The Risks of Union Membership

Discipline and expulsion are just two risks of union membership.

A more fundamental risk occurs from the process of collective bargaining.

Under the law, employers and unions representing employees are required to meet and negotiate in good faith toward the terms of employment.

Negotiations are typically a give and take. Compromises are typically made. But, neither side has to agree to terms it really does not want.

As a result of collective bargaining, therefore, employees can wind up with more than they had before, the same as they had before, or less than they had before.

Why Would Employees Get Less After Negotiations?

Again, negotiations are a give-and-take situation. The employer and Union will both give up ground on certain provisions in order to win agreement on provisions that are more important.

The employer, for example, may gladly raise wage rates if the Union agrees to cheaper health insurance.

The Union, on the other hand, may give up wage increases if the employer agrees to provisions that are important to the Union, such as dues check-off, union security clauses, or neutrality agreements.

As a result, there is no guarantee that a Union will win — or even work hard to secure — the kind of pay raises, benefits, or job security it promises.

No Easy Way Out

If members are dissatisfied with a contract negotiated by the Union, they can reject it. However, such a move merely restarts the collective bargaining process, with no guarantee of a better result, while matters remain at the "status quo" until a new agreement is reached.

Nor is it easy for a union to be removed as bargaining agent. Once a union is certified as bargaining agent for a group of employees, a difficult and lengthy process called "decertification" is required to remove it. There is no such thing as "trying out" a union.

Strikes