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.

ITS ALWAYS wise to take full advantage of YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

WITH A UNION, the employer must bargain and pay the wages negotiated by you and your fellow employees.

WITH A UNION, your rights on the job are spelled out and must be respected.

WITH A UNION, you and your fellow employees can stop abuses on the job. The union can prevent unjust and unfair treatment by giving you representation on the job and the right to correct problems through a grievance procedure if you are treated unfairly.

WITH A UNION, you and your fellow employees have the right, and can negotiate for better holiday pay, vacations, health and welfare benefits, and job conditions.

WITH A UNION, you have greater security on your job. Company management cannot fire you without good reason and they must respect your length of service if there are layoffs.

There are many distinct advantages to being a unionized worker. Click on the link below to see the differences!

• Better Wages
• Better Benefits

Worker Rights Without a Union

Worker Rights Under an IBEW Contract

What's Bad About Unions?

To be honest, Unions are not perfect. A Union, like any other organization, is composed of people, and if the members of a Union are not diligent in insuring that the Union meets their interests, a Union can fail in achieving its goals. If a Union becomes unresponsive to the needs of its members, the Union has failed in its overall mission to represent all employees effectively. In this case, the leadership of the Union must be held accountable.

The IBEW strives continuously to improve its ability to represent its members.

Apathy is the greatest threat to the Labor Movement, and the IBEW is no exception. As a Union member, you have the responsibility to get and stay involved with the workings of your union, and to responsibly evaluate and review decisions offered by your Union leadership. Members have the further responsibility to assist other members, build unity, and project the Union as an effective employee organization. This takes hard work and dedication from each member.

Your Union leadership is charged with the day-to-day operation of the Union. They have the responsibility to meet the legal requirements placed upon the Union as an organization, and to insure that the funds supplied by the members in the form of dues are spent responsibly and efficiently. They must always seek new ways to get the members involved in the Union, and constantly build strength in the Union from within.

From time to time, you may have heard from Union members dissatisfied with a result of a union's decision or action. We must always remember that decisions in a Union are made by the members in a democratic fashion, and in almost all cases, are voted upon by those members. If a member is dissatisfied with a decision made by a majority of members in the Union, there is probably more to the story.

With a Union, employees transfer some of their individual rights to collective rights. The needs of the many then outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. In some cases, unionized employees have become dissatisfied because they no longer have the ability to make special arrangements. In a unionized workplace, the contract may preclude such special arrangements, because a special arrangement for one employee may have a detrimental effect on other employees.

Most Unions have internal procedures to address situations where members do not meet their responsibility to their fellow members. In these infrequent situations, a peer review process is used to examine the evidence of the misconduct, and a course of corrective action is set. The sole purpose of this process is to limit or correct damage to the interests of the majority by the actions of the few or one. For a complete discussion on IBEW internal procedures, click here.

IBEW Organizing Committee Training