Being a Union Member

What’s it like to be a union member – see the following quotes from recent public documents.

• “Absolute dictatorship.” UNITE co-president John Wilhelm says of fellow co-president Bruce Raynor that “he believes that the Union is his personal property and wants to rule it as an absolute dictatorship.”
  - UNITE HERE Votes to Remain Unified, PR Newswire, 2/9/09
  
  
• “Creepy.” Raynor brags that the union avoids secret-ballot elections and “organizes exclusively through card checks and neutrality agreements,” giving union organizers the ability to use tactics that one journalist called “creepy.”
  - Why union assault is a ‘failed campaign’ by Peter Bronson, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 10/28/07
  
  
• Where are the dues money going? Raynor ran up a $328 million operating deficit, according to union documents, yet at the same time his salary as union president doubled to more than $350,000 per year. Plus, according to documents Raynor also got “nearly $500,000 in additional income from the Amalgamated Bank in chauffeured limo rides, sporting event tickets, and other perks.”
  - John W. Wilhelm, President, Hospitality Industry, UNITE HERE, Take a Stand Against Mudslinging, Press Release, 2/25/09
  
  
• “The money from us laundry workers has been wasted,” said one 20-year union member.
  - Workers United Union is Forced, PR Newswire, 3/21/09
  
  
• Criminal allegations? The heated exchange between the two presidents has risen to criminal allegations. In a letter to Raynor dated March 25, 2009, co-president Wilhelm alleges that “some property and records” have been taken from union offices. “As you know, there is criminal liability for action such as these. I will not hesitate to refer to prosecution you or anyone else on the headquarters staff who is caught perpetrating this crime.”
  - Letter from John Wilhelm to Bruce Raynor, 3/25/09 > Read entire letter
  
  
• Dozens of indictments are filed against unions every year. The U.S. Department of Labor lists more than 100 criminal enforcement actions filed in 2009. Read more
  
  
• “We had to leave UNITE HERE because that union was not putting workers first," said a former union official. "I am not happy about it.”
  - Statement from Bruce Raynor on Proposed Disaffiliation by UNITE HERE Locals and Joint Board, PR Newswire, 3/2/09

Given the amount of effort and expense that unions spend to get new members, you would think that they would try to take better care of their members. But you’d be wrong.

Here are some examples:

• 5% Pay Cut: Union members said they felt “cheated” after seeing UNITE officials appear in a television advertisement for local politicians, promising that they “would never allow immigrant workers to be abused.” While union officials were politicking on behalf of immigrant workers, UNITE was agreeing to a five percent pay cut for workers, with higher out-of-pocket costs for health insurance with less benefits. "Workers are bitter, unhappy,” a union official said, “and they should be.”
  - “Union Didn’t Cater to Us, Workers Say,” New York Daily News, 07/02/06
  
  
• 1,900 Complaints: UNITE members have filed almost 1,900 “unfair labor practice” charges against their own union, according to government records, alleging inadequate representation along with threats, coercion, harassment and other actions. In the last several years, more than 200 individual groups of UNITE members across the nation have filed petitions with the government, seeking to withdraw from the union.
  - Bureau of National Affairs Database
  
  
• “An embarrassment.” UNITE’s record as an employer is worse than many of the companies they are so quick to criticize. In 2005, current and former UNITE organizers filed a lawsuit claiming they were not being paid overtime or given days off, and were being ordered to work around-the-clock and through weekends on union business. The union countered that the organizers, while working long hours for days on end, were “outside sales people, exempt from overtime.” UNITE employees said: “It is an embarrassment to the labor community.”
  - “Four ex-labor organizers sue union over pay,” Shirleen Holt, Seattle Times, 07/23/05
  
  
• “They don’t share the pain.” What happens when the economy gets tight, and union employees lose their jobs? It seems UNITE executives keep drawing big salaries. In 2001, after union officials continued to collect $200,000 annual salaries, hundreds of workers’ jobs were cut in plant closures. “Top officials didn’t always share the pain when it came to their own pay and benefits,” one newspaper reported.
  - “What’s What In WNY Unions,” The Buffalo News, 07/29/01
  
  
• Didn’t have a clue. Frustrated UNITE members in New York filed their own class-action lawsuit against their employer, complaining that their union “failed” in protecting workers from continuing job cuts. A UNITE official responded: “We weren't aware of the conditions."
  - “New York Union Shop Allegedly A Sweat Shop,” NY Post, 6/8/00, Union Corruption Update, 06/09/00

Once a group of employees is represented by a union, they work under a contract negotiated between the union and their employer. These contracts expire every three years, on average, and must be re-negotiated each time. If a union and an employer cannot reach agreement on the terms and conditions of a new contract, then the union can call employees out on strike – meaning they can walk off the job and onto the picket line.

What happens on a strike?
For most unionized employees who agree to strike:

• They stop getting a paycheck.
• Their family’s healthcare and dental benefits are suspended.
• They are not eligible to receive state unemployment benefits.
• Their job can be filled with a replacement worker.
• Their job can be impacted in the future, if there is a loss of customers during the strike.

