Working efficiently can be difficult on the best day, but this can be worsened when you experience poor working conditions and other issues. Eventually, these problems can begin to impact your personal life. This progression should be avoided, and joining a workplace union can help.
Unions at work are crucial to access legal advice on employment matters. However, it can be difficult to understand the other benefits that joining a union can provide. This post has outlined three of the top benefits that employees should know when they wish to join a labour union.
1. Get Help if You Have an Issue at Work
When you are a union member, you will receive help resolving disputes. It is important to speak with your union workplace representative as soon as you think there is a problem; a union rep can offer advice in these situations. This is essential whether your workplace recognizes the union or not. If you have a formal grievance hearing with your employer, you have the right to be accompanied by a union officer. The same goes for legal hearings.
Some unions will not offer assistance with issues that occur prior to you joining the union. You will miss out on the personal service unions provide, although there will be resources you can access. This is why you should join a union as early as possible when you enter a new role.
Unions typically help with issues related to benefits, discrimination, employee rights, job security, working conditions, and more.
2. Earn a Higher Wage
Joining a union can help you earn a higher wage in your role at work. For example, Teamsters labour unionstates that “union members earn higher wages than their non-union employees.” This is shown by both full-time and part-time unionized workers; full-time unionized workers earn 6% higher wages, while part-time unionized workers earn 10% higher.
Unions do this through a technique called collective bargaining. This is when the union negotiates with employers on behalf of their members to ensure unionized workers earn an increased wage. If the collective bargaining is successful, the pay increase is called a collective agreement.
Additionally, unions have been fighting to close the gender wage gap. A union can negotiate benefits and wages on behalf of all workers, with no differentiating between men and women. This can be achieved through standardizing wages, which sees unions negotiate pay rates specifically for workplace roles or occupational groupings.
3. Lower the Likelihood of Injuries
Unionized workers have been proven to be less likely to experience injuries in the workplace than those not in a union, which has become known as the union safety effect. This is because unionized workplaces are safer and have better working conditions than workplaces that are not unionized. Employers could face productivity losses if they do not fix safety problems that have been highlighted by unions.
A safer work environment is created through appointing health and safety representatives to monitor working conditions, negotiating with employers to implement safety improvements, and raising concerns about hazards.
By understanding these benefits, you can make a more informed decision when joining a labour union. This will hopefully ensure your workplace experience becomes increasingly positive.