Why Join a Union?
Benefits of Unions
A union is an organized group of workers who come together to make decisions about the conditions of their work. The main goal of a union is to ensure workers have a collective say over their working conditions.
In Manitoba, workers forming a union are organized after identifying themselves as having a common employer, work, or work-related economic interest. This may mean they are employed by the same employer, in the same place, doing the same work, or having the same economic interests when it comes to the work they do.
Unions are structures for economic democracy in the workplace and they come in many different configurations and sizes.
Better Support
A union can help make sure you have the support you need at work in place to succeed. Joining CUPE means being part of a collective voice that ensures your concerns are heard and addressed by your employer. Once you officially form a union your employer has a legal obligation to negotiate a contract with workers.
Fairness
Unionizing your workplace can equal the playing field. You can establish clarity around things like how jobs are awarded and what hours you have to work. A union can also help ensure there’s transparency around workplace policies and procedures.
We're All In This Together
Forming a union means you don’t have to solve your workplace problems alone. A union is like a team that works together to make sure everyone gets a fair deal at work and has a say in the conditions of their employment. It's about strength in numbers and standing up for each other.
Why Choose CUPE?
CUPE is Manitoba’s largest union. By joining CUPE, you gain access to a strong support network, collective bargaining power, and resources to address the issues you face at work. CUPE has over 37,000 members in Manitoba alone.
CUPE is committed to promoting equality, diversity, and social justice, ensuring that workers' voices are heard and their rights are protected. With a rich history of fighting for workers' rights and improving the quality of public services, CUPE offers an inclusive and empowering environment that prioritizes workers' well-being and professional advancement.
The Process
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Once contacted, the CUPE organizing team will work closely with interested employees to develop a plan of action on how to best approach the organizing opportunity. The first step will always be to create an inside organizing committee of passionate and motivated employees who are supportive of unionization. This inside committee will work together to identify and communicate with other like-minded employees in the workplace. If this is something you would be interested in learning more about, please contact us.
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Once we feel that there is enough initial support, we will begin the card signing process. The card signing campaign is one of the necessary legal steps to get a union started. Signing cards (paper or electronic) is the only way we can signal to the Manitoba Labour Board that we are serious about unionizing.
The goal here is to reach out and speak with as many employees as we can to find out what their concerns are, educate them about CUPE and what we can provide for them, and to gauge interest in the organizing campaign.
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The Labour Board requires that workers in the workplace sign union cards showing their support for the union in order to be certified. All cards are confidential, and the employer never finds out who signed a card. Our goal for any campaign is to have at least 60 percent of cards signed for each workplace before we file the application with the Labour Board.
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When we are confident we have enough union cards signed, CUPE will file an application with the Manitoba Labour Board for certification of the union.
Once an application is submitted, the Labour Board will review the union cards we’ve submitted and will confirm the percentage of workers who have signed union cards.
There are two possible paths to forming a union depending on how many union cards are signed:
If more than 50% of workers sign union cards you qualify to automatically form a union.
If between 40% and 49.9% of workers sign a card, we can still file an application for certification but a secret ballot vote is also required. To win a representation vote (and have workers join CUPE) more than 50 percent of voters need to vote ‘yes’ to joining CUPE.
Your employer will never know if you signed a Union Card and cannot threaten or intimidate you to not join CUPE. If they question you about joining, you are not obligated to tell them your position on unionizing.
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Once workers have either automatically formed a union or officially voted YES to joining CUPE, the Labour Board will notify the union and the employer.
Prior to starting negotiations there are some procedural meetings that need to happen through the Labour Board between the union and the employer.
Sometimes the employer may have an objection (or objections) to the union’s application and these need to be resolved before workers are officially union members.
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CUPE assigns the local a Staff Representative (an employee who works for CUPE) to help negotiate the first collective agreement. CUPE also has dedicated research, communications, legal, education, and human rights staff to support bargaining.
Members of the bargaining committee will be elected from the membership and CUPE will launch a bargaining survey to receive feedback from the new members about what their bargaining priorities are.
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Once the bargaining committee has reached a tentative agreement with your employer, the membership (all workers) get to vote on whether or not they want to accept that contract (formally called the ratification process).
If more than 50 percent of workers vote in favour of the contract, then it is ratified.
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From here, CUPE helps you and your colleagues ensure the employer is honouring the collective agreement using the mechanisms (such as grievance filing) outlined in the contract. This will ensure fairness and accountability for you and your colleagues at work.
Union representatives will be available to you and your colleagues to help resolve workplace issues and ensure all members understand their rights and responsibilities under the new contract.
All workers can get involved in the union local to help represent their colleagues and help improve working conditions for everyone.
What Else Should I Know?
A union is an organized group of workers who work collectively to advocate for decent wages, safe working conditions, and fair and equal treatment in the workplace.
Unions in Canada are bound by law to be democratic and financially transparent, to ensure that they are acting in good faith on behalf of the workers they represent. In Manitoba, trade unions are certified under the Labour Relations Code.
A certified trade union can negotiate a legally binding collective agreement between the group of workers it represents and their employer. This agreement establishes the terms and conditions of employment standards for the treatment of its members. The process of negotiating the agreement is called collective bargaining, and in Manitoba it’s governed by the Manitoba Labour Board.
