How to Start a Union
When Workers Stand Together, We have Power.
“The company’s corporate leadership has proven itself untrustworthy in governing our working conditions, our compensation, and our benefits. A union is our best way forward.”
Jacob Koontz, Walgreens Pharmacist
“It’s been a long process but it’s all worth it in the end. It feels good to know we have a team like UFCW 5 behind us to protect our rights as workers and help us advance in our careers within the cannabis industry. Every position is important in cannabis and being a part of the Union ensures that budtenders are the backbone of the cannabis industry. We are not disposable, and our jobs deserve protection; it feels great to have that recognized.”
Kat Gonzalez, budtender at Stiiizy Mission
“We organized with Local 5 because we know companies like Imperfect Foods that profess to do good will pursue bottom-line profits over the health and safety of their workers unless they are held accountable”
Chris Jasinski, Imperfect Foods
“Thanks to Local 5 we kept our jobs, and as a result of our new contract, our wages, benefits, and working conditions have significantly improved. This is an excellent first contract and we look forward to further gains in future negotiations”
Chris Chavez, Safeway.com
Want to Start a Union at Your Workplace?
It’s our job to help with that.
No matter your questions, we’re here to answer them and serve you.
No experience with unions? No problem. You can start a labor or trade union at almost any company as long as you and your coworkers decide your job would be better with a union to back you up.
Are You Ready To Start a Union? Let’s go!
Benefits Of Starting A Union with UFCW
A union is a proven way to make your job better. When you have a union, you and your coworkers get to have a say in your wages, schedule, vacation policy, retirement plan, store safety, and anything else that impacts your life at work.
UFCW5 Union Advantage
How To Start a Union At Your Workplace in 7 Steps
Step 1: Talk to Your Coworkers
A union is when workers join together to improve their jobs. Talk to your coworkers about wages, benefits and working conditions to see if they want to make them better, too.
Step 2: Talk to a Union Organizer
No matter your questions, we’re here to answer them and serve you. From learning how you can start a union to better understanding all the steps involved in negotiating a contract, we want you to have all the information you need.
Step 3: Start a Committee
With the help of a Union Organizer, you and your coworkers will build an organizing committee. This will be the key group of leaders at your workplace who feel strongest about the need to organize. Your committee will then work together to get more coworkers involved with the effort to win a union contract that makes everyone’s job better.
Step 4: Know Your Rights
Unions like the UFCW will bring you more control over your wages, benefits and workplace conditions. Companies would rather keep that control for themselves, so they often try to discourage employees from starting a union. Don’t worry, it is your right, protected by federal labor law, to start a union. You have the right to talk to your coworkers about starting a union and about workplace conditions, including pay.
Step 5: Sign Union Support Cards
Once a majority of your coworkers agree on the need to have a union, you will sign support cards. These cards declare that you want to start a union and have the UFCW as your partner at work to help negotiate better wages, benefits and working conditions.
Step 6: Vote!
Once a majority of your coworkers have signed union support cards, they are submitted to the National Labor Relations Board to request a union election. This part can take several weeks as the Board decides on an election date and determines who at your workplace can vote. If a majority of your coworkers vote YES at your election, your employer now has to recognize your union and bargain with you and your coworkers.
Step 7: Negotiate Your Contract
Congratulations! It’s time to get the benefits you deserve! UFCW and our negotiating team will begin working with you and your coworkers to negotiate your first union contract. You and your coworkers will have the opportunity to vote on the contract before it is finalized to ensure it has the benefits and value you deserve. After you’ve won your first contract, you can officially obtain UFCW membership!
MORE DETAILS & INFORMATION
STEPS TO FORMING YOUR UNION
A better life comes from the power of workers standing together. It is what UFCW Local 5 Union family fights for everyday.
A Union is a group of workers standing together to have a voice in the workplace. At UFCW 5, we believe in fairness and community, and we are driven by the principle that EVERYONE has the right to a good quality of life. You work hard every single day to help provide for you and your family. Your voice is power and that power comes from joining UFCW.
