#the length of your workweek & your wages & your commute are all labor conditions

[marnz]

Some obvious reasons to organize:

The 4 day work week. IWW’s dream is 4 hour days 4 times a week. That’s 16 hours. Wages do not go down. And yeah sometimes there’s days or weeks where that can’t happen—so you get paid OT, time and a half OR comp time, your choice, with a union.

Better health care with lower premiums! This is the best health care I’ve ever had.

Retirement! The world we live in isn’t normal. 401ks—retirement money—are now an unstable, classed thing, and they were invented to be one “leg” of a three legged “stool” of retirement: pensions, 401ks, and Social Security. Except that social security is under threat and most workers don’t have pensions anymore. I do. Protecting our pensions is one of the main reasons my workplace organized. What if everyone had a pension, or hell, the entire stool?

Long commutes bc you’ve been priced out of your city? Yeah we’ll talk about wages but what if your commute counted as work time? This is something unions were interested in fighting for pre the Nixon stomp. Let’s bring it back.

Historically low wages? Raises that don’t match inflation? We can fix that. When I took this job a few years ago, I took a steep pay cut. Thanks to my union I am now making 12% more than my previous salary. Equal pay? Under a bargaining agreement your pay will be standardized. You won’t make less just because you are a member of a marginalized community.

Your boss hates you? Too bad. As soon as you organize you are no longer an “at will” worker. You cannot be fired without just cause and after progressive discipline. Your job is safe and stable. You can focus on other, more important things, like living your actual life.

“What if my employer hates me and breaks the law and fires me or refuses me accommodations or violates our bargaining contract.” My guy. That’s what your shop steward is for.

Some important reasons people may not want to organize:

Racism. The labor movement has historically been super super racist and white, and unions used to deny black workers membership. There is no instance of American life where we can discuss class without discussing race. This is still in play imo—for example, DSA has very low black membership. But unions can also be used to empower workers from marginalized communities.

Politics. It’s illegal for unions to use union dues to lobby but most ppl don’t know this, and a lot of unions are active in politics. Membership is low in more conservative areas for many reasons but this is a big one of them, especially if your union is seen as predominantly leftist. This is to say nothing of how rabidly anti union certain states and workplaces are.

Solidarity. “How am I supposed to have solidarity with _____?!” I’ve definitely struggled with this. But at the end of the day, everyone you work with is more of an ally than your employer in this issue. The bigger your membership the stronger threat you’ll be at the bargaining table and the easier it will be for you to get what you want.