Whether you want to form a union at your workplace or you want to start a career as an apprentice, organizing is the most important way to raise the working and living standards of all working people. This isn't "pie in the sky thinking," this is what working people have done for over 125 years to advance themselves time and time again in the workplace.

The union advantage is clear. For those who are already members, organizing more workers will strengthen our union and our contracts, and builds our communities with good jobs while raising living standards for those who are unorganized. Union workers earn 38 percent more money than non-union workers, and 54 percent more when you include the total compensation of health and pension benefits.

Pensions, medical insurance, paid vacation, holidays, personal holidays, sick pay, overtime premium pay, penalty pay and shift differential are generally not only better in a union shop, often the only way to obtain them is through a union contract.

A union contract gives employees the immediate right to insist on a safe work environment. Rather than having to petition a remote government agency in the hope that they come to your aid, as a union worker you can instantly grieve an unsafe condition. The safety provisions of a union contract guarantee immediate, hands-on control.

As a union worker you don't have to put up with arbitrary decisions or harassment at work from your co-workers or management. You can still be fired for substandard performance, but you don't have to tip-toe around in fear or be at the mercy of grossly incompetent managers or a supervisor who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Because administering the provisions of a union contract requires a certain level of expertise, you tend to get better, more efficient bosses who have to act like professionals.

The fact of the matter is that united, we are all a powerful voice for fairness and justice at work.