At Magellan Health, we value our direct working relationship with you. We believe a third-party union is not in the best interest of the families and service members we support or our MFLCs.
A union authorization card or petition is a legal document that may give a union the sole and exclusive right to speak and act on behalf of MFLCs in all matters regarding wages, benefits, working conditions and other terms of your employment at Magellan.
Signing a union card does not guarantee that you will get better wages or benefits or that issues and concerns will be resolved. If the union becomes your exclusive representative, the only right the union has is to represent employees and attempt to negotiate a contract with Magellan.
What is a union authorization card/petition?
A union authorization card/petition is a legal document that may give a union the sole and exclusive right to speak and act on behalf of MFLCs in all matters regarding wages, benefits, working conditions and other terms of your employment at Magellan Health.
Does signing a union card guarantee me better wages, benefits, PTO and working conditions?
Signing a card does not guarantee that you will get better wages or benefits or that issues and concerns will be resolved. If the union becomes your exclusive representative, the only right the union has is to represent employees and negotiate a contract with Magellan Health.
What are my rights if I don’t want to sign a union authorization card/petition?
Union organizers and MFLCs supporting the union can be extremely persistent. We want you to have the facts about your legal rights. Federal law provides employees with:
Why is my signature so important to the union, and what does the union do with signed authorization cards/petitions?
The union can do several things with a signed authorization card/petition.
What are my rights if a union organizer contacts me at home or by phone?
You have no obligation to meet or talk with union organizers. You do not have to respond to their mail, let them into your home, answer their phone calls or respond to text messages. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects your right to refrain from any union activity, to campaign against the union and to not sign union cards or a petition.
The union says that we shouldn’t talk with our supervisors about unionization –
or even listen to what they have to say about the topic. What should I do?
We respectfully disagree. The decision whether or not to support a union is a big one – for you and for our organization. We should all be talking about it. Remember that unions have their own agendas. They want your signature and your vote. Magellan is looking at the big picture – what’s in the best interest of our MFLCs, the performance of our contract with the government and the service members and families we support. We believe this is best accomplished by maintaining our direct working relationship with you without the intervention of a third party.
What can employees do if we don’t want the union?
You have the legal right to talk about your views and campaign against the union. If you don’t want to be represented by the union, you have every right to be share your opinions just like the MFLCs who have been talking about supporting the union. Or, you have the right to keep your thoughts to yourself. We know we can count on you to respect the legal rights of other MFLCs during this process.
Getting your signature is the union’s top priority right now because it allows them to petition the government for an election that will decide whether MFLCs will be represented by the union.
Federal law protects your right to make an informed decision about whether or not you want to be represented by a labor union! Under the National Labor Relations Act, you have the right to:
Union organizers may make a lot of promises to get your support. But the union has to negotiate with the employer for wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment. This is called collective bargaining.
As a result of the collective bargaining process (also called negotiations), you could end up with less than, more, or keep the same wages and benefits that you now have. There are no guarantees despite what the union may be promising you.
In fact, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that the collective bargaining process is potentially hazardous for employees.
“…collective bargaining is potentially hazardous for employees and that as a result of such negotiations employees might possibly wind up with less…after unionization than before.” Source: Coach and Equipment Sales, 228 NLRB No. 51.
Collective bargaining can take months or years. And, there is no requirement that the IAM and Magellan ever reach a contract. An employer does not have to agree to union demands, according to federal law.
“The obligation [to bargain] does not, however, compel either party to agree to a proposal by the other, nor does it require either party to make a concession to the other.” Source: Basic Guide to the National Labor Relations Act, Page 7.
Did you know that if the union is voted in, the union will ask you to pay dues and other fees? In some states, you may have to pay dues or fees to the union to keep your job.
It’s true. If the union contract includes a union security clause – common language included in union contracts – you may be required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of your employment. This means that the union could demand that you be fired if you fail to pay union dues.
Every union is different, but most unions set their fees as a percentage of an employee’s pay every month. The more you make, the more you pay the union. (The union sets the dues rate and decides when to increase dues.) Consider how that would add up over the course of a year – or your career.
Only the union determines how much members will pay in dues. Dues were calculated according to the formula in IAM Local Lodge 47 bylaws and does not include or assume regular union dues increases, which occur frequently. They also assume that your annual salary is the weighted average of the bargaining unit, and that you are a full-time MFLC. If you are not a full-time employee, your union dues may be less. As always, calculations are approximate. Any differences in published dues rates may be due to rounding.
What is right-to-work?
Right-to-work is a state law that prohibits union security agreements in labor contracts – – also known as Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) – – that require employees to pay dues or agency fees to the union as a condition of employment. There are 27 right-to-work states. Those states include:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa,Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
What is the difference between a right-to-work and non-right-to-work state?
In a non-right-to-work state it is permissible to have a CBA with a union security provision that says an employee can lose his/her job or be refused a job if he/she chooses not to belong to a union and/or to pay union dues or fees. No employee in any state can be forced to join or become a member of a union, but in a non-right-to-work state they can be required to pay the union (either dues or an agency fee) and would be subject to the provisions of the CBA regardless of whether he/she is a member.
I work in a right-to-work state, so why should I be concerned about a union representing my
co-workers and me?
In right-to-work states, you can’t be forced to join or pay dues to the union. BUT the union and colleagues who support the union will likely pressure you to do so. Unions have been known to use pressure tactics like publicly posting names of employees who don’t pay dues on websites, on bulletin boards and in union newsletters.
Additionally, if you don’t pay dues:
If I don’t pay dues to the union does the union still represent me?
Yes. Regardless of whether you are required to pay dues or fees, the union will be your representative and will have the right to make decisions on your behalf, and you would be bound by the terms of the CBA negotiated between the union and the employer.
Since I work in a right-to-work state, if the union won the right to represent Magellan MFLCs,
could I opt out?
Regardless of how you vote, if the union wins the right to represent MFLCs, all MFLCs at a facility would be represented by the union. And all MFLCs would have to comply with the CBA and the rules negotiated by the union – regardless of whether you agree with them.
If I move to a non-right-to-work state what are my rights?
In a non-right-to-work state, the collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the union would likely include a union security clause that would require you to pay dues or agency fee to the union as a condition of employment – for this reason, including union security clauses are a top priority of unions. If you refused to pay dues/agency fees, the union could request that the employer fire you.