UNION CARDS

Getting workers to sign "authorization" cards or petitions is vital to a union ! ! 

Without enough signatures, the National Labor Relations Board won't hold a vote.

If enough workers sign, the union might be able to convince management to recognize them without a vote.

Because cards are so important, you need to know what they really mean. 

Here's what a typical union card says:

 

  • This statement means that if you sign, you are giving the union the exclusive power to speak for you in bargaining with management. You can no longer speak for yourself. 

 

  • The personal information allows the union to start visiting and calling you at home, day or night.

 

  • Your signature makes this a legally binding document.


Here's what a typical union card says:

 

  • This statement means that if you sign, you are giving the union the exclusive power to speak for you in bargaining with management. You can no longer speak for yourself. 

 

  • The personal information allows the union to start visiting and calling you at home, day or night.

 

  • Your signature makes this a legally binding document.


Instead of 3x5 cards, unions sometimes ask workers to sign . . .

"Petitions:" large sheets of paper instead of small cards. The statement at the top not only gives the union the power to speak for you if you sign, it gives them permission to use your name "for the purpose of organizing." 

On-line cards: even without a true signature, these are accepted by the NLRB as proof you want the union to speak for you.


Union cards are not confidential (even though unions sometimes say they are). The union can show your signed card to other workers to get them to sign too, and they may show signed cards to management to get them to recognize the union without a vote.

How do unions use signed cards?

 

  • If 30% or more of the targeted workers sign, the union can ask the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a vote. All workers in the targeted group would be eligible to vote whether or not they signed a card or petition. 


  • If more than 50% of the targeted workers – a majority – sign, the union can ask management to recognize the union without a vote. Management doesn't have to agree, but if they do, the union immediately becomes the exclusive representative for all of the targeted workers whether or not they signed a card. If management refuses, the union usually asks the NLRB to hold an election.

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Unions MUCH prefer to have management recognize them without a vote, since that guarantees they get in and there's no chance they'll lose an election.


THE BOTTOM LINE:


Union cards mean what they say. 
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If you sign, you're saying you want the union to speak for you. 
 
And there are many ways signed cards can bring in a union with no vote.
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