Labor Unions

Union Activities, Structures, and Governance

Aside from collective bargaining with employers, unions organize nonunion workers and engage in political action. Unions organize when they recruit new members, and they ask employers to recognize them as bargaining agents. Under the certification procedures of the federal and state labor boards (judicial agencies that enforce labor laws), a union can gain certification as a bargaining agent by proving, usually in a secret-ballot election, that it is supported by a majority of employees at the workplace.

Unions engage in political action by endorsing candidates and contributing to their election campaigns, encouraging members to help get out the vote for endorsed candidates on Election Day, and lobbying for legislation that is pro-worker or pro-union (e.g., favoring higher minimum wages, favoring protections against employment discrimination, favoring stronger penalties against employer misconduct during union organizing). Historically, unions have overwhelmingly supported candidates and policies of the Democratic Party because they believe that this party values the economic concerns of workers and their families. However, unions do not affiliate with any party formally. Their political creed is simple—to reward their friends and punish their enemies.

Labor unions are among the most diverse organizations in the U.S. society. There is no typical union. There are 60 national and international unions (international unions have some members in Canada) as well as 2,000 to 3,000 regional or companywide unions. Eight national unions have more than 500,000 members each, whereas another eight national unions have fewer than 10,000 members each. Regional and companywide unions usually have fewer than 1,000 members each. Some unions represent mostly government workers (e.g., American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees), others confine themselves to the private sector (e.g., United Food and Commercial [Page 826]Workers), and still others organize both government and private employees (e.g., Communications Workers). Some unions are exclusive, restricting membership to a particular occupation (e.g., Screen Actors Guild, Airline Pilots Association, Major League Baseball Players Association), whereas others will represent any worker in any occupation or industry (e.g., Teamsters, Service Employees). Most unions represent workers in their core industry (e.g., automobile manufacturing for United Auto Workers), a few related industries (e.g., farm and construction equipment), or some miscellaneous groups of workers (e.g., educational workers and maintenance workers).

Unions are administered at their national headquarters, but collective bargaining and organizing are often carried out by union locals individually or through councils of locals. Local size can range from a dozen workers to several thousand workers, and the local can be for a particular shop, office, or factory or for all of a union's members in a geographic area. There are approximately 33,000 union locals.

...