At my job, we have one union that represents me and my coworkers. We all do the same job, and that local only represents us. Other jobs at the same company have different locals under different national unions (airline industry if anyone is curious).

I think my question can be best exemplified by various construction/ trade unions. I always hear about how it's a great idea to go be an apprentice at the local pipefitters or welders or whatever.

My question then is, once I join that plumber (for example) union, how is that salary guaranteed? Who is paying it? I can't imagine that it works the same way as at my job, that every plumber in the union works only for one company. Is it that they're on one contract/job at a time? Are all those random plumbing companies I hear commercials for staffed by Local members?

Hopefully that's enough info for my question. Happy to clarify if needed.

TLDR trade unions pay well, how is that guaranteed and who signs the paychecks?

December 3rd: 1946 Oakland general strike began

On this day in labor history, the 1946 Oakland General Strike occurred in Oakland, California, as a spontaneous uprising involving over 50,000 workers. The strike was triggered when police escorted scab trucks to two department stores where female clerks were striking. In response, transit operators, drivers, and passengers abandoned their vehicles, gathering in downtown Oakland to organize. War veterans joined the effort, marching on the anti-labor Oakland Tribune and City Hall, demanding the mayor's resignation. The strike quickly evolved into a worker-led operation. Strikers cordoned off the downtown area, managed traffic, and only allowed entry with union cards. While a carnival-like atmosphere emerged, with music and street dancing, essential services like food markets and pharmacies stayed open, and bars operated under restrictions to conserve resources. Union leadership provided little direct support, and prominent leaders declined to mobilize broader participation. Sailors Union of the Pacific members offered limited aid but focused on troubleshooting. The strike ended after the AFL negotiated a city promise to halt police strikebreaking. However, the female clerks gained no concessions, leaving many participants disheartened. Sources in comments.

December 2nd: Wal-Mart settled pay dispute in 2009

On this day in labor history, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. agreed to pay $40 million to settle a class-action lawsuit with 87,500 Massachusetts employees. The lawsuit, filed in 2001, accused the retailer of denying employees rest and meal breaks, manipulating timecards, and failing to pay overtime. The settlement, one of the largest of its kind in the state, provided payments ranging from $400 to $2,500 based on years of service to workers who were employed by the corporation between August 1995 and 2009. The settlement came just months after Wal-Mart reached a separate $3 million agreement with state prosecutors over similar meal break violations. The deal sought to resolve longstanding wage and labor disputes in Massachusetts. Sources in comments.

Hello! I’m seeing a lot of 5 day RTO for companies where workers can work remotely - tech, editing videos, etc. Would a union be able to protect workers to work from anywhere, especially if they were initially hired remotely or later determined they could work remotely, only to have that recently clawed back?

I’d like to start or join starting creating a union at my place of work but unsure of the effectiveness in this day and age.

I’m in NY and work in tech in the private sector.

Hello all, so recently I made a post about being fired for rightful termination and my union going to bat for me. https://www.reddit.com/r/union/comments/1h1hgjp/can_a_union_fight_against_rightful_termination/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Well today they pretty much told me that their hands are tied and that they will no longer fight for my case due to it being a mercy, essentially giving up at step 2 in the process no arbitration. Are unions really this weak now? I asked my rep why he couldn't argue to fight for my case and reasonings and he pretty much shrugged and said it was all on me and that I should just take a willingly resignation because it wont go anywhere in my favor (at this point I'll probably take them to court). Not gonna lie guys, I'm pretty pissed. I fully expected a union to have my back or atleast fight harder, especially after hearing crazier stories, but its clear that whatever the company says goes even in the face of a honest mistake. How can I find or atleast avoid a union like this for future employment? I still believe in the power of unions, but dealing with this weak one is having me pretty jaded.

I am tired of hearing from workers that unions had their place in some [add random decade people arbitrarily decide when arguing unions aren’t needed] without any remote consideration for our current economic context.

