UNIONIZATION: WHAT TO EXPECT
Explore here for what to expect in each phase of staff unionization and collective bargaining. For more detailed descriptions click the links below or visit the Resource Hub.
PHASE ZERO:
BEFORE THE UNION
You don’t have a union yet, but you want to be prepared. What can you do?
Hundreds of nonprofit organizations have unionized in the last ten years. This is a trend that is clearly here to stay. You are not anti-union, AND, you’d like to be prepared if the day comes when your staff request recognition. There are many things you can be doing now to educate yourself about unions, strengthen your management culture, and foster the behaviors of inclusive leadership, including openness, curiosity, and collaboration.
PHASE ONE:
UNION RECOGNITION
Your staff requests voluntary union recognition. What can you expect?
By law, employees have the right to choose a union to represent them without employer interference, and the employer is required to bargain with the union if they demonstrate majority support. Forming a union should not be as mysterious and complicated as it is. There is a misconception that unions must be voted on by the employees. In fact, employers can and should voluntarily recognize the union if it has majority support.
PHASE TWO:
PREPARATION FOR BARGAINING
You have recognized the staff union. What can you expect?
Union recognition is a milestone to be celebrated, as both parties work to prepare for negotiations. This period also begins the “status quo period.” Until a final agreement is reached, management is required to maintain wages, benefits, employment policies, and working conditions. That doesn’t mean everything comes to a standstill. The union and management are quite busy during this “time between”. This is the time to gather information about current policies and practices, select and train bargaining committees, and maintain communication with the union.
PHASE THREE:
Bargaining a first contract
Contract negotiations have begun. How will this go?
Few senior leaders in nonprofits have experience negotiating collective bargaining agreements. For that reason, being prepared and getting trained is very important. Traditionally, negotiations begin with the union making written proposals. Sometimes the union will present an entire contract, although more often they present the “non-economic” sections first. There are topics that are “mandatory subjects of bargaining” and others that are permissible, but not mandatory. Sometimes a mediator is brought in toward the end to help move toward a settlement.
PHASE FOUR:
IMPLEMENTING A FIRST CONTRACT
The first contract is ratified. What now?
Once their first Collective Bargaining Agreement is ratified, the employer and the union begin a new era of their relationship, marked by having a shared agreement to guide them. Having established a comprehensive written package of agreed provisions—in effect, a new workplace “constitution”—the parties are now tasked with implementing the particulars and testing how their contract provisions work on a day-to-day basis. It can sometimes be challenging to put aside the disagreements and position-taking of negotiations and build trust. Moving from the more adversarial nature of negotiations to a labor-management partnership requires time, grace, intentionality, and candor.
PHASE FIVE:
Second Contract and Beyond
You’re a unionized workplace. What can you expect?
As an organization and its union approach the expiration of the first collective bargaining agreement, the cycle of collective bargaining begins again. It doesn’t have to go the same way it went last time. In fact, it likely won’t. The parties have now operated under their CBA, applying and testing its requirements within an established relationship. Most organizations have a Labor-Management Committee and that committee is meeting regularly and serving as an important channel of communication between management and the union.