UNIONIZATION: WHAT TO EXPECT
PHASE ONE:
UNION RECOGNITION
Your staff requests voluntary union recognition. What’s next?
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’s Next?
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 are on the horizon. What’s next?
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 CONTRACT
The contract is ratified. What’s next?
Once their first Collective Bargaining Agreement is ratified, a a new stage begins, marked by having a shared agreement as a guide. 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 daily 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.