Form Your Union

A union is a group of workers coming together to help solve issues at their workplace by bargaining collectively with management for safer working conditions, better benefits, better wages and more! We the workers ARE our union – we democratically elect our leaders and bargaining team members from amongst our peers. With our union, we have a legally protected voice at the table with management and pathway to having our concerns and ideas heard in a real way with real impact.

No. You have the legal right to support and join a union. Employers cannot legally fire, discipline, threaten, or retaliate against workers for signing a union card, talking with colleagues about our union, or standing together to improve the services we provide. This is a legally protected right by US and Ohio law.

The real risk is staying isolated. When a worker speaks up alone about workplace issues, management may ignore or dismiss them. But when we stand together in overwhelming numbers, we have the power to protect one another and push for real solutions. We are stronger together!

A union allows workers to negotiate directly with employers over all terms and conditions of employment. In a non-union workplace, workers get exactly what management wants to give and have no real voice to create and enforce positive change in the workplace. Unionizing means management must negotiate with workers and means we are guaranteed a seat at the decision making table. These negotiations end with a strong union contract that holds management accountable to the workers and the people we serve, and this contract has to be approved by the majority of workers in your union.

A strike is always a last resort, and no one can force unionized workers to go on strike. We make those decisions together, democratically, as members of our union. As unionized workers, our goal is to build stronger and more equal partnerships with management and work towards a better workplace for workers and better services for the people we serve. 

No one pays dues until you and your coworkers vote to form your union and approve your first contract. These decisions are made collectively and democratically, but typically dues are not more than a meal or coffee order per pay period.

Dues are what allow us to build and maintain the organization we need to protect our rights, support our colleagues, and win improvements in our workplace. They fund the legal, research, organizing, communications, and contract support that help us stand together effectively!