Top Reasons Why People Join Unions

Unions and the act of unionization are not gone forever. People are still joining unions and with the uncertainty facing the American labor market in the future there is a good chance that unionization may increase in the near future. Therefore, employers need to know why people want to join a union. Employers desire to avoid unionization as much as possible. Unfortunately many employers don't start worrying until it is already too late and the union organizers are embedded within their company. Being proactive and knowing what your workers want will help you in the long run.

1.) Unfair: People join unions because they feel that management is unfair. When managers engage in patronage, promote their friends, terminate the employment of people without cause and have poor management skills people are not going to trust them. This low worker-to-management trust is a primary reason people choose to be unionized.

2.) Compensation: As wages are declining in many industries due to global competition and a slow down in U.S. manufacturing, workers desire to have higher wages. Wages can be considerably low in the hospitality environment which is ripe for unionization and is part of the reason why unionization has been growing in this industry. The goal is to get wages affixed and raise them higher through joining a union.

3.) Benefits: Unions often have a strong benefits package which they are able to extract from the employer. Workers have seen declining benefits levels, increased co-pays and a squeezing of drug prescription plans. Few want to worry about whether their families will have medical coverage.

4.) Retirement: Traditional retirement plans are gone and workers would like to have something to live off of when they become too old to work. Even though nearly half of all workers don't put any money way for their retirement they do want company matching. Joining a union helps them to not only install a 401K program but also company matching.

5.) Work Conditions: If the workplace is dirty, poorly lit, and simply a nasty place to people there is a good chance that workers will want to unionize. They do so because through the union's health and safety committees they can lobby for more improvements to the conditions of their work areas as well as the conditions associated with their employment.

6.) Safety: Nothing damages the credibility of a company more then having either a major injury or death at the workplace. If the workers assume that this is the sole cause of the employer many workers will want to join a union. They will feel as though the company is trying to make as much money as possible; even at the expense of the workers.