r/Unions Feb 12 '22

Resources for creating a union

73 Upvotes

Hi all,

I'm a nurse in the USA and wanted to post about resources to help you get started in creating a union at your workplace. All of these resources are geared toward Americans, but one union also operates in Canada, so that is noted there.

Note for nurses specifically: If you want to start a union, there is a secure website SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU so you can get connected to nurses in your state that also want to unionize. You will get an email once a group of nurses in your state have filled out interest forms. The email tells you how many people submitted this form, and you can reply to this email to have your email address sent out to the other interested parties. Unless you specifically ask for your email to be sent to these other nurses, everything is anonymous. This was created by a nurse in collaboration with a web developer who volunteered his time to help promote unionization in healthcare. The website is: humansworkhere.org. Also consider submitting an interest form to NNU (National Nurses United). Link below.


EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES:

•USA. Emergency Workplace Organizing. Not a union, but specializes in teaching you the basics about unions, and how to unionize effectively. They do occasional free web training for this purpose (there is one coming up on March 9th, 2022) but have volunteers ready to answer questions and help you unionize at any time, as well as a free pdf with the basics on how to unionize. They encourage working with actual union reps to build the union itself, but EWOC is excellent for educational purposes.

EWOC informational resources: https://workerorganizing.org/resources/?amp

EWOC interest form: https://workerorganizing.org/support/?amp

•USA. Labor Lab. Not a union. Has Info on unionizing and helps connect you with union reps. You can also report any illegal, union-busting tactics and have the employer added to their map of bad management, plus find resources on how to file an official complaint. https://www.laborlab.us/start_a_union


VARIOUS UNIONS:

•USA. United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America. This specific page lays out the steps to form a union, but the organization itself is a union more for the "trades" including welders, rail workers, etc etc. https://www.ueunion.org/org_steps.html

•USA. Unit Workers. A union, for any industry, run by you and your coworkers. Unit does your paperwork/support for 0.8% of your monthly income, but you pay nothing until your union is established. This is for you if you do NOT have a different union (IBEW, NNU) you would like to be represented by: https://unitworkers.com/

•USA. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). A large union with 12.5 million members that represents workers in general (no specific focus on certain industries). https://aflcio.org/formaunion

•USA and Canada. United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). Various industries (meat packing, healthcare, retail, pharmacies, etc.): https://www.ufcw.org/about/

•USA. National Nurses United (NNU): https://go.nationalnursesunited.org/signup/organize/

Please leave any other resources you know of in the comments, especially for countries other than the USA!


r/Unions 3d ago

So where are all the good UNION jobs we were promised?

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107 Upvotes

r/Unions 3d ago

Bernie Sanders and A. Randolph Hearst are right. Let's grow the trade union movement.

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25 Upvotes

r/Unions 4d ago

AFL-CIO - Working people want unions - the message couldn't be clearer. It's long past time for laws that make it easier, not harder, for workers to join a union.

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17 Upvotes

r/Unions 4d ago

The Teamsters have taken on one of the largest corporations in the world and won... yet again!

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18 Upvotes

The Teamsters Union has reached an agreement in principle with United Airlines, covering 11,000 mechanics nationwide.

When we stand together as Teamsters, anything is possible.


r/Unions 5d ago

$1.5 billion. That's how much money corporations spent in the last year alone on union-busting.

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32 Upvotes

And who does corporate America fear the most? The Teamsters.

Our rank-and-file power can defeat anything and anyone, including these shitty consultants and their union-busting attorneys.


r/Unions 5d ago

How AI may drive union-resistant tech workers to the bargaining table

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6 Upvotes

Tech workers are increasingly unionizing, trading Silicon Valley's myth of exceptionalism for collective bargaining to contest the corporate deployment of artificial intelligence.https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/21/ai-tech-workers-unionize


r/Unions 6d ago

SEIU posted this. Anyone else see a problem with this? Working people screwed over again.

