How to Form a Union
Organizing a union in your workplace is about building collective power and getting the things you and your co-workers need such as better wages, better benefits, and better working conditions. Thousands of working people—all across the country and in all kinds of jobs—organize unions every year because unions are the best way to secure the things you care about.
What is a union? It is you and your co-workers recognizing your collective power as the ones who do the work that makes your workplace function and coming together to wield that collective power through collective action in order to get what you want and need.
How to Form a Union
Begin talking to co-workers to see if any of them have unresolved workplace grievances and unfulfilled needs like better wages, better benefits, and better working conditions. Identify those co-workers who show an interest in addressing these grievances and meeting these needs through collective action.
Reach out to a local union organizer who can assist and guide you as you and your co-workers do the work of organizing your workplace. Reach out to an organizer/union familiar with your industry and type of workplace.
With guidance and assistance from your organizer you and your co-workers will form an organizing committee comprised of worker-leaders and worker-activists that will do the bulk of organizing in your workplace. This organizing committee should be representative of the makeup of your workplace and should include people from each of its departments and sectors. Members of the organizing committee will then engage fellow workers in their various departments and social groups to build support for the union.
Build a super majority of support for the union. Track support by having co-workers sign union authorization cards or union authorization petitions. When a worker signs a union authorization card, they are indicating their desire to join the union and their willingness to vote "yes" for a union if and when a union election is called.
Once you build majority support for the union in your workplace you are ready to either file for a union election or a card-check. To win a union election or a card-check you must have a 50%+1 pro-union majority.
Once you win a union election or a card-check your employer must legally recognize you and your co-workers as the union at your workplace and are legally obligated to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with you and your co-workers. Through negotiation you and your co-workers are able to push the employer to correct the grievances and meet the unfulfilled economic and workplace needs of you and your fellow workers.
Of course, this is a basic model and how you and your fellow workers organize will depend on your industry and the unique nature of your workplace. There are different models that can accommodate these variations. What is certain is that organizing will take time, energy, and working-class ingenuity and creativity but the results and the power you and your fellow workers build will be well worth it. But the only way to get to a destination is to begin the journey. And that starts with the first step.
That being said, if you and your co-workers (or just you) are interested in forming a union at your workplace please reach out to us HERE at the Milwaukee Area Labor Council and we will gladly assist you with those first critical steps including initial conversations with co-workers and connecting with a local union and organizer.