1   Unions are the only organization in our society that stands up for the interest of working people. There are many different kinds of organizations in our community such as social clubs, sports leagues, churches, interest groups, and political parties. Unions are the only organization that advances the interest of working people.

 Unions fought for the 8-hour day, for weekends, for holidays, for workplace safety, for unemployment insurance, for minimum wage, for workers compensation, and much more. Unions continue to defend these standards and benefits which could be taken away if not for the labor movement.

 2.  Unions prevent industrial conflict and disruption to the economy by providing a peaceful and orderly process to settle differences between workers and management.

Before unions, workers who had problems with management quit, went on strike and walked off the job, called in sick, slowed down production, and sometimes destroyed machinery.

With unions there is an orderly and peaceful process to settle conflicting interest between workers and management. By bringing organization to the workforce, unions prevent chaos and disorder. Unions help to manage the workforce through democratic means. Workers are able to discuss their issues and vote on agreements with management. If a majority of workers vote to accept an agreement, the union will maintain discipline among the workers to uphold the terms of that agreement. 

3.  Unions help to create a high performance and organized workforce by maintaining a core of senior workers with higher skills and more experience. Management comes and goes but the long-term success of many businesses often lies in the hands of a core of skilled, senior workers.

Unionized workplaces promote seniority rights which encourages workers to stay with a company. This creates a core of experienced and skilled workers who maintain continuity and pass on their knowledge and skills to new workers.

This leads to increased productivity, innovation, and keeps business competitive.

4.  Unions democratize the workplace. This empowers and motivates workers to do a better job. When workers are unionized, they take ownership of their jobs. They take pride in doing a good job and providing the best service. If workers are treated like employees who can be replaced at any time, they won’t care about the success or future of the business.

5.  Unions enforce economic justice and promote best practices in the workplace. 

Without unions, if workers don’t like what is happening, they often have no choice but to quit and work somewhere else. If all workers did this, nothing would be done to correct mistakes and change bad management practices.

With unions, workers stay on the job and try to better the workplace and improve management.

6. Unions spread wealth more evenly, create and enlarge a middle class, and increase internal consumption which drives the economy.

Unions created the middle class by raising workers from poverty to a living wage. Workers spend most of their money on locally produced goods and services. This leads to a growth of small business and a strong and healthy local economy. This creates jobs and raises the standards of living for all workers.

7.  Unions educate workers and train working class leaders in organizational skills, labor history, political economy, and leadership skills.

Unions have been the only source of education and the development of leadership skills for thousands of workers.

8.  Unions are essential for a democratic society to remain democratic. Democracy could not exist without unions.

The wealthy in the U.S. have always held the power of big money. Absolute power is the source of dictatorships. Unions moderate the absolute power of management which creates a more just and fair society.

9.   Society is most effective when government, employers, and unions work together. The world’s most wealthy and successful countries operate by involving business, union, and government in a mutually beneficial and cooperative relationship.

The U.S. is failing because of the anti-union attitude of business and the exclusion of unions from civic life.

Unions and their members serve the community in many ways. Every year, ILWU members like those from Unit 4524 - Honolulu Airport Hotel pictured above volunteer to help the Hawaii Foodbank collect and sort donated food for families in need during the annual National Letter Carriers (NALC) Food Drive. “We volunteer at the Foodbank for several reasons,” said Unit Chairperson Owen Castagan. “It reflects well on our company, it gets members involved in a union-related activity—and most of all, it allows us to help our communities. We also have fun doing it together.”

Organization for mutual benefit

A very important benefit of union membership goes far beyond your job. You are now a member of a workers’ organization—dedicated to defend your interests as a worker and to promote the general welfare of you and your family.

“Declaration of Principles: We, the men and women working under the jurisdiction of ILWU Local 142 Hawaii, in order to build and maintain a strong local organization and provide for the defense of our common interests, promote the general welfare of our members, their families and other wage earners in the community, and uphold the rights and dignity of our labor and its organized expression, have determined that we shall be guided by the following principles . . .”

One of the most important ways the union defends our interests is through union political action. The legal system is extremely important to working people. Laws can be passed to give additional rights and protection to workers or, just as easily, take away workers’ rights and protections. In our country, the U.S. Congress and our State Legislature have the power to make new laws and change old laws. Every year in Hawaii, our State Legislature considers thousands of bills that propose changes in our laws—some of these proposals benefit legislation that would hurt working families, and urging legislators to pass legislation that benefit workers.

The success or failure of union political action depends on numbers— it takes a majority of legislators to pass a piece of legislation. This is why the ILWU and other unions endorse certain candidates over others during the elections. In the last election in 2010, the ILWU Political Action Committee interviewed dozens of candidates and questioned them on issues important to workers.

Union members were then urged to vote for only those candidates who would support working families.