Starting a union at your workplace won't be easy, but it's not rocket science either. There are some things you need to know, and some things you need to think about.

• Unions are formed by a majority vote of you and your co-workers. How much support and enthusiasm is there for a union? What are the issues or the reasons why you want to start a union?
• Who is your employer? Is it a big corporation, a government agency, a hospital, or a small franchise like McDonald's?

Different rules apply if you work for a public employer as opposed to a private employer. And most often, different unions represent different kinds of workers.

AFSCME (this union) mostly represents people who work for state and local governments, school boards, health care providers and non-profit organizations. And even in Minnesota, different branches of AFSCME represent different areas.

Council 14 of AFSCME has members in the Twin Cities Metropolitan area – the six counties of Ramsey, Hennepin, Anoka, Washington, Dakota and Scott.

But even if you are not in this area, or not a public worker, we can still help you out by steering you to the right people.

If you want more information, call us, e-mail us, or fill out our response form and someone from our office will contact you. We will respect your privacy. Anything you tell us will be kept between us.

The Organizing Team

Christi  Christi@afscme14.org
Jon JGrebner@afscme14.org