- Unite with your co-workers. A committee of workers and UFCW 5 representatives will gather union support on union interest cards from workers who support forming a union. Interest cards do not make you a union member and these cards are not seen by your employer.
- A petition is filed a voting date is set. When a strong majority of workers shows interest in forming the union, UFCW 5 will present the cards to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an agency of the federal government, and will work with them to conduct a secret ballot election.
- Vote UNION YES. When a majority of workers “VOTE YES”, we have the right to sit down with management to negotiate a contract improve wages, benefits, and working conditions.
- Negotiations. A committee made up of workers and UFCW 5 representatives will meet with the company to negotiate the specific benefits you would like to see in your first contract.
- Vote on your contract. When a contract is negotiated, the union will thoroughly explain the contract and workers will decide to accept or reject the offer. Thirty (30) days after the contract is accepted or ratified, workers become union and begin paying dues.
UFCW Local 5 represents 30,000 workers. We are supermarket stockers, retail clerks, food processors, financial professionals, and cannabis workers.
UNION MEMBERSHIP
- On average, union members make 30% more than non union workers.
- Working conditions, such as fair treatment, guaranteed rest & lunch breaks are enforced by a union contract.
- Union members on average have more vacation days, more paid leave and greater job security than non-union workers.
- Union members negotiate with management as equals over wages, benefits, and working conditions.
NON-UNION
- Wages determined by management and can be changed at any time.
- Up to employer discretion with no oversight.
- No guarantees and can be reduced overnight.
- No guarantees and cann be reduced overnight.
COMPANY LIES AND SCARE TACTICS
Many employers resort to the same anti-worker, anti-union playbook of lies and scare tactics in an effort to stop workers from having a voice on the job. You must be prepared for these company tricks to win your right to form your union.
Tactic #1 Strike Talk
Your company may say the union will force you to strike and during a strike you can lose your job.
FACT: A strike is a decision voted on by you and your co-workers. It takes a two-thirds majority to authorize a strike
Tactic #2 Dues
Your company will say the union just wants your money.
FACT: The union value of union-negotiated improvements in pay, benefits and working conditions is far greater than the cost of union membership. Membership contributions are used to make your union strong, support a range of professional services that work for you. You do not pay until you win a contract.
Tactic #3 No Contract
Your company will say they will not sign a contract if you vote for the union. It is illegal for the company to say this directly. However, they may say, “We don’t have to agree to what you want in the contract.”
FACT: Most companies talk tough before workers organize, in an effort to intimidate workers. The company is legally required to negotiate with the union once workers win the election.
Tactic #4 Bargaining from scratch
Your company will say that when you negotiate a contract, you will lose the wages and benefits you already have.
FACT: When you negotiate a first contract, you will start with the pay and benefits you have now and build on them. You will decide what to ask for in your contract, then vote on it. The strength of your contract will depend on the strength and participation of your co-workers.
Tactic #5 Promises and Second Chances
Your company will promise a promotion, better pay, and get special treatment if you do not unionize. They will show stronger concern for you and your co-workers and say outsiders are not needed to help fix problems, asking for a second chance.
FACT: The special treatment will end on election day. Many workers may be tricked into voting “no” based on the company’s promises. Within a short, the promises are broken and the problems return.
Tactic #6 Anti-union committee
Before the election, a “Vote No” committee usually appears to do the company’s dirty work. They pass out literature filled with company lies or rumors about the union.
FACT: The company knows that if you and your co-workers are united, you can stand up and win your rights. The anti-union committee’s purpose is to divide workers. While the company tries to divide us, the union brings us together.
THE FEDERAL LAW PROTECTS YOU.
The National Labor Relations Act, Section 7 States:
“Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities of collective bargaining.
It is illegal for your employer or management to:
- Ask employees if they support the union or have signed a union card
- Tell you that the company will fire or punish employees for engaging in union activities
- Tell employees that existing benefits will be discontinued if you unionize
- Promise promotions raises or offer benefits if employees oppose forming a union
- Say Unionization will force the company to lay off employees
- Say the company will go out of business or close if you form a union
Connect with Us
