Organizing: Why Unions? Why This Union?

If your experience is that your boss's only concern is his profits, then you need a union to help you look out for yourself. That is the business Local 340 is in—we represent workers.

To find out about forming a union at your workplace, send us an e-mail by clicking here.

Working people form unions for many reasons, ranging from the need for higher wages and better benefits to issues of safety and respect in the workplace. What workers have discovered is that their issues are better addressed when they work in unison—in union—than when they try to tackle the boss on their own.

Having a union is about having a say in your work life. A successful union is a union that works as a team. Members have a voice in decisions, and no decision is made without a majority of members concurring. Our union is structured in a way that holds union leaders accountable to the union membership.

Your boss may tell you that you don't want to upset the teamwork in your shop by joining a union. What he is saying is he doesn't want you to upset his control of the workplace: what he says goes or you go.

When you form a union in your workplace, you negotiate with your employer for a union contract. Your work conditions are no longer unilaterally decided by your boss. When the contract is signed, you are guaranteed to get what you've negotiated: guaranteed wages, guaranteed pensions, guaranteed health insurance and other benefits, guaranteed job security, guaranteed seniority rights, a guaranteed grievance procedure, guaranteed elimination of discrimination and favoritism, guaranteed health and safety protections—all guaranteed by the contract that you negotiate. At Local 340 it is workers from the shops that negotiate contracts because they know best what they want.

If you're ready for guaranteed rights and respect in your workplace, contact us about organizing a union in your shop by clicking here.

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