Join a union

How unions work for you

Unions help their members to stand together for better wages, fair benefits, safe and healthy workplaces, and stable working hours. Joining a union will help to make your workplace better for you and your co-workers. In BC, with very few exceptions, everyone has the right to join a union.

Unions help workers to gain:

A voice at work: When you join a union you have a say in what happens at your workplace. Without a union, you get shut out of discussions where you and your co-workers could have valuable input. Management makes all the decisions, even the ones that have a big impact on your work. When you join a union, you have a voice.

Respect: Respect is about being paid a fair wage and being valued at work. It means management has realistic expectations, and consults workers on decisions that affect the workplace. When you have a union standing behind you, management treats you with respect.

Fairness, not favouritism: When you join a union, you’ll negotiate a set of rules that guarantee respect and fairness for everyone. Management doesn’t get to play favourites. Pay increases, benefits and workplace conditions are guaranteed in a contract that can’t be changed without agreement from you and your co-workers.

Workplace training: Most unions in BC have training programs for members so you can expand your skills. Unions offer workplace training on topics like your rights at work and occupational health and safety.

Job security: When you’re a union member, you can speak out about workplace problems without worrying you’ll be disciplined or lose your job. Union members can only be fired when an employer has just cause–not just because a supervisor doesn’t like you.

A better workplace: By yourself, you probably don’t have much power in your workplace. But when you and your co-workers band together in a union, you can get a lot more done. You can take action about harassment, bullying or discrimination. You can speak out to make your workplace safer and healthier. And when problems arise, you have a clear process for making complaints (known as grievances) and getting them resolved.

How to organize your workplace

tl;dr: Contact us in confidence today by phone at 604-430-1421 or email organize@bcfed.ca. We'll be happy to talk about how you can get a union at your workplace.

1. Contact us.

We'll put you in touch with a union that's a good fit for you. (If you already have a union in mind, you can contact them directly.) Then you can talk to them about how they can help you improve your workplace. The union will connect you with a union organizer, a person who will guide you through the process of talking to your co-workers and signing up members.

All communications with a union organizer are kept confidential. This means that any conversations you have are private, and won’t be shared with your employer.

2. Ask your co-workers to sign membership cards.

Your union organizer will help you to share union membership cards with the people who work with you. When a worker fills out and signs a membership card, they’re saying they support the idea of joining together in a union. This is confidential and management will not be able to see which employees have signed membership cards.

3. Apply for certification.

Once you have signed up enough employees, the union, as your bargaining agent, will apply to the BC Labour Relations Board (an independent administrative tribunal that governs labour issues) to have your union certified. Certification means the union now officially represents the workers in your workplace.

What happens next depends on how many of your co-workers have signed cards:

Single-step certification: If 55% of the employees in your workplace sign membership cards, the new union will be automatically certified.

Two-step certification: Didn’t quite get 55%? Don’t worry. If 45 to 55% of the employees in your workplace sign membership cards, you can still get your union. But all employees in the workplace will have to vote first. The Labour Relations Board will organize and carry out this confidential vote. If a majority votes in support of the union, your new union will be created.

4. Celebrate!

Congratulations on joining the hundreds of thousands of BC workers like you who are proud union members! And don’t stop now. Talk to your union organizer about how you can get more involved in the union, and keep working to make your workplace better.

5. Next step: a collective agreement

After your union is created, members of the union will meet to decide on the contract they would like to see in their workplace. From there, negotiations will take place until both sides, workers and management,  agree on the terms. The document created through this process is your collective agreement, and both workers and management will agree to work under its terms.

What if you’re in a federally-regulated workplace?

Some workplaces aren’t covered by BC labour laws — for example, the federal public service, Crown corporations and federally-regulated industries like aviation and marine shipping. (See a full list here.) If you work in that kind of workplace, then you have to sign up at least 40% of your co-workers to apply for certification. Your application will be filed with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.

If you can show that more than half of your co-workers want the union, the board will automatically certify your union.

If at least 35% of your co-workers (but less than half) have signed cards, the board will order a vote of all the employees. If a majority of the votes are in favour of having a union, the board will certify your union.

Contact us today about starting a union!

Call or email us (604-430-1421 or organize@bcfed.ca), and we'll connect you with an organizer who can talk with you about what's involved, and help you take the next steps.