Unifyd is a co-worker chat platform in its simplest form. Unifyd makes it easy to talk with co-workers outside of work, share files, and vote on just about anything.
For small companies or teams, Unifyd supplies a place for quick voting, secure file sharing, and a place to talk without workplace monitoring.
For large corporations, Unifyd makes asking simple job questions to a large group of coworkers simple, without the hastle of having to deal with HR or navigating multiple departments.
For those who are dealing with workplace problems, Unifyd provides a place with security and anonymity features to discuss issues within a Unifyd Group that is completely hidden from anyone who doesn't have access.
Not at all.
Unifyd is primarily made for simple work discussion groups, and while Unifyd is a great place to start a Union, you are free to create a group for communication and desicion making without being a registered union.
No.
Unions are controlled by their member's votes, and Unifyd makes it easy for everyone to participate on equal ground.
While any group of employees is allowed to consult with their employer over work issues, what may be negotiated can be restricted by a groups status as a union, as well as by federal and local laws.
What exactly is a union? A Labor Union is a collective of co-workers who come together over any issues affecting their job. This can include work place conditions, wages, benefits, hours, and any other work related issues. Unions vote democratically to choose issues and resolutions that they wish to negotiate on with their employers in order to create change.
Why do I need a union? For those protected under laws like the NLR Act, a recognized union can establish a strong protected platform for all employees to provide a voice in their work life, and require their employers to honestly negotiate with them. For those outside of these protections, it becomes even more important to band together inorder to enact change.
Yes, workers in the United States are protected by the 1st Ammendment's Freedom of Speech and the right to Freedom of Assosiation.
However, there are and regulations on what a Union is allowed to do, its organization and reporting requirments, and its protections as layed out by Federal and local law.
Now this is the difficult question, and is the core reason that Unifyd takes its security and anonymity features so serious.
For most private sector employees, the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 provides protections for the basic rights to organize into trade unions, collectively bargain, and take collective action. The National Labor Board enforces these protections, and ensures that employers do not harass or threaten employees from performing these rights to unionize and carry out their duties. The NLB is also responsible for protecting employees from unions who may try to coerce or threaten those who do not support the union.
One exception, as with many work discrimination issues, are that laws like the "Right to Work Law" and "At-Will Employment" labor laws make it difficult for an employee to argue that they were terminated because of union activities. This is why Unifyd provides the ability to keep individual Group members identities anonymous when dealing with employers.
Groups of workers not included under the NLR Act of 1935 primarily include: state and federal government employees, railway and airline staff, domestic and agriculture workers, church operated schools, independent contractors, and some close relatives of individual employers. Nevertheless, those groups not included under the NLR Act are still allowed to form a union and act within federal and local laws. There are also other group specific laws such as the Railway Labor Act which govern unionization, and may require arbitration and mediation in order to resolve labor disputes without strikes.
Another exception for public-sector employees, is that some states have laws in place that seek to ban "Collective Bargaining". Fortunately, although these laws remove many of the requirements of employers to negotiate in good will, workers may still communicate by giving "Consultations". For example, Texas AFT provide a statewide organization for local teacher's unions to "electively consult" with a larger voice at the board level. Restrictive states include Georgia, and Texas which voted to restrict Teacher's collective bargaining; and North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia which moved to restrict all public-sector collective bargaining. The Center for Economic and Policy Research provides a good overview of the restrictions in each state as of 2014.
Before you can start a union, you need to start a discussion and gather members. This is where Unifyd comes in, so join now, log in, and then start building your Group.
If you wish to take your Group beyond basic communication, here are some quick links for those seeking to start an official recognized union.
To become registered, you should check out the Deparment of Labor's website which provides registration, reporting, and operating standards for unions.
For help there are two main groups in the United States who form a federation of unions. The largest is AFL-CIO, which can be found here. The other is Change to Win, which can be found here.
Unifyd.org is not a part of, affiliated with, and does not endorse or refer, any listed business or government office. Any information contained in this site is in no way considered legal advice, and there are no guarantees to it's accuracy.