Unions are the best way to secure decent wages for student workers at the University of North Texas. They threaten to halt the stream of revenue unless an employer bargains in good faith. Union representation means student workers will have their needs heard.
International Students' Limited Work Choice
International students at the University of North Texas often face constraints when it comes to choosing where they work. Restrictions like visa regulations and limited work authorization make employment options reduced primarily to on-campus positions or certain authorized off-campus opportunities.
As a result of violating their immigrant status, an international student's visa could get put out of status. They could exit and re-enter the United States on a new immigrant record but it would make them ineligible for OPT or H1B status, in turn preventing them from obtaining future U.S. permanent residency.
These limitations make it hard for international students to find jobs suitable with their interests, skills, and career goals.
Understanding the Union Threat Effect
The union threat effect is when employers, in response to the possibility of unionization among their workers, implement changes or offer concessions to dissuade employees from organizing or joining a union.
In 2023, Starbucks decided to increase wages for non-union workers. This serves as an example for the union threat effect as, when faced with the threat of unionization, starbucks opted to proactively raise wages as a preemptive measure to dissuade workers from unionizing. Starbucks engaged in illegal union alleged busting by firing employees trying to unionize.
Companies also spend over 400 million a year on union avoidance consultants.
This move demonstrates how unions can help workers through the power of collective action in advocating for improved working conditions such as understaffing, and secure fair compensation. Starbucks sought to dissuade employees from pursuing union representation, thus maintaining control over labor relations and workplace policies, but only managed to highlight the influence that unions can exert in shaping employers' responses to worker demands.
The union threat effect underscores the significant influence that unions can have on shaping workplace dynamics and prompting employers to make concessions to maintain labor peace and avoid unionization.
Unionization Reduces Poverty
Higher unionization rates have been consistently linked to reduced poverty levels, providing a critical pathway to economic stability and social equity. By collectively bargaining for higher wages and better benefits, unions lift millions of workers out of poverty and narrow income inequality gaps.
Unions advocate for policies that benefit all workers, such as raising the minimum wage and ensuring fair labor standards, further contributing to poverty alleviation efforts.
Help your UNT Starbucks to Unionize
Go to the NLRB’s website and share or print brochures to give to the Starbucks employees during non-work hours.
Talk to your friends who work at the UNT Starbucks about unionizing. They deserve the national minimum wage, not UNT’s.
Unionization offers a platform for student workers to turn their needs into demands and collectively bargain for the wages and working conditions they deserve. Learn how to be the stepping stone for the future generations of workers and uncover the transformative potential of unionization for your workplace.
