Collective Bargaining is a crucial tool in leveling the playing field for employees, with their employers. “The National Labor Relations Act gives you the right to bargain collectively with your employer through a representative that you and your coworkers choose.” Between Regan era policies giving major blows to labor rights, then NAFTA sending many jobs that were organized overseas (cheaper, and less workers rights) , Union membership has dropped over 20% since the 1950's. There's approximately 10% of the labor force in the U.S. that's currently organized, down from approximately 33% in the 1950's.
Without Collective Bargaining, you're one employee going against an employer that has no problem letting you go, and replacing you in most cases. Unless you're in a position that isn't easily replaceable, you're easily replaceable for someone that will accept their poor working conditions and wages. Sadly enough, employers are so brazen today, that you're not even necessarily safe if you have a position that isn't easily replaceable.
With Collective Bargaining, you're many voices speaking up for the same goal of better wages, working conditions, and whatever else wages and working conditions doesn't cover. Any place of employment has the right to organize, from Target, Wal Mart, F500 companies, talent, labor, artists, all the way down to your mom and pop employers, and everything in between.
We need to start stepping up and organizing our workplaces! It doesn't matter where you work, it doesn't matter what you do, we need to organize. Even those of us that are organized already, there's still plenty of work that needs to be done to get these unions where they should be as well. Us current union members understand they aren't perfect either, and we need to keep spreading the word and flipping our co-workers opinions to strengthen our unions.
The biggest thing we all need to do after organizing our own workplaces, is to support anyone, and everyone, that's trying to organize. This means showing up to strikes and rallies in your free time. This means blowing up every Starbucks phone number you can find when they're trying to stop them from organizing. Refusing to buy from locations that aren't organized. Same goes for places like Amazon, stop supporting places that don't support the workers rights that you do. One of the biggest protests we can make is with our wallets. One person taking their business elsewhere is no big deal, hundreds of thousands, or millions, does make a big difference. Spread the word when businesses are stopping their employees from organizing so others know to protest them as well. Spread the word when unions are striking their employers so others know not to purchase their products. If the film industry ever strikes like they should have last year, cancel that Netflix and Hulu subscriptions, go outside instead of to the movies, buy a new video game instead of a movie. These are just some examples I can think of off the top of my head, feel free to add to this list.
In the comments, let's brainstorm how to help people start to organize their workplaces. Let's brainstorm other ways we can protest these places that need to be protested. Let's brainstorm how get thy neighbors that may be misguided to understand. What are some of your stories on getting friends and family to understand that previously didn't? Do you work at a place that was recently organized? Please share your story and any ideas that could make the process better than what you experienced. Do you work at a place that recently shot down organization? What were some of the failures that led to the no vote? What are you currently doing to continue to try to change it even though you lost this battle, but not the war?