Wanting to Start a Union: overwhelmed by where to start
Hey everyone, hopefully you can help me and I’m sorry if this is a repetitive post but it’s admittedly a scary situation.
I work for one of five car wash brands within a larger parent company. Since my time working with them they’ve taken more and more holidays away from us, cut our “bonus” down a dozen times but still demand the same or better results (high conversion, high member retention, etc.), cut pto accumulation, and make it nearly impossible to get sick time approved. The benefits are slim and bottom of the barrel. That all being said I’m not entirely sure I have a great case for a union.
With the most recent change to our pay structure there have been other sites within sister brands that have started the process of unionizing (though I’m not sure how far it’s gotten or if it’s already been stomped out) and it makes me feel that now is the time to do it here for my sites as well. The company has also put out a response to this union attempt where they’re asking for feedback from employees as a way to cool the temperature down and try to manage the uproar in house, which I feel could be a hurdle.
Another more personal issue is that I’m in talks for a promotion. I don’t want to screw myself over by starting this process and word getting back to the company, whether it goes through successfully or not. I’m a major endorser of unions and workers rights but I also know how vindictive companies can be.
So, where do I start? Do I even have a case to start movement in this process?