Ok so I am part of IBEW Local 354. Which is part of IBEW.
(This will generally be for the electrical union, It might apply to the other unions as well)
So the purpose of a union is this;
1. To give employee's their rights.
Unions first started (atleast the Electrical Union) because of unsafe workplaces and employers not being held responsible. Electricians were dying and employers didn't care. The families couldn't even give their husbands and sons a proper burial because there was no money give to the family of the deceased. This is what brought about the Death Benefit Fund. Through the union employees earned the 8 hour work day and 40 hour work week. And they were compensated for more hours work.
2. To protect employers.
Without the union large construction projects wouldn't be able to be done. Its hard to go into detail but to put it simply unions can get the man power non-unions can't. For example we just had a huge project ~50 mil in electrical alone. We had over 400 electricians working. Now this wouldn't have been able to be done without the union. The company I worked for was able to man it by putting a call into the union and getting any and all electricians that were looking for 50-60 hours a week to come work. And still man tons of other jobs around the state. We had travelers from all over the nation come and work for my company. This is something non-union company just can't do. It would take a dozen of non-union company to do such a thing.
3. To standardize pay, benefits etc.
If I wanted to quit my current union employer and go to another union employer everything stays the same. My pension is still intact. My annuity doesn't need to be changed. My pay is the same. And I still get all my health and dental benefits(which are all payed by the employer).
4. Better work, Better pay.
In the IBEW all apprentices go to school for 5 years. non-union is 4 years. This not only puts out better electricians but it makes it so that they can be payed better. Union apprentices get payed alot more then non-union. non-union is around $9-12 where union is no less then $13. Ask any electricians that is part of the union or was part of the union. They will tell you that union work is much better then non-union. The union simply demands it. Things are done the right way and there is hardly a time when corners are cut. Because of this electricians in the union get payed more. Anywhere from $25 - $70(San Fransisco gets the $70, mainly because the union makes up 90% of electricians. In my state only 13% is union and we get 26.72 and it goes up to $28 this summer.)
This is just a small example of how unions benefit all involved. Employers have good smart hard working employees readily available so that they can bid any size job, and electricians have a bevy of employers to chose from and get payed what they deserve.
Now I don't agree with the writers and them striking. Thats not what we believe in. In fact there is a no strike clause in our contract so there will never be a electricians strike. We have an arbitration panel set up to prevent strikes. If we have a disagreement in our local then the issue is sent to the international office in D.C. and what they say goes.
If you have any questions about unions and about electrical unions in general feel free to ask. If there is any other IBEW brothers or sisters feel free to chime in as well.
(This will generally be for the electrical union, It might apply to the other unions as well)
So the purpose of a union is this;
1. To give employee's their rights.
Unions first started (atleast the Electrical Union) because of unsafe workplaces and employers not being held responsible. Electricians were dying and employers didn't care. The families couldn't even give their husbands and sons a proper burial because there was no money give to the family of the deceased. This is what brought about the Death Benefit Fund. Through the union employees earned the 8 hour work day and 40 hour work week. And they were compensated for more hours work.
2. To protect employers.
Without the union large construction projects wouldn't be able to be done. Its hard to go into detail but to put it simply unions can get the man power non-unions can't. For example we just had a huge project ~50 mil in electrical alone. We had over 400 electricians working. Now this wouldn't have been able to be done without the union. The company I worked for was able to man it by putting a call into the union and getting any and all electricians that were looking for 50-60 hours a week to come work. And still man tons of other jobs around the state. We had travelers from all over the nation come and work for my company. This is something non-union company just can't do. It would take a dozen of non-union company to do such a thing.
3. To standardize pay, benefits etc.
If I wanted to quit my current union employer and go to another union employer everything stays the same. My pension is still intact. My annuity doesn't need to be changed. My pay is the same. And I still get all my health and dental benefits(which are all payed by the employer).
4. Better work, Better pay.
In the IBEW all apprentices go to school for 5 years. non-union is 4 years. This not only puts out better electricians but it makes it so that they can be payed better. Union apprentices get payed alot more then non-union. non-union is around $9-12 where union is no less then $13. Ask any electricians that is part of the union or was part of the union. They will tell you that union work is much better then non-union. The union simply demands it. Things are done the right way and there is hardly a time when corners are cut. Because of this electricians in the union get payed more. Anywhere from $25 - $70(San Fransisco gets the $70, mainly because the union makes up 90% of electricians. In my state only 13% is union and we get 26.72 and it goes up to $28 this summer.)
This is just a small example of how unions benefit all involved. Employers have good smart hard working employees readily available so that they can bid any size job, and electricians have a bevy of employers to chose from and get payed what they deserve.
Now I don't agree with the writers and them striking. Thats not what we believe in. In fact there is a no strike clause in our contract so there will never be a electricians strike. We have an arbitration panel set up to prevent strikes. If we have a disagreement in our local then the issue is sent to the international office in D.C. and what they say goes.
If you have any questions about unions and about electrical unions in general feel free to ask. If there is any other IBEW brothers or sisters feel free to chime in as well.
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