Community Chat

[JBKO]

Hi everyone! It has been 3 months since I've posted. I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season. Anyway, the reason I haven't posted is because my job has been so incredibly stressful. I'm underpaid and overworked and my computer broke and I haven't had money to buy a new one. Anyway, things at my job are b.a.d. To the point that many of my coworkers want to unionize. Tell me your experiences with this if you have any. Any advice is appreciated. Of course I don't want to go into too too much detail because we don't want our superiors to find out. It is something that I feel so passionate about that even if I do get another position, I'd still want to help out in any way I could. Thank you so much in advance.

[tansy]

Are other workers in your field, at other companies, unionized?

[Irshgrl31201]

What type of work do you do? I would start by googling it to find out if one is already established and then go from there.

[JBKO]

Security, which is contracted out, has a union. Other than that, the office workers in air-conditioned rooms in the summer and heated ones in the winter don't have one. My job is a customer service job and we work outdoors.

[JBKO]

And yes, employees in similar jobs have unions.

[deepwaterdotter]

Be prepared for pressure and potential retaliation from management if they determine that you are involved in promoting unionization.

[redtabby]

Twenty years ago the people at my second job tried to unionize. Management did not pressure us too much, but all it took was one co-worker to bad mouth the union to sink the plan. The irony was that the bad mouther left the job a month later "for a better paying job." There will be rules, many are state laws, about when the union can come in and talk to the employees, and limits about when the employees can discuss it on the job. Our voting was done on company property, on company time. The important decision is picking which union if there are choices for your field.

[sidsmom]

Where's Norma Rae when you need her? . Check out aflcio.org for basic info.

[Elstongunn]

It was horrible. Management began subtle retribution on those who supported it. People took sides. It ultimately failed, but some of the grievances of management's strong-arm tactics during the effort went to trial and the plaintiffs won. Something of a victory, anyway.

[Kachina624]

My dad was the labor relations manager for a large national company which tried to unionize while he was there. I saw that union effort pull so many dirty tricks that I've been adamantly anti-union ever since. They even paid my cousin, who was living with my parents, to spy on dad and eavesdrop on his phone calls. He got kicked out of the house, I might add.