Know Your Rights

Like the laws that guarantee our democratic right as citizens to vote, there are federal laws that exist to protect our ability to unionize and improve our workplaces too. 

Our right to share one voice, in both elections and in labor unions, gives us power as both citizens and workers. If you’ve never been a part of a labor union before, or if you’re starting a union at your workplace for the first time, you deserve to know your rights to organize and how to use them to your advantage as you start a union.

Some employers respect these laws more than others, but with the right info and planning, anybody can build the union you need to speak up for what’s right at work.

That’s why in our Know Your Rights series, we break down all of the laws behind your rights to organize, the system that protects those rights, and the ways you can use them to your advantage during your union campaign. 

Table of Contents

Your Union Rights and Protections

“What Can I Say About Unions?”

Ask a Labor Lawyer

What are Weingarten Rights?

What is the NLRB?

Great question! Let’s go straight to the source:

The National Labor Relations Boards site states that “The NLRB is an independent federal agency enforcing the National Labor Relations Act, which guarantees the right of most private sector employees to organize, to engage in group efforts to improve their wages and working conditions, to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative, to engage in collective bargaining, and to refrain from any of these activities. It acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions.”

In short: The NLRB is a government agency that does all of the following:

• Sets up and processes union elections
• Investigates and remedies when employers violate workers’ rights to organize
• Makes sure both unions and companies bargain in good faith