Can I continue to work during a strike?
Yes, that is your choice. However, unions often impose monetary penalties on any members who work during a strike.

How many union members went on strike in 2008?
An estimated 72,000 union members lost 1.95 million days of pay in 2008 because of large-scale strikes – those are days without pay and benefits for their families. One strike lasted for 68 days, another for 63 days. UNITE has called its members out on 23 strikes since the fall of 2004.

How long could a strike last?
In 2008, the average large-scale strike lasted 15 days. Some of the major large-scale strikes in 2008 include:

How much could a strike cost me and my family?
As noted earlier, striking union members lose their normal paycheck during a strike and their benefits are often suspended. While unions sometimes provide “strike pay,” this is often only a small fraction of their regular pay.

What is strike pay?
“Strike pay” or “strike benefits” is a variable amount of money that a union might give striking workers, depending on how much money the union has in its “strike fund.” At the Teamsters, for example, strike pay starts at $75 per week - hardly enough to pay normal bills.

How much would a strike cost me and my family? It depends on how long the strike would last.
	Enter your hourly wage or hourly equivalent
	Enter how many days you think you could be on strike
	Your total lost wages
	Even if you received a 2% wage increase after the strike, it would take you work days to make-up for the wages lost during the strike.

Unions have dues deducted from members' paychecks, to pay for union salaries and administration costs. Members' dues are also given away by the union in political contributions to various candidates and causes, as determined by union executives.

In the Teamsters' union, for example, dues are 2½ times a person's hourly wage, per month. Plus, some locals charge additional initiation fees and other “assessments” to members. To find out how much your dues to the Teamsters would be:

To find out how much your dues to a typical union would be:
	Enter your hourly wage or hourly equivalent
	Your monthly dues would be
	Your annual dues would be
	Over the typical life of a three-year contract, this would total
	Instead of paying union dues for this time, you could buy:
	full tanks of gas
	32-inch flat panel televisions
	nice dinners
	$75 shopping sprees at the store of your choice
	years of cell phone service

Favorability Ratings of Labor Unions Fall Sharply
According to a new survey released this week from Pew Research Center, the percentage of the public that has a favorable opinion of labor unions fell sharply from 58% in January 2007 to 41% in February 2010. This is the lowest labor union favorability rating since 1985 and is consistent with other recent surveys including one last fall which Gallup found for the first time since the 1930s that fewer than half of Americans (48%) approved of labor unions…
Read entire article
- The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

New Penn Teamsters Approve Concessions
Unionized drivers at less-than-truckload carrier New Penn Motor Express, facing possible shutdown, approved concessions sought by financially troubled parent company YRC Worldwide, the Teamsters union and the carrier announced Wednesday…The package agreed to by the Teamsters includes a 5 percent wage cut on top of a previous reduction and an 18-month moratorium on pension fund contributions…Read entire article
- Journal of Commerce

Frontier Airlines, Teamsters Local 961 Reach Agreement on Wage and Benefit Concessions
Frontier Airlines has approved a long-term agreement on wage and benefit concessions from maintenance workers represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 691…Details weren’t released...Read entire article
- Bureau News

Plain Dealer Unions Agree to Pay Cuts to Help Keep Paper Viable
At The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer…500 union workers belonging to the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild Local 1 and Teamsters Local 473 agreed on Thursday to take a total wage reduction of 12%, which includes an 8% reduction in actual pay and 11 days of unpaid furlough...
Read entire article
- Media Daily News

Union Contract Full of Cuts
Bill Crooks knows the new four-year contract ratified earlier this month between the United Steelworkers and Bridgestone Americas is a concessionary one from the union's perspective. Crooks, president of USW Local 7 in Akron and one of the contract negotiators, oversees a unit made up of about 150 people who largely build race tires at Bridgestone Americas' small local tire assembly operations...Read entire article
- Ohio.com

Labor Union Approval at All-Time Low
A Gallup poll released Thursday shows that less than half of Americans, 48 percent, approve of labor unions...Read entire article
- KansasLiberty.com

Top Teamster Officials Get a Million Dollar Raise
It’s a tough economy and many Teamster members are taking benefit cuts, pay freezes, or worse...Read the full report
- Teamsters for a Democratic Union

Who is Bruce Raynor?
One of many good reasons to oppose the misnamed "Employee Free Choice Act," otherwise known as the "card check" bill, is because it would further empower union bosses not just against employers but at the expense of union members themselves. Anybody who doubts that labor chieftains often work against the interests of the rank and file need only consider recently ousted "general president" of the UNITE-HERE union, Bruce Raynor...Read entire article
- Washington Times

Union Pensions in the Red
We’ve all read about underfunded corporate pensions, but here’s an unreported story: Union pensions are even more in the red, and it’s one reason union chiefs are so eager to rig organizing rules to gain more dues-paying members...Read entire article
- Wall Street Journal

“Do you want to join a union?” 81% of Americans say no.
A new poll by Rasmussen Reports finds few Americans – less than 1 in 10 – are interested in joining a labor union. Only nine percent said yes, according to the survey of 1,000 adults released March 16, 2009...Read entire article
- Rasmussen Reports