Recent changes in the federal labor laws make it easier for unions to take over employee rights. So, for employees who are thinking about joining a union or are being solicited to sign up for a union, why would you not choose to be represented by a union in matters relating to your job?

This article attempts to answer this question by outlining some of the most common reasons that employees would not want a union in their workplace.

A union is the sole and exclusive employee representative

If a simple majority of employees who vote in a National Labor Relations Board-conducted election choose to have a union represent them, then their employer must recognize the union as the "sole and exclusive" representative for purposes of collective bargaining about wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment of the group of employees called the "bargaining unit."

This means only the union can speak with the employer and negotiate or bargain with the employer about the employees' wages, hours and terms, and conditions of employment. Individual employees cannot legally deal directly with their employers or bargain for their own wages, hours or working conditions different or better than those bargained for by the union.

Unions have lots of rules

Unions control their members through all sorts of rules, both written and unwritten. Unions have constitutions and bylaws. The Teamsters Constitution is more than 100 pages!

There can be district or area rulebooks, rules of order and other ways that unions can legitimately control their members. These documents primarily cover the duties, responsibilities and privileges of the union's officers.

They also set out the rules of conduct that govern members and the consequences for violating internal union rules. For example, most unions have an oath or duty-of-loyalty provision and rules that prohibit "conduct unbecoming of a union member" such as trying to get rid of the union as the employees' representative or crossing a union-established picket line to work as a "scab."

The penalties for violating a union's rules can range from monetary fines to expulsion from the union (which could lead to job loss in a non-right-to work state). Having a union is a lot like having another boss at work. In the course of soliciting employees to join the union, union leaders rarely, if ever, disclose the existence of these union rulebooks.

Unions cost money

Simply put, union representation is not free. It costs money to pay a union for its "services." This money can add up to literally thousands of dollars over the course of a multiyear collectively-bargained agreement. Payments from employees to a union can come in the form of periodic dues, fees, special assessments and even fines. Monthly dues typically average two and one-half hours of pay.

Unions can charge fees for initiation, transfer to another local union, reinstatement to the union and withdrawal from the union. They can also fine members for violation of their extensive work rules. Courts have ruled that these dues, fees and fines are legally owed by members and can be enforced in court.

The negotiations process can result in reduced pay or benefits

Most employees believe that having a union is "all upside" or they cannot lose anything just by bringing a union into their workplace to represent them. To the contrary, the federal labor laws specifically say that employers are not required to make any concession or to give in to any union demand.

The Labor Board has held that negotiations are a "two-way street," and employee pay and benefits can go up, stay the same or even go down as a result of the collective bargaining process. In other words, employees are not guaranteed that they will be better off with union representation.

Moreover, there is no set time limit within which the parties have to reach an agreement. Collective bargaining for a new contract can take years. No arbitrator, mediator, judge or other person can impose the terms of a new agreement on the parties if bargaining is unsuccessful.

Strikes are possible when unions represent employees

If an employer does not agree to a union's demands, employees can either accept the employer's offer and keep working, keep having their union try to bargain for a better deal or elect to walk off their jobs in protest, i.e., go on strike.

While strikes are less common in this era, history is full of long, acrimonious, violent strikes — many of which pitted family members against each other. Workers who choose not to honor a union's picket line can be subject to strike violence, name-calling and other forms of harassment.

Strikers risk permanent replacement

Workers who strike for better pay and other economic reasons cannot be terminated but they can be "permanently replaced." This is a legal fiction that says an employer can hire other workers while union members strike and those workers can be retained even after the strikers give up their strike and offer to return to work on terms the employer may deem more favorable.

If vacant positions exist, the strikers would be entitled to reinstatement in the order of their seniority. Assuming the employer has followed the law, if a replacement worker is holding down a job, that position is no longer vacant.

Employees who strike because the employer committed unfair labor practices are eligible for immediate reinstatement upon their unconditional offer to return to work.

Unions don't have a good record of representing employees.

Many stories exist about the graft, corruption and illegal activities in which union bosses engage.

Just think about how many Teamster presidents have been accused of or actually served jail time for such illegal activities. Other unions have been accused of discrimination and harassment based on race, sex, national origin, religion and other protected categories.

Union jobs are less secure than those that are union-free

Contrary to the sales pitches of union organizers, union jobs are not as secure as those in the union-free sector. In a competitive global economy, unions inhibit nimble decision-making and slow down an employer's ability to adapt to changes in the industry.

Just look at the bankruptcies of major unionized companies in the last few decades. Represented employees in the trucking, auto, steel, glass, rubber, cement and other basic industries lost jobs. Together, the Steelworkers and Teamsters lost more than 2 million members in the last 25 years.

If unions could provide better job security, then perhaps the percentage of union-represented employees in the private sector would not have declined steadily from a high of 34 percent in 1954 to around 6 percent today.

Companies can provide employees protection

Unions make promises to provide employees with respect, dignity, voice, safety, a "living wage," security, compliance with employment laws, identification with a successful, winning organization, and freedom from harassment discrimination or retaliation. However, employee-friendly employers can (and should) adopt policies, practices and procedures to provide those same benefits to employees — at no additional cost to the employees.

Conclusion

Employees must evaluate whether having a union represent them is in their individual best interest. This article has listed nine of the more universal reasons why most employees would say "No, thanks!" to a union seeking to represent them.