Our union is our voice in the workplace.

The boss isn't always fair; the boss isn't always smart.  Our union is our means to address fairness issues in the workplace.  Each member has the legal right to speak out for himself or his fellow workers on issues that effect us at work.  Our union contract sets out both the members' and the boss' rights and responsibilities in the workplace.  lf the boss violates a member's rights under the contract, we have the opportunity to use the process set up under the contract (our grievance procedure) to correct the violation.  Having a union also enables us to address issues at work through other means:  setting up meetings with supervisors, circulating petitions in support of a co-worker or against a work policy that members think is unfair. 

Definitions:

Contract or Union Contract - A contract between the union and the employer outlining wages, hours and working conditions.  This agreement reduced to writing.

Through the collective bargaining process, our union helped us to get a decent wage and excellent benefits package.  They are not simply given to us by the employer.

Through the union contract, we have a greater degree of job security than folks who work in a non-union workplace.  Once a worker makes it through the probationary period, the worker has seniority rights.  Seniority rights are a check against the boss' ability to play favorites and to discipline unfairly.  Again, not every boss tries to pit workers against one another, but those that do have a harder time of it due to seniority language in the contract.  Seniority is the basis for our job protection language (lay off and recall rights) and scheduling language in the retail grocery / non-foods industry.  A worker with seniority cannot be fired for poor work performance until she or he has been informed as to what improvement she or he has to make, and been given opportunity to make those improvements.

Probationary Period - A period of time for testing, outlined in the collective bargaining agreement, to prove ones ability to meet requited job duties.

Seniority - A worker’s length of service with an employer.  Seniority often determines layoffs, promotions, recalls or transfers.  In case of layoff, seniority usually means that the last worker hired is the first to be laid off.