Primarily, unions use collective bargaining to democratically establish and enforce standards regarding the rights of members in the workplace. This means defining and enforcing equitable wages, benefits, job security, and workplace standards in their collective agreements.
On a broader scale, unions like CUPE advocate politically to improve the lives of working people, through lobbying, working with political parties, and public demonstration.
Joining CUPE means having a strong voice in your workplace. We advocate for fair wages, benefits, job security, and safe working conditions. By joining CUPE, you join a national community of workers dedicated to improving conditions for all.
Signing a union card officially indicates your support for forming a union in your workplace. When workers sign a union card it indicates their desire to have a union represent them in collective bargaining with their employer.
Signing a union card is free and all union cards are confidential. Your employer will not know who did or did not sign a union card.
Union cards can be physical paper cards or electronic cards that are signed online.
If you and your co-workers are interested in unionizing, the first step is to reach out to a CUPE organizer. You can contact us to discuss the process, ask questions, and get started. Your conversations with us are confidential and protected.
Workers who have successfully organized their workplace and join CUPE are brought together under a single democratic structure called a “local”. Local unions in CUPE have democratic control over their activities. Members of the local union decide, at regular membership meetings, on issues that are important to the local and the membership. The local union itself is run by elected members of the local union. Each CUPE local decides its priorities for bargaining, when to settle a new contract, and how to manage funds.
With 780,000 members and growing, CUPE is made up of thousands of locals throughout Canada.
As a strong and democratic union, CUPE is committed to improving the quality of life for workers in Canada. For the last 60 years, employees have been working together to form local unions and have collectively built CUPE into what it is today.
As members of a union, you will negotiate a legally binding contract, or collective agreement, with your employer that contains the terms and conditions of employment. Some examples of what would be included in the collective agreement are wages, benefits, hours of work, vacation and holidays, seniority, how to handle disagreements, health and wellness, accommodations, and hiring and layoff procedures. Your collective agreement ensures predictability, equal treatment for all, a clear process for accountability, as well as a dispute resolution if the agreement is violated.
As members of CUPE, you will have the opportunity to democratically elect your co-workers to serve on a committee to bargain your collective agreement, and you will vote on whether to accept the collective agreement when bargaining is completed.
Above all, we will work with you to negotiate a collective agreement that reflects the nature of your work and outlines the terms and conditions that must be respected by your employer. Arbitrary decisions and actions by an employer will not be permitted with respect to the contents of the negotiated collective agreement. You will have a collective voice and be able to make democratic decisions about your workplace. Being a CUPE member means you have the materials, information, education, and the staff expertise needed to meet the employer on equal terms.
Signing a card means you are applying for membership in CUPE and it indicates to the Labour Board that you support a union being formed in the workplace. There is no cost to sign.
Union cards can be physical paper cards or electronic cards that are signed online. Signing a union card is always confidential and will never be shared with the employer.
No. An employer cannot dismiss or discipline an employee for supporting a union’s efforts to organize the workplace. In fact, if an employer tried to discipline the employee, the union can file an unfair labour practice complaint at the Labour Relations Board on the employee’s behalf.
No. Employers are not entitled to know who did or did not sign a card. The Labour Relations Board does not tell the employer the names of the employees who sign membership cards.
The employer can’t do anything that could interfere with the right of employees to join a union or have union representation.
The employer cannot:
- Participate in or interfere with the formation or administration of a union;
- Discharge, suspend, transfer, lay off, or otherwise discipline an employee on a certification drive except for proper cause;
- Threaten a penalty or promise a benefit in order to compel an employee to refrain from becoming, or continuing to be a member of a union; or
- Change working conditions without the Labour Relations Board’s written permission. The employer must continue “business as usual” while an application for certification is pending.
Yes, as long as they do not use any form of intimidation that could reasonably have the effect of forcing or urging a person to become, or reject becoming, a member of a trade union.
No. A union will certainly improve your working conditions by bargaining for things such as: predictable schedules, protection from being fired without reason, fair and transparent workplace policies that apply to everyone, and enhanced wages and benefits. In addition, some of the minimum benefits you now receive from your employer are a result of people like you working together through unions over the last 100 years: benefits such as the weekend, right to pensions, vacations, minimum wage laws, human rights legislation, and health and safety regulations.
In CUPE, under the National Constitution, dues are set out at a minimum of .85% on regular earnings only, not on any overtime hours worked. Beyond this basic amount payable to CUPE, Union Locals determine their dues, and that dues amount goes to your Local for the direct benefit of your Local members, their representation, support to members for training, and the work of your Local. The Union dues you pay are fully tax deductible, reducing the amount you actually pay to be a Union member and be represented by a Union in your workplace. Dues are calculated on each pay cheque. Dues amounts are set by your Local and can be changed by a majority vote of the membership.
How Do I Get Started?
The first step to form a union in your workplace is getting in touch with an organizer at CUPE. From there we'll work with you to develop and execute a plan so you and your coworkers can form a union.
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We'll work together to develop a customized plan for your workplace.
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You’ll need between 40 percent and 60 percent of all employees to sign a confidential union card before submitting an application to the Manitoba Labour Board to officially form a union
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If more than 50 percent of all employees sign a union card you qualify to automatically form a union.
If between 40 and 49.9 percent of all employees sign a union card, the Manitoba Labour Board will issue a certification vote and workers will vote on whether or not they want to join the union.