While 50 percent of union workers have been with their current employers for at least 10 years, only 32 percent of nonunion workers can make the same claim. Union workers have greater job stability – partly because they are more satisfied with their work, receive better pay, have better benefits and have access to fair grievance procedures. Nonunion workers are generally “employees at will” who can be fired at any time for almost any reason. As an IBEW member, a boss or supervisor can’t fire you on a whim, discipline you arbitrarily or discharge you without just cause. Your contract guarantees that you have the right to representation when dealing with management.

The numbers don’t lie: employees who join with their co-workers to form a union enjoy higher wages. This is because we have the option to bargain collectively with the company, rather than try to just ask for a raise on our own. On average, union employees make 27 percent more money than their nonunion counterparts. That’s an average yearly difference of more than $10,000 for you and your family.

Employees with a union enjoy better health and retirement benefits. Paid vacation time, holidays, personal days, paid sick time, overtime pay, shift differentials and more are also generally better in workplaces where employees have unionized.

IBEW members sit down with their managers and mutually agree on workplace practices that work for everyone. In collective bargaining, a group of employees works to define their terms and conditions of employment in a legal, binding agreement with the employer. Depending upon what the employees want and can negotiate with the employer, a contract can contain provisions like hours of work, wage and salary definitions, safety and work rules, definition of benefits and orderly procedures for resolving on-the-job conflicts. Without such a contract, employees have no voice in the workplace and little protection.