Updated October 2026
The short answer: A union gives you and your colleagues a legally binding say over your pay, benefits, workload, and the standards of your profession. Instead of negotiating alone, you negotiate together, and what you win is written into a contract your employer has to honor.
It works. In 2025, union members earned a median of $1,404 a week, compared with $1,174 for nonunion workers: about 20 percent more. And professionals are choosing unions in growing numbers. More than 6.6 million professionals belonged to a union in 2025, after nearly 170,000 joined that year.
Teachers, nurses, engineers, journalists, actors, scientists, librarians, and public servants all bargain through unions today. Below are answers to the questions professionals ask us most.
In this guide
Why would professionals want a union?
Isn't it "unprofessional" to join a union?
Can I join a union, or am I considered a supervisor?
Can I be fired for organizing?
How much difference does a union make in pay and benefits?
What about job security, workload, and hours?
Can a union help as my employer brings in AI?
Won't a union hold back achievement, or protect poor performers?
Will I lose my individual rights or my voice?
Will a union make my employer less competitive, or force a fight with management?
How does a union's political work benefit me?
How do I get started?
Why would professionals want a union?
Professionals face the same pressures as other workers: rising workloads, stagnant pay, eroding benefits, and decisions made far from where the work happens. But professionals face another pressure too: employers who put cost-cutting ahead of the standards of the profession itself.
A union gives you a formal, protected way to push back. Through collective bargaining, professionals have won limits on caseloads and class sizes, safe staffing ratios, protections for scientific and editorial independence, funding for continuing education, and a real say in how new technology is used. You can't win those things alone; together, you can.
Isn't it "unprofessional" to join a union?
No. Millions of the country's most respected professionals belong to unions, including teachers, nurses, physicians, engineers, architects, actors, musicians, writers, journalists, librarians, and scientists.
In fact, unions often protect professionalism. A union contract can guarantee that professional judgment shapes decisions about patient care, research integrity, or what goes on the air. Professionals join unions because they care about doing their work well.
Can I join a union, or am I considered a supervisor?
Most professionals can. The National Labor Relations Act, which covers most private-sector employers, specifically protects "professional employees," and professionals have the right to vote on whether to form a union of their own.
The law does exclude supervisors and managers. But a title like "manager" or "lead" doesn't settle the question. What matters is what you actually do, such as whether you have real authority to hire, fire, or discipline other employees. Public-sector employees are covered by state or federal laws instead, which vary by state and agency.
If you're not sure where you stand, contact us and we'll connect you with an organizer who can help.
Can I be fired for organizing?
It is illegal for a private-sector employer to fire, demote, threaten, or punish you for talking with coworkers about forming a union, signing a union card, or supporting a union campaign. That protection applies whether or not a union ever forms.
If an employer retaliates, workers can file a charge with the National Labor Relations Board, generally within six months. Experienced union organizers know how to protect workers through every stage of a campaign, which is one more reason to reach out early.
How much difference does a union make in pay and benefits?
A big one. In 2025, full-time union members earned a median of $1,404 a week, compared with $1,174 for nonunion workers, about 20 percent more. Union contracts also make pay more transparent and fair, which helps narrow pay gaps by gender and race.
The benefits gap is just as clear. Among private-sector workers in March 2026:
Employer health coverage: 92% of union workers, compared with 69% of nonunion workers
Retirement plan: 91% of union workers, compared with 70%
Paid vacation: 89% of union workers, compared with 79%
Paid sick leave: 88% of union workers, compared with 80%
What about job security, workload, and hours?
Without a union, most professionals work "at will," meaning they can be let go for almost any reason, or none. A union contract typically requires just cause for discipline or dismissal, plus a fair process to challenge decisions you believe are wrong.
Unions also bargain over the conditions that burn professionals out: caseloads, class sizes, patient ratios, on-call schedules, and overtime. When layoffs do come, a contract can set fair rules for who is affected, along with severance and recall rights.
Can a union help as my employer brings in AI?
Yes, and this is one of the most important reasons professionals are organizing today. Without a union, your employer decides alone how AI is used in your work: whether it monitors you, whether it replaces parts of your job, and who is responsible when it gets something wrong.
With a union, you can bargain over those questions. Union professionals have negotiated advance notice before new technology is introduced, limits on using AI to replace their work or likeness, consent and pay when their work is used to train AI, and a guarantee that a professional makes the final call. DPE's Principles on Artificial Intelligence and Professional Standards set out what professionals should expect.
Won't a union hold back individual achievement?
No. Union contracts set a fair floor, and you can rise as far above it as your work takes you. Many professional contracts include merit increases, performance bonuses, and pay for advanced credentials, alongside guaranteed minimums. What a contract adds is fairness: clear standards for raises and promotions, applied the same way to everyone.
Does a union protect employees who perform poorly?
A union guarantees due process. Employers can still discipline or dismiss employees for good reason. What changes is that they must follow fair, consistent procedures, which protects strong performers from arbitrary or unfair treatment as much as anyone.
Will I lose my individual rights or my voice?
No. You keep every legal right you have now, and you gain more. Unions are democratic organizations: members elect their leaders, help set bargaining priorities, and vote on whether to accept a contract. Nobody can commit you to a contract without a vote of the members it covers.
Will a union make my employer less competitive, or force a fight with management?
Unionized employers include many of the country's most successful hospitals, universities, studios, and companies. Fair pay and good conditions reduce turnover, and experienced staff who stay deliver better work.
Bargaining doesn't have to be adversarial, either. Many unions and employers use problem-solving approaches and joint labor-management committees to tackle shared challenges such as staffing, training, and new technology. Being pro-union means wanting a seat at the table, and plenty of managers welcome that.
How does a union's political work benefit me?
Many of the issues professionals care about are decided in Congress and statehouses: the legal right to organize and bargain, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, retirement security, funding for research and the arts, and so much more. Unions give professionals a collective voice on those decisions. Through DPE, professionals' unions work together in Washington on policies like these every day.
How do I get started?
Talk with coworkers you trust. Find out whether they share your concerns. Keep early conversations off work email and devices.
Reach out to us. Tell us your profession and where you work, and we'll connect you with the union that represents professionals like you. There's no cost or commitment.
Work with an organizer. An experienced organizer will help you understand your rights, map your workplace, and plan next steps.
Build majority support. When most of your colleagues are ready, you can seek recognition from your employer or a union election.
Want to see how other professionals did it? Watch our organizing stories and see the union difference professionals have won at the bargaining table.
Ready to talk with someone? Tell us about your workplace, and we'll connect you with the right union. Your conversation stays confidential. Email us at info@dpeaflcio.org
Sources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union Members, 2025 (released February 18, 2026)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026: retirement, medical care, and paid leave tables
DPE, Union Membership and Density Among Professionals Grew Again in 2025