withdrawing from union

[tomshort]

Does anyone know if I can legally & voluntarily leave my union and pay dues to another union to represent me. Here in New York State we have the public employment relations board that governs unions. My contract says the employer recognizes the union the sole & exclusive representative of the employees.

[OrganizingAdvocate]

Hi tomshort,

I regret to hear your dissatisfaction with the labor union currently representing you.

In order to 'decertify' your current union as your barganing agent, you'll need to gain the support of the majority of workers within your workplace or within a specific sector of the workers in your workplace. Then you may choose to begin the decertification process. The Union you are interested in having represent you can help you with this process.

Be aware, this may make things worse for you in the sense that you may 'win' not having your current union representing you and your coworkers but you may may also 'lose' an election to have another union represent you and your coworkers. If this happens, you won't have a contract and will be at the will of the your employer.

I recommend exhausting all avenues to fix the problems within your current Union rather than seeking a new Union.

[BattleOutWest]

If you're job classification is under a certain memorandum, then you alone can't ask for representation by another union.

There is decertification, but I have heard of unions working-out "deals" so that a class, because of career ladder issues, is traded with another union's class.