The proposed Undergraduate Student Workers’ Union (CU.UGWU) and strike is a hot topic at Clark University. People have different perspectives, ranging from “the strikers should be quiet and let me sleep” to “an undergraduate student-worker union is imperative to life at Clark and for the workers here” to “What in the world is going on?”. All of this begs the question: what is a union, anyway?
A union is a group of workers who establish democratic leadership with the goal of achieving better working conditions, hours or pay. The elected leadership team meets with bosses, executives, and higher-ups to negotiate for solutions to the workers’ grievances in sessions of collective bargaining and will eventually agree on a contract.
According to the Library of Congress, in 1866, The National Labor Union created the first national attempt to create a labor union. Organizers called for the eight-hour workday and eventually, Theodore Roosevelt adopted the eight-hour day week into his campaign, and after multitudes of workers in different fields, all laborers achieved an eight-hour workweek in 1937 in the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Encyclopedia Britannica explains how unions gained large advancements during the Great Depression, wherein pressure from upset, underrepresented workers and the emergence of the New Deal allowed for mass amounts of collective bargaining to arise.
The Great Depression also encouraged Congress to pass The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), or The Wagner Act, which establishes The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and prohibits employers from discriminating against union members, preventing labor unions from forming, or otherwise harming union organizing. The NLRA also prohibits union organizers from forcing or intimidating employees into joining a union.
Labor unions also achieved advancements in child labor laws, work safety, health care, minimum wage, and sick and vacation leave.
For workers to start a union, people within the worker group who are passionate about starting a union assume the role of union organizers and start talking to their coworkers or fellow employees about joining one. As more workers sign on, the organizers will create an organizing committee, or leaders of the movement, to continue advocating for a union.
Interested workers then start signing union cards to show their agreement to unionize. They may sign on with a national or third-party union for assistance in organizing. For example, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) represents labor areas such as news media and cable, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) represents writers in film and television, and Teamsters represents a variety of workers from UPS to healthcare employees. Employees can also start their own unions independent of third-party organizations.
If more than 50% of employees sign a support card, the union will become ratified, and the employer has to recognize the union.
Once 30% or more employees have signed a support or authorization card, the union organizers will file for an election with the NLRB. The board will act as an investigative entity and decide whether the union is a legally viable option under current worker contracts, in which employees are permitted to vote in the elections and other legal technicalities.
If the NLRB allows an election to transpire, union organizers will hold a Representative Election (RC) to vote on whether they will be represented by a union (such as WGA or Teamsters). If more than 50% of employees vote yes on establishing or being represented by a union, the organization and employer will legally have to recognize the union.
When the private company recognizes the union, they will sign a card-check neutrality agreement affirming the union in their workplace and agreeing that they will not prevent anyone from joining a union. In turn, the union must agree to not prevent work-flow by participating or organizing strikes, boycotts, or other protests. Next, the bargaining representatives negotiate with the employers for a workers’ contract to compromise and advance workers’ conditions and eliminate workers’ grievances. All employees will then have the opportunity to vote to ratify the contract or not.
If the corporation neglects to recognize the union, the union and employees are legally protected and permitted to partake in a strike, protest, or boycott to try to convince employers to sign a card-check neutrality agreement ratifying the union.
Some common objections that people have to unions include concerns regarding the lack of individual employee autonomy, increases in workplace tension, and potential ineffectiveness.
Meanwhile, others support unions because union-represented employees, on average, receive higher wages, more benefits, and better working conditions. According to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics, union members make 18% more money than non-union members and have better job security, better job benefits and better workplace safety.
While there are pros and cons to union organizing, it is crucial to understand the technicalities of potential changes in work and school environments.
NOTE: The author of this article has actively participated in the CU.UGWU strike. Scarlet e-board members did two rounds of editing to ensure objectivity.
