Why Organize
To Get our Fair Share
As corporations build in our cities, we need to make sure they don’t just create jobs, but create good, sustainable ones. A union gives workers the tools to negotiate for higher wages, better working conditions and the healthcare benefits our families deserve.
One Job Should Be Enough!
No one who works full-time should have to take on a second or third job just to make ends meet. One job should be enough to afford to live and raise our families in Detroit; and to retire with dignity. It’s not a new or radical idea, it’s who we are and what we’ve fought for, for years.
Strength In Numbers
Walk into a room wearing the UNITE HERE! logo, and you walk in with 7,000 dedicated members who’ve got your back. Because they know you have theirs. When we stand together, we get results:
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- Higher wages
- Good benefits
- Job security
- Fair work schedules
- Paid family leave
- Improved workplace safety/conditions/seniority
- Pregnancy accommodations and protections
- Equality on the job
- Representation in workplace conflicts
How to Organize
It’s important to know that whatever you do for a living, you have a right to unionize your workplace. If you and your co-workers decide a union is right for you, the first step is to contact a union organizer to discuss the process. Then it’s all about talking it up with your coworkers to build support. Once you’re ready and have a strong majority, prove it to management through an election or card check. After the union is official, you’ll choose your leaders and start negotiating a contract. It’s a democratic process made up of YOU, the workers. And the more workers involved, the stronger the union will be.
How to Form a Union
Whatever you do for a living, you have a right to unionize. When you and your co-workers decide that the time is right, here’s what you need to do:
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- Contact a Local 24 organizer to help you create a strategy and a plan.
- Talk to your coworkers and start building support.
- Once you have a strong majority in favor of unionizing, demonstrate your unity through an election or a card-check agreement.
After your union is official, you’ll choose your leaders and start negotiating with management for better pay and benefits, improved working conditions and more. From there, the process is democratic. The more involved you and your coworkers are, the stronger your union will be.
What do Unions Do?
WE FIGHT…
FOR WORKING PEOPLE
We battle at the bargaining table to make life better for members in countless ways. We negotiate for higher wages and better benefits – for improved working conditions, decent raises and pensions, predictable schedules, family-friendly policies and more.
FOR JUSTICE
We give working people a powerful voice, defending against corporate greed and exploitation and balancing the power of the wealthy with the unity of the many. We serve as a watchdog – keeping an eye on a range of important social and economic issues.
FOR A BETTER WORLD
We tirelessly advocate for legislation and regulations that keep workers safer, healthier, and enjoying a higher quality of life. We enforce worker rights, keep workplaces free of discrimination and fight for income equality. Together, we are rewriting the rules of the economy, so they benefit the 99% instead of the wealthy few.
When you and your coworkers decide to join together to form a union, you have the right to negotiate with management over pay, benefits, healthcare, and working conditions.
