Why Union?

-Unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by about 28%

-The most sweeping advantage for unionized workers is in fringe benefits. Unionized workers are more likely than their non-unionized counterparts to receive paid leave, are approximately 18% to 28% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are 23% to 54% more likely to be in employer-provided pension plans.

A Right to Health and Safety on the Job

- Far too many workers are killed, injured, disabled and exposed to risks on the job. Working under a union contract, workers have built-in mechanisms to monitor and even correct the work environment, and to ensure that health and safety concerns are addressed.

A Voice at Work the Boss Can't Ignore

- Belonging to a union gives workers contractual and other legal rights they do not enjoy without union representation. Being union gives workers a voice on the job, and their collective voices form the union that makes their voices more forceful, more influential with management than any individual voice. Belonging to a union allows you to establish a written agreement that specifies the terms of your employment. Once you have formed a union, your employer is required by law to bargain with you over your wages, hours, and working conditions.

A Right to Vote on Your Contract

- As members of the I.U.O.E., workers are guaranteed by the union's constitution the right to vote on contracts negotiated by the union, unless the workers vote to give the approval authority to a committee.

Advancing Your Career through Training and Education

- Union members are afforded the opportunities to improve and upgrade their skills - and, consequently, their wages and responsibilities, through union-sponsored education and training programs. The I.U.O.E. is acknowledged as the leader in providing the most comprehensive, highest quality craftsmen training programs in the construction, maintenance, and operations industries.

Job Security

- In a time of high unemployment and uncertain economic conditions, the right to retain your job is critical to you and your family. It is important to know that you can't be fired without just cause.

Most union contracts establish strict rules about job security and the conditions under which layoffs or reductions in the work force take place. This makes sure that everyone is treated fairly, and that no one is discriminated against for voicing an opinion on the job, or for insisting on adherence to the terms of the contract.

Without the protection of a union contract, you are at the mercy of the employer. You have the ability to change that; you have the power, and the legal right, if you act collectively.