Joining: Why Become a Member?

Contracts - CEO's and Athletes Have Them - Why Shouldn't You?
By Joe McGee, Local 17 Executive Director

When you work with a union contract, your wages, benefits and working conditions are guaranteed in writing in a legally binding and enforceable contract. And after you pass your probationary period, your employer cannot take your job away without just cause. Your contract gives you more rights as a worker than under state or federal labor laws. That's why actors, professional athletes, airline pilots, and many other professionals have union contracts.

Contracts are legally binding documents which are negotiated between union members (and staff) and the employer. The employer cannot unilaterally change a union contract without negotiating. While many unorganized employees are riding the economic roller coaster in the dark, employees covered by collective bargaining agreements understand the terms and conditions of their future.

A contract gives you a voice in the workplace. Not only will you gain a say in what your wages, benefits and working conditions are, but your participation in Local 17 gives you power in numbers and the strength, expertise and history of success to negotiate a meaningful contract.

In Unity,

Joe McGee