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If you work
in a non-union workplace and would like to find out how to gain better
wages, benefits and working conditions…you have come to the right place!
Know
Your Legal Rights
You have
the legal right under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act
to join or support a union and to:
- Attend meetings to discuss
joining a union.
- Read, distribute, and
discuss union literature (as long as you do this in non-work areas
during non-work times, such as during breaks or lunch hours.)
- Wear union buttons, T-shirts,
stickers, hats, or other items on the job.
- Sign a union card asking
your employer to recognize and bargain with the union.
- Sign petitions or file
grievances related to wages, hours, working conditions, and other
job issues.
- Ask other employees to
support the union, to sign union cards or petitions, or to file grievances.
Protection
from Employer Action
Under
Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act, your employer cannot
legally punish or discriminate against any worker because of union activity.
For example, an employer
cannot legally do the following:
- Threaten to or actually
fire, lay off, discipline, harass, transfer, or reassign employees
because they support the union.
- Favor employees who don’t
support the union over those who do by granting special promotions,
job assignments, wages, hours, enforcement of rules, or any other
working condition.
- Shut down the plant or
work site or take away any benefits or privileges employees already
have in order to discourage union activity.
- Promise employees a pay
increase, promotion, benefit, or special favor if they oppose the
union.
Enforcing
your Rights
Some employers try to prevent
the workers from joining a union. The best way to encourage your employer
to recognize the union and negotiate a fair contract is to build
strong union support at your workplace.
If your employer violates
the law, the union can help you file “unfair labor practice”
charges with the NLRB.
The Labor
Board has the power to order an employer to stop interfering with employee
rights, to provide back pay, and to reverse any action taken against
workers for union activity.
You can help protect your
legal rights by:
- Keeping written notes
of any incidents in which company officials or supervisors threaten,
harass, or punish workers because of union activity.
- Immediately reporting
any such incidents to your organizing committee and the union staff.
Your report should include
what was said or done, who was involved, where and when it happened,
and the names of any witnesses.
The
National Labor Relations Act States:
Section
7: “Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to
form, join, or assist labor organizations to bargain collectively through
representation of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted
activities for the purpose of collective bargaining…”
Section 8 (a): “It
shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer…to interfere with,
restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed
in Section 7…”
This
means that you are legally protected when you volunteer to help organize
and to join and support a union of your own choice. This includes, but
is not limited to, such activities as filling out a union authorization
card, getting your co-workers to fill out cards, attending union meetings,
wearing union buttons, passing out union literature, and discussing
the union with other workers.
 Contact
the BCTGM Organizing Department
Return
to the main organizing page
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