Union FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn more about what a union is, why we’re organizing, and what to expect as Weingart workers build our own employee organization with OPEIU Local 30.

FAQ illustration with question mark icons and speech bubbles

A Union is OUR Employee Organization

A union is a non-profit employee organization that runs completely by and for its members.
It’s an organization we build and use to speak up in a unified voice for improvements that benefit us all.
Without a union, BC leadership has total say over our workload, our benefits, our pay, and our working conditions that impact us and our clients.
With a union, we will have more power to make positive changes at our organization that protects and advances our interests as well as the community we serve.

We’ll Come Out Ahead with Our Union

Currently, our working conditions, pay, benefits, hours, policies all get decided by leadership. It’s very one-sided. Creating a union changes this lopsided relationship.
A union gives us a more level playing field where we can negotiate over improvements and get those improvements guaranteed in a legally-binding contract. We’ll decide, through surveys and meetings, which issues are most important to address in bargaining.

What We Can Expect from Management

Be prepared. Nearly all employers oppose their employees uniting for a voice at work because it means they have to share some of their power with us. They will go to great lengths to try to convince employees not to support joining together in a union.
Some of the most common misleading messages we may hear will attempt to paint our union as an “outside, third party,” exaggerate the cost and nature of union dues, and create a sense of futility about our ability to make positive changes as a union.

We Protect What We Currently Have and Make Improvements from There

Once we vote to become a union, our current benefits and employment conditions get protected in place until we negotiate and approve any changes and improvements.
What issues get brought to the bargaining table will be up to employees at the organization.

It’s Our Legal Right to Support Having a Union

It would be illegal for our employer to question us about our union activity or to fire, demote, discipline, or in any way interfere with our right to form a union.
The National Labor Relations Act is the federal law that protects employees with these rights.

We Can Talk about the Union at Work

If you’re allowed to talk about other non-work topics, like what you watched on TV last night, then you can talk about the union.

We Can Be Loyal Employees and Still Support Having a Union

We want to make sure our workplace is the best possible place to work for ourselves, our families, and our community, and having a union will help.
Supporting a union can have a positive impact on morale, turnover and the services we provide to clients. Supporting a union doesn’t mean we’re against our employer.

Greater Job Protection

The impact of moving our jobs, eliminating or restructuring work, introducing new initiatives, laying off positions all must be negotiated with union members first before any changes take place.

How Will This Impact Clients?

Forming our own employee organization, where frontline staff have a way to address important workplace issues, can have a positive effect on our morale, turnover rate and ability to provide services in a safe and healthy environment. Our clients are better served when employees feel supported and have a say over what happens on the job.

When Would We Pay Dues and How Much Are Dues?

No one will pay any dues until after we negotiate, review, and vote to approve our own union contract. The decision to approve or reject the contract lies with the employees. This way we will see the results of our efforts first before paying any dues. We wouldn’t approve a contract that didn’t make enough improvements (and more than account for the dues). Coming out ahead is the whole point of forming a union. OPEIU Local 30 dues are scale-based at around 1.5%.

Who is OPEIU Local 30?

OPEIU Local 30’s membership is made up of over 6,000 members throughout Southern California, Arizona, and Colorado in various industries including nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Denver. OPEIU Local 30 is part of OPEIU’s Nonprofit Employees United (NEU), a collective of thousands of nonprofit union members who work in nonprofit advocacy and social service organizations all over the country.

What Can I Do to Support and What Are Our Next Steps?

Continue to support our union publicly. You can share here why you support having a union.
Join the Organizing Committee! Contact us if you would like to get more involved.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a neutral government agency, has scheduled a secret ballot election to make our union official.
Once the NLRB certifies our election, management must recognize our union and we begin bargaining for our first contract.

Common Anti-Union Scare Tactics

Employers and anti-union consultants often repeat the same talking points. Here’s what you might hear and how it compares to reality.

“You’ll have to pay dues and fees you can’t afford.”

Improvements in wages and benefits you win in a union contract will more than offset the dues you’ll pay.
No one pays any dues until after your union contract is negotiated, voted on, and approved by you. You get to see the results first before paying any dues.
Most local unions have a one-time initiation fee that is often waived for newly organized groups.
There are no “hidden costs.” Any changes to the union’s dues structure must be voted on and approved by the members of the union.

“The union will make you go on strike and you’ll lose everything.”

OPEIU negotiates the vast majority of its contracts without ever going on strike. Strikes, in fact, are rare.
Only workers themselves can decide to strike by a majority vote at your workplace. Union leaders or workers elsewhere cannot make that decision.
OPEIU has a fund that helps workers in the rare event of a strike.

“You’ll have to follow a lot of union rules.”

The only union “rules” are the guarantees and protections of your union contract that get negotiated by you, with help from union staff, and your employer.

“You can lose the wages and benefits you have now and start from scratch.”

Once you have a union, your current wages and benefits are protected and locked in until you negotiate something different.
It is illegal for your employer to cut your wages or benefits to retaliate against you for supporting a union.
You decide what to ask for in your contract and whether to accept what’s offered. No one can “trade away” or reduce what you currently have without your approval.

“Union supporters will lose their jobs.”

The law protects workers in their efforts to form a union. OPEIU would aggressively defend the rights of any worker who is disciplined or discriminated against for union activity.
Long-standing labor law protects your rights, but the best defense is staying unified with your co-workers. There’s power in numbers.

“We don’t have to agree to a union contract.”

Once you receive official union recognition through an election or other means, your employer is legally obligated to negotiate with you in good faith to reach agreement.
Employers may talk tough to create a sense of futility so workers give up. In reality, once you have a union, it’s usually in management’s interest to keep work flowing and not fuel disruption.

“Just give us another chance.”

If your employer is really willing to make changes, they won’t be afraid to put those promises in a legally-binding written contract.
If you’ve already gotten your employer to commit to changes just by talking union, imagine the progress you can make when you win your election and make it official.