Are you not getting paid enough? A union can help with that
Life is just too expensive these days, and it’s getting harder and harder to keep up with the cost of groceries, housing and other essentials. Whether you work for tips, swipe a badge, earn a salary, punch a clock or work shifts, your hard work should pay enough to get ahead.
Unions are here to help workers get bigger paycheques, greater job security and safer workplaces. And it’s never been easier to join one.
Unionized workers get paid an average of $5 per hour more than workers who don’t belong to a union. If you’re interested in having a union in your corner, making more money and having greater job security and a safer workplace, fill out the form below and we will get back to you quickly with information about unions that would be a good fit for you and your coworkers.
Answer the questions below and we’ll get back to you soon. Your information will remain confidential.
Benefits of Joining a Union
A union can improve working conditions, protect your rights, ensure dignity and respect on the job and fair treatment of workers. But, most importantly, a union puts you and your co-workers in control of your futures — you set the priorities and work towards them.
The basic idea of a union is that by joining together with co-workers you will have a greater ability to be more effective in collectively improving conditions at the workplace. These workplace improvements are achieved through the process of collective bargaining, which concludes with a legally-binding collective agreement, signed between the union and the employer.
The union’s goals in a workplace are its members’ goals:
- Job Security
- Health and Safety in the Workplace
- Pay Equity
- Hours of work
- Employment Equity
- Fair Wages and Benefits
- Vacation and Family Responsibility Leave
- Dignity and Respect (union security)
- Democratization of the work place
Unions represent a united group of employees during contract negotiations with an employer and then make sure that contract is lived up to, including representing individual employees on workplace issues.
The first step for workers interested in joining a union is to find the union that’s best suited for them. If you need help with this, the Manitoba Federation of Labour can share information with you about which unions already represent workers like you in your sector, and help you make connections.
Once a group of workers has selected the union they wish to join, the union will work with them to help get as many workers as possible to sign the union’s application card. Signing a union application card formally expresses a worker’s interest in joining the union.
It’s important to note that these cards are never shared with the workers’ employer; the employer never gets the cards or a list of who signed them – that information is protected (only the union and the Manitoba Labour Board ever see the cards).
When a majority of workers (at least 50% +1) sign a union application card, the union can apply to the Manitoba Labour Board to be automatically certified as the official bargaining agent for the group of workers. This means that the workers’ chosen union becomes their representative with the employer, helping workers do things like negotiate contracts, put new workplace health and safety protections in place, and helping workers deal with their bosses.
The workers’ employer is only notified about the union organizing drive after cards are submitted to the Manitoba Labour Board, and not before.
If less than half of the workers in a group have signed the union’s application card, the Manitoba Labour Board will require the additional step of holding a secret ballot vote before certifying the union. No fewer than 40% of the workers need to have signed a union’s application card to apply for a secret ballot vote, and a majority of workers must vote in favour of joining the union in the secret ballot vote for the union to be certified. (Obtaining signed union application cards from a clear majority of workers is a much simpler process, and avoids the second step of a secret ballot vote. For more information about secret ballots votes click HERE)