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(Site Updated 07/08/08)
This site is a tool utilized to inform our members of current events of the UTU/SMART Local 1263, and to the general public, of our purpose and the services that we provide. Local 1263 proudly serves the Train Conductors, Brakemen and Engineers that are affiliated with our Local represent members who are Conductors, Brakemen and Engineers on the Norfolk Southern Georgia Division from Macon, Cordele, Adel, and Valdosta, Georgia and Train Engineers from Jacksonville, Florida.
You may ask what is the purpose of having a Union?
People who work for a living know about the inequality of power between workers and their employers. Workers want to have a voice at work so that they can improve the quality of their lives, their job and their communities. Workers employed with the protection of a union contract have basic rights such as the right to a fair hearing that their non-union counterparts do not have. Members have a say in their jobs and are more productive due to the increased cooperation and better relations they have with management, who they work as equals with in order to remedy situations that might occur at work. Higher union wages translate into a stronger tax base for local communities. This in turn provides for better schools and healthier local economies. When workers have a real say in their hours and working conditions, they can spend more quality time with their families.
The Union Difference
Everybody knows workers earn more through bargaining for fair pay, stronger benefits and justice at work. But few people know how large that difference is. Statistics don’t lie and whether it comes to pay, retirement benefits, health care coverage or security for one’s family in the event of a catastrophic loss, members have been able to secure a better life for themselves through their Unions.
Workers Earn 27% More When Working Union
On average, workers earn 27% more in take home pay when they are working under a collective bargaining agreement. Without a collective bargaining agreement in place terms and conditions of employment are dictated one way with only one side, the employer, dictating terms. With a collective bargaining agreement workers and management meet as equals and spell out how they can grow together, fairly.
Union Members Have Strong Retirement Plans
Union members are also more likely to have a guaranteed retirement plan. In today’s day and age, the stock market can fluctuate wildly like its decline from 1999 to 2004. Workers at Enron know the benefits of a guaranteed retirement plan, they didn’t have one and lost millions of dollars in their 401(k) savings due to management greed.
Union Members Have Better Health Care Coverage
Health care coverage and its cost is one of the most important issues affecting Americans today. While many private employers who operate on their own are finding it hard to continue providing health care coverage to their workers, Union members and employers are able to pool their resources in order to negotiate better deals for their members and provide better value in terms of quality health care. This is echoed in the chart below which shows that union members are far more likely to receive health care coverage than their nonunion counterparts. In fact 3 out of every 4 union members receive health care coverage, a 26 percent difference over the nonunion counterparts. The vast majority of these health care benefits for union workers are mostly employer paid, rather than health care coverage that is passed on to the employee.
Union Families Are Better Protected Against Catastrohic Loss
Union members are far more likely to have life insurance coverage than their nonunion counterparts. 82% of all union members enjoy life insurance coverage while only 51% of nonunion workers have coverage. Nobody wants to see themselves or their loved ones harmed and nothing can take away the effects of a catastrophic loss, however, working with the piece of mind that one’s family will be secure is a major advantage many union members possess and all workers should be able to have.
Job Security
In a time of high unemployment and uncertain economic conditions, the right to retain your job is critical to you and your family’s economic condition. It is important to know that you can't be fired without just cause.Union contracts establish strict rules about job security and the conditions under which layoffs or reductions in the work force take place. This makes sure that everyone is treated fairly, and that no one is discriminated against for voicing an opinion on the job, or for insisting on adherence to the terms of the contract.
Without the protection of a union contract, you are at the mercy of the employer. You have the ability to change that; you have the power and legal right if you act collectively.
Career Advancement
Union members are afforded the opportunities to improve and upgrade their skills, and consequently, their wages and responsibilities.A Grievance Procedure
In a non-union workplace, workers are at the mercy of the boss. If an employee has a complaint related to the workplace, he or she can attempt to talk to a manager about it, but the manager doesn't have to do anything. The manager might act on the complaint, ignore it or even punish the employee for raising the issue - it all depends on the nature of the complaint, the company's labor-management philosophy or even the manager's mood on that particular day.In a unionized workplace, on the other hand, grievances and complaints are handled in an entirely different manner. Unlike the non-union environment where the workers are basically subject to the whims of management, workers in unionized firms have a clear set of rights which are outlined in detail in their collective agreements. If the employer breaches provisions of the collective agreement - for example, if he or she fires a worker without just cause or if an employee is being harassed in some way on the job - then the worker can take defensive action through the established grievance procedure.
A Voice at Work
Belonging to a union gives workers contractual and other legal rights they do not enjoy without the protection of a union contract. Being union gives workers a voice on the job, and their cumulative voices make them more forceful and more influential with management than any individual voice.Belonging to a union allows you to establish a written agreement that specifies the terms of your employment which your employer also has to follow. Once you have formed a union, your employer is required by law to bargain with you over your wages, hours and working conditions.
A Right to Health and Safety on the Job
Far too many workers are killed, injured, disabled and exposed to risks and diseases on the job. Working under a union contract, workers have built-in mechanisms to monitor and even correct the work environment, and to ensure that health and safety concerns are addressed.Better Sickness and Accident Benefits
Sickness and accident benefits provide needed income to working families in the event of non-work related sickness and injury. Among union workers, 71% have sickness and accident insurance; in non-union work sites, only 36% receive economic security during times of illness and injury.Improving Industry Standards
Unionizing strengthens and improves health and safety, economic and other standards within industries and professions.Why should I join the UTU?
We invite you to visit us
Please attend a meeting to learn more about UTU/SMART Local 1263. Our officers,or members, are more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the organization, our services and how you can join.
(Credits:www.smwia.org)
A merger endorsed by the AFL-CIO has brought together the United Transportation Union (UTU) and Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) to form the 230,000-member International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART). This will take effect January 1, 2008. Click here to read more.