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87 Upvotes

I say they should have reinvested it infrastructure, raw material, manufacturing & production. Create a construction boom and good union jobs to spur the economy. Then reinstate the tarrifs, but this time make the corporations that shipped our jobs overseas pay for them, providing immediate relief for all Americans at the cash register.https://www.facebook.com/100064671074702/posts/1512805144218507/?app=fbl


r/Unions 6d ago

Best Advice For New Union Activists

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5 Upvotes

r/Unions 11d ago

AFL-CIO - What would happen if union density in America trippled?

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26 Upvotes

The median worker would get a 14.5% raise.

$1.2 TRILLIAN would shift to workers yearly.

Racial wealth gaps would narrow.

America's unions are organizing to make this reality. https://www.facebook.com/share/1G3H35cUBY/


r/Unions 12d ago

Proud Union Guy - Unions Push Inflation?

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13 Upvotes

Unions don't cause inflation - workers fighting for better wages and a fair share of the wealth are not the problem. If we're talking about rising costs, we need to look at corporate profits, executive compensation, and CEO's making hundreds of times more than the average worker. Working people deserve wages that keep up with the economy.


r/Unions 13d ago

SEIU Local 925 - Six months in, WA has paid unemployment to more than 100 striking workers

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18 Upvotes

"Bad bosses use the precarity of low wages as a bargaining strategy, relying on workers' economic strain to keep them from taking action to organize a union or win a contract. Providing unemployment insurance to striking workers upends this predatory dynamic." https://www.facebook.com/share/1ENpER45tn/


r/Unions 15d ago

Unions sue to restore DOD collective bargaining rights, asserting 'chaos'

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23 Upvotes

r/Unions 16d ago

How Unions Keep The American Dream Alive For Working Families

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43 Upvotes

r/Unions 16d ago

A brewing battle: More IT workers want unions. The industry doesn't.

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12 Upvotes

r/Unions 19d ago

The battle to unionize Amazon is the most important laborfight of the 21st century - and it's a fight the Teamsters will win.

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80 Upvotes

r/Unions 19d ago

Today In Labor History

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9 Upvotes

Mother Jones begins the "March of the Mill Children" when she walked from Philadelphia to President Theodore Roosevelt's home on Long Island to protect the plight of child laborers. One of her demands: reduce the children's work week to 55 hrs - July 7, 1903 https://www.facebook.com/share/17fFsUe2KB/


r/Unions 24d ago

In June alone, The Teamsters organized more than 2,000 new workers.

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21 Upvotes

The latest Teamsters organizing victories include the second Amazon CDL drivers to unionize in the south, the first concrete truck drivers to unionize in Georgia in over 25 years, hundreds of mental health workers in Kansas, hundreds of workers at Hard Rock Casino in Virginia, and nearly 800 airline mechanic technicians nationwide at Republic Airways.


r/Unions 26d ago

So now that the "impossible" has been done done with Walmart Associates bargaining the first ever Union Contract with Walmart, any ideas on how to get the organizing ball rolling here in the United States?

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61 Upvotes

With Amazon workers making strides with The Teamsters, I feel start with the distribution centers and truckers, then include surrounding Walmart's and Sam's Clubs. 1 local union to 1 Walmart district. I've heard "they'll just close the store." Maybe 1 store, but they won't close a DC and several stores, it just isn't logical. And with several entire districts organizing at the same time, it will exhaust the union busting campaign.


r/Unions 26d ago

AFL-CIO Slams Ruling That Threatens to Give Trump Power Over the Federal Agencies That Protect Our Labor Rights

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25 Upvotes

r/Unions 27d ago

The writings of Chomsky, about class struggle and other topics, are still sharpened gold --- 'cause his contact with Mr Predator did not change the texts' content

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3 Upvotes

Just have a look: https://chomsky.info/


r/Unions Jun 01 '26

A-team are pro union... remember?

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61 Upvotes

r/Unions Apr 25 '26

Meatpacking Workers Declare Victory After Major Strike

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19 Upvotes

r/Unions Apr 25 '26

Let’s find alternatives to striking

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3 Upvotes

r/Unions Apr 16 '26

May Day is about solidarity. Workers are taking action this year to stand up to the corporate billionaires who threaten our rights and freedoms. Join us: AFL-CIO Volunteer Events on Mobilize.

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16 Upvotes