Current Events > I'm feeling inclined to join a trade union...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Not necessarily because I feel like I'm under undue demands from management and need protection but rather to firewall against future overreaches. I like the idea of having a shield in place before things go in the wrong direction and the workplace becomes a hell around you.

Unfortunately I don't know of any major STEM-centric trade unions since the unionization of white collar workers is still a somewhat unusual proposition.

do unions work differently in the US? around here, you can't really "join" a union on your own -- you have to organize with your coworkers and vote to unionize your workplace

Engineers are sometimes unionized in public or crown corps

averagejoel posted...

do unions work differently in the US? around here, you can't really "join" a union on your own -- you have to organize with your coworkers and vote to unionize your workplace

Usually what happens is the workers at a specific business or group of local businesses organize then join a larger existing union as a new chapter. At least that's how I think it works.

I just like the notion and want management to understand that working somewhere is a two-way street. I'm not necessarily saying we need to organize but the virtues it has speak a lot louder than a company saying to its employees "we hear you and you have a voice here; our door is always open," which sounds so hollow these days.

but unions are anti-republican and therefore anti-american

Solid_Sonic posted...

Usually what happens is the workers at a specific business or group of local businesses organize then join a larger existing union as a new chapter. At least that's how I think it works.

so in my case I reached out to the existing chapter of the SEIU nearby, and started organizing a meeting with a representative. it took several months to get enough people out, but that meeting really got the ball rolling and we went public a few weeks later, then had the vote about a week after that

but I pretty regularly see people on here posting about "joining" a union as though it's something that can just happen overnight

Just as long as you don't join a trade federation.