Fort Worth Together
We are One Wabtec Team at Fort Worth … Our Flexibility is Our Future
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) has recently began sharing information with Wabtec team members and others at the Fort Worth site.
Together, we have built a successful, flexible site as part of Wabtec’s global operations, and we want to continue to grow.
Union membership can affect almost everything in your work life. When making an important decision like this - one that will profoundly impact your wages, your benefits, and your work environment for years to come – facts matter.
Communications
Learn about Wabtec’s quality employee benefits package at Fort Worth, specifically healthcare and prescription drug benefits.
Compare for yourself the wage data at Fort Worth and Erie sites over the past several years to better understand the facts.
It’s important to understand the basics of collective bargaining and how it works in any negotiations between a union and company.
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (“UE”) are trying to get team members to sign union authorization cards. Before signing a card, make sure you get all the facts.
Under the labor law, an employer is prohibited from making any promises. In contrast, the UE can make any promise it wants.
We invite you to hear more from site leadership about why we believe the UE is not in the best interest of you, your families, our plant, our customers, or our community.
UE Documents
Constitutions
Other Documents
Get the Facts
We have received many questions from team members about the UE and what it would mean to be represented by a labor union. Below please find the questions and the truthful answers. If someone is telling you otherwise, they aren’t telling you the truth. We encourage you to raise any questions that you have. If you have a question, it’s likely that many of your teammates have the same questions. Make sure you know all the facts before signing a union authorization card.
Frequently Asked Questions
It means that you cannot be fired if you refuse to pay union dues or join the union. But, regardless of whether you join the union, the UE will represent you if they win an election. That means the UE will have the authority to negotiate on behalf of all employees, not just union members. Union members vote on important actions like contract proposals and strikes – but you if you do not join and pay union dues, you will not be permitted to vote on these actions.
No. If the UE is voted in. employees cannot just vote them out. By law, the UE cannot be voted out for at least one year after the union is certified. Additionally, the UE cannot be voted out during the term of a contract.
The majority of Wabtec’s employees in the U.S. are not represented by any labor unions. Out of 40 production sites, only 8 are unionized.
No. Unions do not get to decide who Wabtec hires, fires, or retains to manage and supervise employees in the workplace.
We are not entirely sure. That is up to the UE, and they can change the cost of dues at any time. They can also fine members and charge them for assessments (i.e., a way of collecting money when they have bills that need paid). By way of example, in Erie, the UE charges employees over $1,000 per year in union dues.
No. Union dues only pay for the UE speaking on your behalf. We don’t believe that any employee should have to pay a union to speak to management on your behalf. Right now, you can do this for free.
Unions use dues to pay their office overhead, staff salaries, events, organizing other locations, political contributions, and other expenses. Unions do not represent workers for free. They are a business.
Wrong. A union cannot get your job back if you were terminated fairly for breaking the law or company policy, or because you could not meet performance standards. An employer also has the right to lay off and reassign employees for legitimate business reasons.
No, But you can be “permanently replaced,” if you go on strike over economic issues like pay and benefits. This means that you are placed on a “preferential rehire” list and can only return to your job when a replacement worker leaves, and you are at the top of the rehire list (this could be weeks, months, or years after the strike).
Yes. However, the UE has rules that allow them to fine members for crossing the picket line, often for money earned by the member during the strike.
No. With or without a union, Wabtec must follow federal and state laws on discrimination, workers’ rights, and other protections you have under the law. Without a union, Wabtec has an internal process to make sure all employees are treated fairly and lawfully. With a union, all workers must rely on whatever grievance process is negotiated into the contract and they are not free to challenge a company decision on their own. The UE determines what grievances it wishes to pursue.
No one can predict how bargaining will turn out. Pay, benefits, and all other terms and conditions of employment are subject to negotiations. As a result of the collective bargaining process, employees may get more, they might get the same, or they may end up with less than they had before. The law does not require an employer to maintain all previously existing benefits. In Ludwig Motor Corp. (222 NLRB 635) the NLRB explained: “If the union tells you that what you have now is guaranteed, it is not telling you the truth. The truth is you can lose wages and benefits in collective bargaining.”
Wabtec has not, and will not, provide personal information about Fort Worth team members to the UE or anyone else outside the Wabtec organization without your consent. If the UE is contacting you directly by phone or by visiting your house then that information was provided to the UE by another team member or found by the UE online. Unfortunately, there is nothing Wabtec can do to prevent these activities by the UE.