STAY UNION STRONG: Don’t Fall for Anti-Union Tricks

From time to time, some union members receive postcards, emails, or online ads encouraging them to “opt out” of union membership and stop paying dues.

These messages often come from organizations whose goal is to weaken unions and reduce workers’ collective power.

They may promise you’ll “save money,” but they rarely explain what workers stand to lose when unions are weakened.

Before making any decision about your membership, it’s important to understand what these campaigns are really about and why staying union strong matters.

Union Power Starts With Membership

Our union is made up of workers like you. When we stand together, we have the power to negotiate better wages, stronger benefits, and safer workplaces.

Union membership gives workers a real voice on the job. Instead of facing management alone, members work together to negotiate contracts and hold employers accountable.

When membership grows stronger, our bargaining power grows stronger too.

Union Members Earn More and Have Better Benefits

Union membership has a real impact on workers’ lives.

Research shows that union workers earn about 19.4% more than non-union workers and are significantly more likely to have access to health insurance and retirement benefits. 

Union jobs are also more likely to include:

• Affordable health care coverage
• Dental and vision benefits
• Paid leave and holidays
• Strong retirement and pension plans
• Fair scheduling and job protections

These improvements didn’t happen by accident. They were won by workers organizing together and negotiating strong contracts.

Union Workers Built Many Rights We Rely On Today

Many workplace protections that workers depend on today were won through union organizing and advocacy.

Union members helped secure:

• The 8-hour workday
• Overtime pay
• Workplace safety protections
• Family and medical leave
• Equal pay protections
• Retirement security

These improvements exist because union members organized, mobilized, and pushed for change.

Union Representation Protects You at Work

Union membership also ensures that workers have support when issues arise on the job.

If you are called into a meeting with management that could lead to discipline, you have the right to request union representation under what are known as Weingarten Rights.

That means you do not have to face difficult situations at work alone. Your union can help ensure that workplace rules are followed and that workers are treated fairly.

Union Members Are Winning New Protections

Union members across Minnesota have recently secured new legal protections that strengthen workers’ rights and support organizing.

Recent labor law improvements include:

• Union-led new employee orientation
• Limits on employer anti-union meetings
• Stronger access to workplace information
• Clearer rights to challenge unfair labor practices

These gains help workers organize, build stronger unions, and protect their rights on the job.

Anti-Union Campaigns Try to Divide Workers

Groups behind “opt out” campaigns often send large volumes of emails and mailers encouraging workers to drop their union membership.

These campaigns are designed to create confusion and weaken unions by encouraging workers to leave.

But when workers leave the union, employers gain more leverage and workers lose collective power.

Strong unions depend on workers standing together.

Solidarity Is Our Strength

Union membership is about more than an individual benefit. It is about building collective power so workers can improve their jobs, their communities, and their futures.

When we stay united, we can:

• Negotiate stronger contracts
• Protect workplace rights
• Improve wages and benefits
• Create safer and fairer workplaces

That’s why staying union strong matters.

Questions About Membership?

If you receive a message encouraging you to opt out of your union and you have questions, talk with your union first.

Your union leaders and AFSCME staff can help explain:

• What membership means
• What benefits are negotiated through your contract
• How union dues support representation and organizing
• How you can get more involved

We are always here to help.

Stay Union Strong

Anti-union organizations may have large budgets and aggressive messaging campaigns.

But unions have something more powerful: workers standing together.

When we stay united, we protect our rights, strengthen our workplaces, and ensure that working people continue to have a voice.

Stay union strong.