Empowering working people to create change in their workplace
Higher Pay
We’ve used our collective power to negotiate for minimum salaries, progressive wage scales, and guaranteed annual raises to ensure we earn a fair return on our work. By negotiating with our employers, union members earn 20 percent higher wages on average.
Better Benefits
Union members have a say in our health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and other benefits. We’ve secured better healthcare plans with lower out-of-pocket costs, retirement plans with higher employer contributions, and more time off to balance other responsibilities.
Improved Working Conditions
With our union, we also have power to tackle a variety of other workplace issues. Our members in healthcare have addressed staffing levels and patient care through negotiating with their employers. Others have dealt with burnout by securing flexible scheduling and comp time. Additionally, the pandemic impacted the way all of us work, and our union has enabled us to have a say in workplace changes.
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Member Testimonies
“I saw work getting more difficult over the years without a fair increase in pay and benefits for colleagues and myself, so I wanted to build a better workplace and believed in my coworkers to do that together. I had lots of faith that organizing was the right move, since we couldn’t effect change through individual or small-group advocacy.”
“There are so many benefits that we have felt since forming a union, from job security to a sense of belonging among unit members. This process has given us the opportunity to build a community of solidarity among coworkers and find ways to care for each other. One of the more surprising benefits has been building trust with management as a result of bargaining and compromising in good faith, which has lessened resentment between both sides.”
“Organizing with WesUSE showed me firsthand how speaking with a collective voice makes you impossible to ignore. There’s something so powerful about making real change with people who you care about and who care so strongly about fighting for a fair and equitable working experience for student workers like me.”
“I’m proud to be a union member because workers deserve a seat at the decision-making table, and my union makes that a reality. While organizing and bargaining were both challenging processes at times, it’s so gratifying to see living wages, generous paid leave, and organizational transparency codified for years to come in our contract. To any other nonprofit employees wondering whether a union could strengthen their workplace and improve their lives, I would shout from the rooftops that it can!”
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