When the silent generation were marching the streets to get representation - not just pay, benefits, etc. - that we all benefit from, they did so in a time where there was some semblance of local economies; they were not contending with MNCs with more revenues than some nation states combined. Monopolies were regional, and could be hammered down because of their locality. Today, you would have to organize sites across the globe to amass the same bargaining leverage on a supply-chain that a factory or two would have.

If you think with all that new-found power they’re not going to leverage down workers standard of living, you’re a naive and an almost a bootlicker. I’m sick of people putting up blinders, cashing their cheque, and thinking to themselves, “wow, if it wasn’t for my union, I’d be sooo better off” in a time of global capitalism. Honey, when they half your pay tmr, you won’t feel that special anymore.

https://uawstaffunited.org/

I was terminated recently for being “insubordinate”. Me being “insubordinate” was me not working in the office while I was waiting for my doctor to sign off because I was on fmla. My company had worked remote for 4 years until we were forced back into the office for a project. We were also allowed to work up to 20 hours of over time from home. I was employed there for 7 years with not one single corrective action. It all feels so wrong.

December 1st: Kellogg’s adopted six-hour workday in 1930

On this day in labor history, cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s adopted the six-hour workday at its plant in Battle Creek, Michigan. The move sought to reduce unemployment, improve efficiency, and enhance workers’ quality of life during the height of the Great Depression. Workers embraced the initiative, citing more time for family, hobbies, and community activities. Many reported improved health, reduced fatigue, and better family relations. Workers said tasks like housework were shared more equitably, and leisure activities became more joyous. Despite reduced wages, employees valued the lifestyle benefits, with surveys showing widespread support. However, after World War II, Kellogg’s management pushed to reinstate eight-hour shifts, framing shorter hours as “women’s work” and stigmatizing men who supported them. Senior workers and management used incentives and cultural shaming to shift opinions, gradually eroding support. By the 1980s, economic pressures led to the discontinuation of six-hour shifts.

Sources in comments.

Hi all, I’m a public employee who works for a large service oriented organization. Lately I’ve been finding out about high-ranking union members (treasurers, recording secretaries, grievance delegates) interviewing for management roles, which are not union. I am well regarded in my organization and trusted with a lot of this confidential information, but these revelations have made me wary. Any advice on how to handle these people or if I should lead their peers know? I know everyone has a right to aspire toward a higher paying job but… maybe don’t be a union leader?

My dad and I were having a talk about this today. We live in a small Midwestern college town in Missouri that has 6 manufacturing plants in the area. I don't work in any of them, but I work as a custodian for the town's public school district. One of them however, an independent company that makes medical supplies and is part of UAW Local 710 in Kansas City, had announced that they will be shutting down the plant by the end of 2025. The representatives from the company announced that the reason why for this is because it has plans to translate a portion of the plant's products to some of their other facilities in the country. So it sounds like to me that the plant has been on the decline for a while.

My dad went on to say that "this proves that there's just no job protection in the unions anymore unless it's a big one" which I disagree. I know for a fact that unions can offer job protection for their workers than non-union can. He also talked about a guy he heard of that left his job as a manager for a supermarket in our area to come work at the plant for more pay and said that it was foolish of him to do so since the plant is now closing down even though he just needed to provide more for his family.

To be clear, my dad is not an ass. He's very pro-union and is all for workers rights even though he's worked as a college dean his whole life. But is what he's saying for the most part true?

Trying not to give too many specifics to be safe. I work for a nonprofit organization in a program for (mostly) neurodivergent children. We are paid barely over minimum wage and our position has us working with children with varying levels of ability, including children who are nonverbal and/or lash out physically when upset. Our program is not given the proper funding it deserves-- My bosses pay for the snacks for the kids out of pocket! We have to beg for every scrap of funding we get. Myself and every coworker I've spoken to wants to unionize.

This nonprofit has multiple branches of business (other programs, stores, etc) and I've had coworkers tell me we would have to unionize every aspect of the nonprofit if we wanted to unionize so I'm unsure on that point. I'm just not sure what to do to start. My coworkers and the kids we work with deserve better.