The State of Unions

Unions are organizations of workers dedicated to protecting workers interests, improving wages and working conditions. They use strikes and negotiations with employers to meet their interests which are ultimately written out in the form of a legal contract between employer and union representatives.

Below are some examples of unions that exist today and what they stand for.

The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA

• • Formed in 1956.

  • As of 2014, 2,166 ("active player" and "associate" members, 3,130 ("former player" members)

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The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America

• • Commonly known as the United Auto Workers, the UAW (uaw.org) counts 990,000 members and represents autoworkers as well as employees at colleges and universities and in the gaming industry and health care field.

  • Autoworkers formed the UAW in 1935 in Detroit, where the UAW maintains its headquarters.

The National Education Association of the United States

• • 3.2 million members, the NEA (nea.org) is the nation’s largest union

  • represents public school teachers, administrators, substitute educators, higher education faculty members, education support professionals, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.

  • The union was founded in 1857 and merged with the American Teachers Association in 1966.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters

• • The Teamsters union (teamster.org) represents airline employees, bakery and laundry workers, food processors, construction workers, freight employees, port workers, rail workers, tankhaul drivers and warehouse workers.

  • The union has 1.4 million members and dates to 1903, when two rival unions joined forces in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

• • AFSCME (afscme.org) is the nation’s biggest public services employees union, tallying 1.3 million members. It has nurses, corrections officers, child care providers, EMTs and sanitation workers among its ranks.

  • In 1932, a group of state employees founded what would become AFSCME in Madison, Wisconsin.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

• • Founded in 1979, the UFCW (ufcw.org) represents grocery store workers, packinghouse employees, food processor workers, drugstore employees, poultry processing plant workers, retail store workers and factory workers.

  • The UFCW has 1.3 million members.