Independent Unions Having More Success than Traditional Unions

Independent unions are popping up everywhere. What are they, and why are they the favored approach to Gen Z’s union organizing efforts?

Independent Unions are having their day as many workers opt to create their own, grass roots union.

We’ve seen them started at Amazon, Trader Joe’s, Home Depot, Starbucks, Lululemon, and others retail and food service companies.

Independent unions do not have formal ties to a national or international union. Traditional unions, on the other hand, have gigantic structures that include local chapters that serve specific workplaces or regions.

Union members of traditional unions pay dues to their local union, and the local unions pay dues to the national union. The national unions then provide services to the local unions like offices, marketing, organizing assistance, strike funds, etc.

Independent unions organize and operate without access to those resources. Their members prefer to control their campaign without the influence or direction of a larger union.

In my opinion, independent unions will play an enormous role in reviving unionism and inspire interest among young people in organizing.

Independent unions, to me, is affirmation that Gen Z, which is the most pro-union generation of our time, does not trust unions.

Gen Z wants a seat at the company’s table (I’ve written about that on LinkedIn before). But Gen Z also wants a seat at their union’s table. The hierarchy and bureaucracy of traditional unions does not afford them this opportunity.

Some unions have taken note of this. They realize that they need to realign their approach to organizing. Strategies used in the 1990s and 2000s do not work on Gen Z.

But getting a behemoth union to change its way of doing things is more difficult than getting a leopard to change its stripes.

And independent unions are the answer to employees who want to unionize their own way.