Organizing
Why
is the IBEW organizing?
Why should I consider joining the IBEW?
Who runs the union?
The
facts about the National Labor Relations Act
Why Organize?
Compare Wages!
Why
is the IBEW Organizing?
There seems to be several myths
about this question, some of which are as follows:
-
The IBEW wants more members strictly to increase their
funds by way of collecting more dues.
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The IBEW wants to bring in non-union electricians
to take their jobs from them by putting existing union members to work ahead of
the new members.
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The IBEW wants to put the non-union contractors out
of business by way of denying them qualified electricians.
The truth is the IBEW is a labor organization dedicated to
the Labor Movement. Which means that their members believe
that all working men and women are entitled to the same wages
and benefits, regardless of whether they are working on jobs
that must pay prevailing wages due to Federal or State laws
or whether they are in the IBEW.
As workers the IBEW believes that contractors should compete
on their business abilities and their estimating skills, not
on how little they can pay their employees nor on how bad
of working conditions their employees will tolerate. If the
workers do not join together, both wages and working conditions
will deteriorate. Without the presence of the Union, electrical
work would be another minimum wage industry. Up until a few
years ago the electrical industry in Dayton was on a down
hill spiral. Non-union electrician wages were steadily going
down and Union wages were stagnating. Since that time the
wages and benefits have been on the rise in both sectors.
It is no accident that this has happened. The contractors
did not all of a sudden decide that it would be a good idea.
The reason wages and benefits have risen is because the IBEW
is organizing. The reason is, when workers band together,
contractors know that they can no longer drive wages down
by telling you to take it or leave it.
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Why
should I consider joining the IBEW?
The IBEW is committed to the
advancement of the Wages, Benefits, and Working Conditions
of All Electricians!
What does "Joining the IBEW" mean?
Joining the IBEW means that you
will be a part of an organization whose objectives are :
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To promote reasonable methods
of work,
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To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry,
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To settle all disputes between employers and employees by
arbitration (if possible),
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To assist each other in sickness or distress,
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To secure employment,
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To reduce the hours of daily labor,
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To secure adequate pay for our work,
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To seek a higher and higher standard of living,
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To seek security for the individual,
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And by legal and proper means to elevate the morale, intellectual
and social conditions of our members, their families and dependents,
in the interest of a higher standard of citizenship.
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Who
runs the Union?
YOU DO!
YOU elect your own local union officers.
YOU run your own local union affairs.
YOU have your own negotiating committee.
YOU make the decisions on your own union contract.
YOU have your own shop stewards.
YOU decide important policies and actions of your
own union by majority vote.
YOU elect your international officers.
YOU elect your own delegates to the international
conventions.
YOU- the membership - are the final voice of authority
and decision in your Union.
Our union exists for one and only one major reason - the good
of our members. Our union, the IBEW, accomplishes as a unit
what we cannot accomplish as individuals.
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The
facts about the National Labor Relations Act
Did you know...
The National Labor Relations Act
protects employees rights to discuss wages and benefits with
co-workers. It has also been ruled that it is a violation of
the Act for an employer to discipline its employees for discussing
and comparing their current wages with each other. An employer
can not make or enforce this type of policy.
The Act protects
employees rights to talk about Unions with their co-workers.
An employer that
spies on employees engaging in protected concerted activity,
such as Union talk or meetings, can be fined under the Act.
Employers do not
have the right to discriminate in hiring or firing based purely
on Union sympathy or affiliation.
The National Labor
Relations Act is for ALL employees, not just Union or non-Union.
It provides ALL of us with protection.
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Why
Organize?
In today's world,
more than ever, workers need to join together. Instead
of one lonely person asking for his share of the pie, by joining
with others, employees can bargain from a greater position
of strength and demand fairer wages, better health benefits,
and a retirement plan for the future. In fact, according
to the Department of Labor, union workers typically make
up to 64% more than non-union workers in the same occupations!
Why?
Because a union creates a more level playing field
between employer and employee.
Union representation
means that you gain rights. Legal rights that you
don't have without a union contract.
 Under
the employment at will doctrine, the cornerstone
of American employment law, in general terms, unless you belong
to a protected group, your employer has the right to discipline
or terminate, with impunity, you for any reason -- even a
bad one -- or for no reason at all. That's why it
is sometimes called the fire at will doctrine.
However, with
a collective bargaining agreement, you have rights.
Management must have just cause for any disciplinary
action taken against a union employee. You bargain over
wages, health benefits, working conditions and a retirement
plan for your future. But, you bargain collectively
with the strength that comes from a collective voice.
A union is an organization
of workers joined together for a common purpose, for mutual
aid and protection, to engage in concerted activity and collective
bargaining, to elevate their conditions of life and labor; an
organization by which ordinary people do extraordinary things.
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