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The Union Advantage
If you don’t have a union in your workplace, you
don’t have guaranteed wages, health benefits or a secure pension. You
are an “at-will” employee. You check your rights at the door, and your
employer can fire you or change your conditions of employment at any
time and for almost any reason.
There are real advantages to having a union for you
as an individual and for society in general. By forming a union with
your co-workers, together you will have the strength to negotiate a
legally binding contract with your employer that includes better wages,
affordable health care, a secure retirement and a safer workplace.
Consider:
Better wages:
Wages of union members are, on average, 27% higher than those of
nonunion workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In 2004,
union workers were paid $781 a week, but nonunion workers only got paid
$612 a week. While all union workers are better off than nonunion
workers, women and minorities are especially so:
Women in unions earn an extra $170 a week – $9,000 more
a year.
African Americans in unions earn an extra $150 a week –
$8,000 more a year.
Latinos in unions earn an extra $225 a week – $11,650
more a year.
Better health care:
81% of union workers have job-related health coverage, while only
50% of non-union workers do. Union families pay 43% less for family
coverage than nonunion families – that’s a savings of $1,000 a year.
Better pensions:
72% of union workers have a guaranteed, defined benefit pension,
compared to only 15% of nonunion workers.
And the more union members there are in this country,
the better off everyone is. Throughout our history, when unions are
strong, wages go up, health care coverage improves and pensions are
strengthened. When unions are under attack, as they are today, we are
all in danger—our jobs, our communities and our families.
If you would like to form a union in your workplace,
or you know someone who wants one in theirs, contact UFCW
Local 367: 253-589-0367, or outside Pierce County at 1-800-562-3645.
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