(Note:  This is not Sarah Palin's hand.) 

It seems that not a day goes by on OS that someone isn't talking about unions. Being the rather liberal place that it is, most people here seem to be in favor of unions and collective bargaining, at least in principle.  But then, there are those who insist that the time for unions has passed and that workers are better off without them.  I am part of a unionized workforce, and I could not disagree more.

Is my workplace perfect?  Far from it.  We have all of the problems common to any organization.  We need better communication.  We need more accountability.  We need more training.  The relationship between the associate staff and the professional staff could be better.  The relationship between staff and management could be better.  They really could have done a better job plowing the parking lot when it snowed last week!

But to those who say that unions aren't relevant, and that they don't make a difference in the lives of workers anymore, I would like to present this list of benefits that my union guarantees to me and my fellow employees (which is by no means exhaustive):

• The right to bargain collectively and in good faith with management.
• Contractual non-discrimination protection (including sexual orientation).
• Binding grievance arbitration to settle contractual disputes.
• Posting of all vacancies and an opportunity for current employees to apply before any job is posted externally.
• Fully paid major medical insurance for employees, spouses and children (and our plan is a good one).
• Fully paid dental and vision insurance for employees, with the opportunity to buy coverage for family members out of a tax-deferred medical spending account.
• $50,000 of life insurance.
• An employee on an approved leave of absence of up to twelve (12) months will still have his or her job waiting upon his or her return.
• Yearly step increases and, for the most part, yearly increases on our base salary.  Yes, budgets are tight, and increases aren't what they once were, but there have been increases every year.  No one has had to take a pay cut.
• Depending on years of experience, between twelve (12) and twenty-four (24) paid vacation days a year, with the ability to accumulate and carry up to 75 vacation days.  Upon resignation or retirement, those days are paid out at the employee's current rate of pay.
• Twelve (12) paid sick days per year, with unlimited accumulation.  Any unused sick leave days are credited, day-for-day, to retirement service.
• Up to five (5) days of paid bereavement leave for the death of a family member (per occurrence).
• A defined benefit pension plan, to which each employee contributes 5% of his or her salary yearly.  The employer puts in the amount recommend by the actuary to keep the plan financially sound.  Full benefits are payable at age 60 or 30 years of service.
• Seventeen (17) paid holidays per year.
• Just cause provisions for all disciplinary actions and due process, up to and including arbitration, for contested disciplinary actions.
• Defined work day of 7.5 hours and mandatory overtime pay for work in excess of 37.5 hours per week.
• Seniority used as a determining factor in transfers, promotions, layoff and recall.

I can assure you that all of these things make a great difference to me and my family.  Is there really a working person out there who wouldn't be affected positively by these benefits?  Is there anyone who would turn them down? 

Now, I have heard some non-union people say that they get comparable benefits, but the overwhelming majority of the time, those are people with highly sought-after skills.  Me and my co-workers?  We're administrative assistants, custodians, receptionists, graphics technicians and print press operators. We're good at what we do, mind you, but none of us possess such highly technical or esoteric skills that we would have the bargaining power, individually, to obtain such benefits.

I have also heard people say, rather sarcastically, "Wow, must be nice!". To which I say, "Yes, it is nice.  But please don't be jealous.  If this is what you want, go out and organize.  It can be done."  

These benefits weren't just handed to us. We did the work of organizing, getting signatures on cards, and petitioning the NLRB for an election.  We go through the ordeal of bargaining full contracts every three years, and some contract provisions yearly.  On top of that, none of our officers or committee chairs are paid.  Everything we do is on a strictly volunteer basis.

And, even though the union supporters here won the election ten years ago, we are still required by law to extend the benefits that we pay dues for and work to negotiate to our non-union members who refuse to pay dues. I guess those people think that they're so special that they could get a better deal on their own.  

Good thing for them that being in a unionized workplace means they'll never have to find out for sure.  Reality might be very disappointing.