Pros: Statistically better pay, job security, better working conditions, and having a collective voice.
Cons: Less personal autonomy at work and can cut into your individual negotiating power.
The pros and cons stated above are the pros and cons for an employee. An employer faces different pros and cons.
Personal Experience:
I have quite a bit of personal experience with unions. I am currently part of a union at my place of work. My husband is also part of a union and has been part of many unions throughout our relationship and my father was part of a union for most of my childhood. These have all been various types, from public to private, but I have seen benefits from all of them. My father was in the Carpenter’s Union while working for Boeing. That always struck me as weird because I always thought that carpenters worked with wood and my dad was building satellites. Fast forward and I met my husband, who was working in the United Associated of Plumbers and Pipefitters. That was my introductions to private unions and how the “local” system worked. We eventually moved from Southern CA to San Francisco area, which was the highest paid local in the country. It seemed nice, but we were also living in a very expensive area. This union was quite different than the one my dad worked for, yet I was starting to realize as an adult, that for the most part, I think unions are great for the worker. I currently am in a union for my job and it is a public union. I am a fan, but I am not currently looking to negotiate for myself. I can see some of the downsides to a unionized work force for an individual and I definitely see why an employer wouldn’t want one. That being said, I still wholeheartedly think that unionization is better for the worker.
