What Are the Benefits of a Union Shop?

Union Organizing Issues

What are the differences from the employer's viewpoint, in operating a union-free environment vs. A unionized environment?

Eric Dontigney, writing in the Houston Chronicle for Demand Media, explains that while unions do provide certain benefits to employees, including legal representation and pensions, unions do not "necessarily represent a panacea to all the woes of working life" (Dontigney, 2015). Non-unionized workplaces also provide advantages to business owners as well as employees, and in fact business owners operating in non-unionized workplaces enjoy what Dontigney calls "…considerably more freedom in the dismissal process."

When there is a union, there can be long-drawn-out formal processes involved in dismissing (firing) an employee. But without a union, Dontigney explains that business owners "avoid" those long drawn-out dismissal proceedings, and business owners can "…dismiss employees for contract violations" and owners can simply decide not to renew a worker's contract or "…simply end employment without specific reason" (p. 1). Because management can move "easily" to fire employees that have failed to be productive, or employees that are "disruptive" in the workplace, having a non-union workplace has its advantages for management and business owners.

Maintaining what Dontigney calls a "congenial work environment" is always important in terms of productivity and profitability for a business, and when there is no union this atmosphere is easier to create (p. 1). Moreover, a business owner in a non-union workplace doesn't have to deal with pre-determined raises and promotions that union can impose on businesses. For example, Dontigney mentioned that unions negotiate deals in which the person with the most time on a particular job gets the promotion, "rather than the person with the best chance of doing the job successfully" (p. 1). Hence, in a non-union environment management can promote a worker based on ability not longevity; "merit-based promotions can prove very effective in moving talent" into positions that the business management sees as most pivotal (p. 1).

Also, in a non-union shop employees can go directly to a manager or foreman or executive and be his or her own negotiator for a raise, for a better benefit package or for a more favorable position within the company. But unions "tie the hands of both employers and employees" when it comes to benefits, contracts and wages, because union leadership is the "sole representative for employees," and all interaction with management comes from union leaders, Dontigney (p. 2).

Pros and Cons -- Unions vs. Non-Unions: Journalist Flora Richards-Gustafson writes that in a unionized workforce, employees get higher wages as a general rule. The author of another article in the Houston Chronicle points out that the "increase in wages may come at the expense of fewer jobs"; that said, union workers are likely to get more benefits than workers in a non-union environment (p. 2). While it is true that union members are in general paid more than non-union workers, union workers pay dues, and those dues can be fairly steep so it can take away from the fact that union workers get higher wages.

Some union policies can "detract from worker satisfaction" and those policies can also lead to "higher rates of employee turnover," Richards-Gustafson explains. In 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average unionized workforce earned an average salary of $917 each week, while non-unionized employees earned a median salary of $717 (Richards-Gustafson, p. 2).

Worker rights during union organizing: the NLRB issued a list of what workers can do (providing these activities are not during work hours and don't distract from work responsibilities): a) distribute union literature; b) wear union buttons or t-shirts; c) solicit co-workers to sign union authorization cards; d) discuss union issues with co-workers; and e) be free from employer spying or from coercively being questioned by employers (NLRB). What unions cannot do: The union cannot "threaten you that you'll lose your job unless you support the union; the union also cannot "refuse to process a grievance because you have criticized union officials"; and the union may not "take other adverse action against you based on whether you have joined or support the union" (U.S. Department of Labor).

What management can and can't do during a union campaign; what actions are prohibited? The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) lists employer conduct that is illegal; e.g., employers cannot: a) threaten employees with a loss of benefits of jobs if they vote pro-union; b) threaten to close the company if a union comes in; c) question or challenge workers as to their sympathies for unions; d) promise benefits if workers turn down the union; e) punish workers for supporting the union; or f) assign workers "more difficult work tasks" because they supported the union (NLRB). Once employees have voted to welcome a union into their workplace, the union and the employer are "required to meet at reasonable times to bargain in good faith" about wages, hours, vacation, insurance and safety issues (NLRB).