Your Right.
Your Choice.
Picketing has been described by the Supreme Court as "the working man's means of communication." A picket is a message from a group of workers engaged in a labor dispute who need the support of fellow working people. You have the right to choose whether to respect a picket. Under the law, union officials, including Business Representatives, are prohibited from telling you how to choose. They can only tell you if the picket line is authorized. The decision is solely yours to make.
Most union contracts include protection for members who do not cross a picket line. This allows members to show solidarity with the picketing workers and not face employer retaliation for doing so.
Your power. our power.
Union Power.
YOU ARE A UNION MEMBER.
YOU HAVE RIGHTS.
You have the right…
to refuse to work behind any picket line, no matter how many gates the employer may set up.
to decide for yourself whether to work on a picketed job.
to call your supervisor and ask to be placed on a different job.
Union members respect picket lines of all trades, because we know that our families may be next. Our labor is our power. Without us, the work does not get done. Friends don’t let friends cross picket lines.
STILL UNSURE
ABOUT YOUR
PICKET RIGHTS?
Call your local union Business Representative. They cannot advise your decision, but they can inform you of your choices. Read the picket sign to understand the reason for the picket and avoid conversations on the jobsite before talking to your Business Representative or the picket captain.