wages
• Guarantee better benefits
• Guarantee the reinstatement of former policies/practices
• Guarantee hours and schedules
• Guarantee employment
• Prevent layoffs
• Set job standards

Unions CAN negotiate and make proposals BUT there are no guarantees what the parties will actually agree to.