A true story our members can share with anyone who says unions are obsolete, unnecessary, or only focused on money:
The married son of one of our board members was given a promotion with more duties at a small industrial supply firm, but told he would get no raise until after a "probation period" of unspecified length passed. (He had already been with the firm for four years.)
Several months later, he asked about the raise that never came, although even more responsibilities had been added to his "promoted" position. His supervisor replied that if his wife wasn't taking college classes, she could be home with their kids more and he could work more hours to earn more pay. The supervisor added that having children had been a foolish decision for the young couple if they didn't have enough income. Then the supervisor rescinded the promotion and ended the discussion.
Had this been a unionized shop, the supervisor would not have gotten away with belittling an employee this way, and any promotion would have carried a contractually-specified change in pay commensurate to the change in job duties.
But without an organized labor group to ensure his rights, this employee has only two choices: bear the humiliation and stay in what was clearly meant all along by the firm's owners to be a dead-end job, or preserve his dignity by quitting.
Preventing these types of scenarios, which happen thousands of times a day across the nation to non-unionized laborers, is exactly why unions exist. And THAT is what all union members need to get across to their friends and family who think we're no longer necessary