A union is when a group of employees band together to protect their interests. An employer can fire one person for asking for a raise, but if every other employee agrees to walk off the job until they all get raises, the company will soon find themselves unable to do business. The union will negotiate with the employer to make a contract with standards for pay, training, benefits, and sick leave among other things.
There are a lot of reasons to be pro- or anti-union. A major positive that they allow workers to negotiate for better treatment more effectively than they could on their own. A negative is that they can sometimes protect bad employees or make it harder for someone to get a promotion or better work schedule if there is an employee who “deserves” it more due to seniority.
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