Your voice matters. If you don’t vote, you are not heard!
Do I Have To Vote?
- A union election is no small thing, and can drastically impact your life for years to come.
- Union representation elections aren’t the same as the elections you’re used to voting in. A few years from now there won’t automatically be another election to see if you’re pleased with the job the union has done and if you want to keep it.
- The union is like a politician who wins an election once and gets to stay in office for life. No one would want their local, state or federal governments run that way; so why let it happen at work?
“Try it Out for a While?” If an organizer has told you that you can “try out” the union for a little while, then decide later to get rid of it, they probably haven’t also told you how difficult that is.
- The only way to get rid of a union is by a “decertification”
- It’s a long and complicated process that must be initiated and funded by the employees themselves
- Unions typically aggressively fight efforts for decertification– once in, they do not want to be voted out!
Unlike most things you buy, union membership comes with absolutely no guarantee. If it doesn’t work as advertised, there’s nowhere you can go for a refund. You’re probably stuck.
Don’t leave your fate in the hands of others.
How Does The Process Work?
- Secret Ballot — No One Will Know How You Vote
- Balloting is conducted and tabulated by National Labor Relations Board– not the union or the company
- Every Vote is Critical in a Union Election
- All that is required to elect the union as your representative are 50% of the VOTES ACTUALLY CAST, plus 1 vote
- If you do NOT want the union to represent you, you must cast a NO vote
- Union organizers will sometimes tell you that if you do not want the union, just don’t vote at all, as if not voting counts as a no vote. This is NOT true!
- If you don’t vote, you are letting others control your future
It is extremely important that you let your voice and wishes be heard. It is also important to remember that it doesn’t matter whether or not you signed a Union Authorization card earlier – the final determiner of your wishes is your vote. Make it count!
Why every single vote is important – an example:
30 people vote “No, I do NOT want a Union”
20 people vote “Yes, I want a union”
In this first example, in a unit of 50 employees, all of them turn out to vote. 30 vote NO – meaning they do NOT want to be represented by the union. The remaining 20 vote YES, asking to be represented by the union. In this case, each person is heard, and the majority rules that there will be no union.
In this second example, in the same unit of 50 employees, the same 20 who want to be represented by the union vote “Yes.” However, even though all of the remaining 30 do NOT want to be represented by the union, 11 of them do not turn out to vote, so only 19 “No” votes are counted. The unit is now represented by the union, even though only a minority of the group wanted this to happen.
19 people vote “No, I do NOT want a Union”
20 people vote “Yes, I want a union”
If you want to kick a union out, it’s not easy. In most unions, it’s a violation of the union constitution and bylaws, so the pressure from the union is immense. If a group of employees decides to try to decertify the union, they are on their own. By law, their employer can’t offer any help. It’s up to the dissatisfied union members alone to obtain legal advice and try to meet all the government rules and regulations.