Lots of animosity.................... .
A Union is nothing more than an association of like-minded individuals. The IBEW, for instance, isn't really the Union but is, instead, the representative of an organized group of people.
The IBEW (of which I'm a proud member) cannot seek higher wages from an employer; that's up to the membership. The IBEW (I'll restrict my Union comments to the IBEW but it is representative of all Unions) employs folks (representatives, VPs, negotiators, etc) who have some expertise on labor issues and will advise a Local / Unit on potential job action but, again, has no power to impose its will ("it" doesn't have any will; the "will" is owned by the membership of the Local / Unit).
Whether you're for or against Union representation is your own business but it's terribly important to understand what a Union is and, equally important, what it is not.
When a contract is being sought, the membership votes on all of its elements. When choosing who gets what job, when, the selection criteria is established in the contract upon which a vote was taken. Seniority tends to be the leading factor but it doesn't HAVE to be; that's up to the membership. If the membership writes into the contract that job selection should be based on height, that becomes the standard.
When we (Comanche Peak Chemists and RPs) first organized, we received a pretty healthy raise. Since then, we really haven't gotten much; in fact, we've lost wages with respect to inflation. Has the Union failed us? No; we ARE the Union and we've bargained for everything that we could get. It just so happens that the supply and demand equation leaves us on the short end of the stick.
If the desire to form a national Union is driven by money, my recommendation would be to stop trying to organize. The effort, in my humble opinion, should be based on working conditions, number of slots allocated for outage positions, guaranteed wages and benefits for the duration of the contract, a grievance procedure to halt arbitrary treatment of members, the cessation of double secret probation (is that still being practiced?), a standard for the determination of Per Diem rates, a standard for the determination of wages (an ANSI 3.1 technician receives $X.xx / hour anywhere (s)he works for example) and other protections afforded by labor laws.
Union dues: Typically, the monthly dues are equal to one hour's pay. Most of that amount is returned to the Local / Unit. Dues increase only if the membership votes to increase them (to build an office, for instance). One hour's pay per month.....it's only $100.00 if you make $100.00 per hour OR if you've voted to increase them.
If you're successful in your organizing effort, IBEW Local-220 will support your effort completely.
Bill Nichols
billnich@hpnc.com