How to Organize a Union

If you are interested in forming a union at your workplace, the FPD/AHPE can help you. Meanwhile, it will be helpful to know some basic steps of any organizing campaign:

Talk to your co-workers. Do they share the same concerns you have? Or do they have other issues? Gauge their interest in forming a union and if they specific complaints, educate them on how a union can make a difference. You do not have to tell your employer about your decision to pursue union representation. It’s better to get as much support as you can before your employer becomes aware, giving them less time to prepare their union-busting campaign.

When your ready, contact us. Once you’ve discussed your workplace issues with your co-workers and are ready to start organizing, FPD/AHPE will assign an appropriate representative who will meet with your group to answer any questions, to explain the benefits of union representation, to develop a comprehensive organizing plan and to collect signatures authorizing union representation.

Build an organizing committee. FPD/AHPE can help you build an organizing committee with leaders identified from all shifts and departments that represent the diversity of your workplace. We will train the Organizing Committee on how to implement the organizing plan. Be sure that the Committee members you choose know that they will have to work hard to educate themselves and their co-workers about the union and to warn and educate co-workers about management’s impending anti-union campaign. The Organizing Committee also must be educated about workers’ rights to organize and must understand FPD/AHPE’s policies and principles of democracy and rank-and-file control. Also at this step, the following basic information about your workplace must be gathered;

·	Workplace structure: departments, work areas, jobs, shifts

·	Employee information: name , address, phone, shift, title, and department

·	Employer information: other locations, parent company, product(s), customers, union history

Identify the improvements you are organizing to achieve. The Organizing Committee will identify concrete changes that need to be made. These are the issues that will be used to gain support and get people involved, and that will be addressed in the first union contract. Be realistic about the improvements a union can make and don’t make promises that can’t be kept.

Sign-Up Majority on union cards. Your co-workers are asked to join one of our unions that is most fitting to your workplace by signing membership cards. This card is confidential and management will not see it. The goal is to sign-up a sizable majority. This “card campaign” should proceed quickly once begun and is necessary to hold an election.

·	voluntary recognition: In some cases, an employer will respect the will of their employees and voluntarily recognize the union once a majority of cards have been signed.

Win the union election. In most cases, an employer will force an election and use anti-union tactics, such as fear and intimidation, to convince workers not to vote for the union. The signed cards are used to petition the state or federal labor board to hold an election. It will take the labor board at least several weeks to determine who is eligible to vote and schedule the election. The union campaign must continue and intensify during this waiting period. If the union wins, the employer must recognize and bargain with the union. Winning a union election not only requires a strong, diverse Organizing Committee and a solid issues program, but there must also be a plan to fight the employer’s anti-union campaign.

Negotiate a contract. Don’t think that the organizing campaign lets up after the election victory. Afterall, the real goal is to get a union contract (the document the union and employer negotiate and sign, covering everything from wages to how disputes are settled). Workers must be mobilized to support the union’s contract demands and pressure the employer to meet them.

Will we still be there after you win your first contract? ABSOLUTELY! We will continue to be there for you, ensuring that the contract is enforced, handling grievances, keeping you informed of programs and activities, and most importantly, giving you a voice at work!