Unions Don’t Speak for Airbus Employees

The United Auto Workers (UAW) and International Association of Machinists (IAM) are both labor unions. Labor unions are made up of workers who appoint representatives to bargain with employers on behalf of the entire workforce. When these representatives negotiate, they may give up certain privileges or benefits that employees currently enjoy. 

Without a union, employees typically negotiate these things directly with their employer or supervisor. Union members pay union dues, which are a portion of every member’s paycheck that goes towards funding the cost of negotiations, salaries for the union’s staff members, and whatever other expenses the union deems to be necessary.

At the UAW, dues are equal to 2.5 hours of a member’s hourly pay rate per month. An employee making $25 per hour, for example, would need to pay $750 to the UAW in dues each year. At IAM, dues are set by the local union. At IAM District Lodge 751, which represents Boeing employees, dues are set at $93.95 per month, or $1,127.40 a year.

The UAW most recently raised its dues in 2022. IAM’s national organization automatically raises its tax on local unions every year, which is often reflected in dues increases.

Once a workplace is unionized, it is usually very difficult to remove the union. There is a process called decertification which can be used to remove union representation, but it requires getting 30% of your coworkers to sign cards calling for the union’s removal and then having a majority vote to remove it. Additionally, you cannot attempt to decertify a union until after one year of union representation. You also cannot attempt to decertify a union for the first three years of a collective bargaining agreement. 

Unions typically have the resources to fight back against decertification attempts, and the time restrictions give employees a small window to even attempt to do so. 

However, a few facilities have successfully removed the UAW and IAM from their workplaces.