For professional and technical workers, the key attraction of a union is that it gives them a voice. The ability of unions to bargain and negotiate with employers on behalf of their members can make a critical difference in the lives of the members.

A union is a group of workers who come together to win respect on the job, better wages and benefits, more flexibility for work and family needs and a voice in improving the quality of their products and services. Workers in unions counter-balance the unchecked power of employers. Dues paying members allow the union to make a difference in national issues like the implementation of the National Security Personel System. The court case that is holding up implementation for our bargaining unit members would not have been possible without dues-paying members.

Our dues are used to fund grievance resolution, travel to meet with our congressmen and an annual union lunch to which all dues paying members are invited. While it is not required to pay dues under federal law, the membership suffers when collective bargaining unit members choose not to pay, leaving the cost of doing business to those members who realize the necessity of a financially strong Union. Grievances are lost when costs cannot be covered and precedents are set costing us all in the long term.

A contract gives you a voice in the workplace. Not only will you gain a say in what your wages, benefits and working conditions are, but your participation in Local 97 gives you power in numbers and the strength, expertise and history of success to negotiate a meaningful contract.

Dues at the current time are only 8 dollars bi-weekly and can be deducted automatically from your pay. This also affords you membership in the National IFPTE. Contact your local steward or see the list of officers and stewards on the "Contacts" page of this site.

 

 IFPTE Member Benefits - including a dental plan, college scholarship and the Union Plus program.

 

http://www.unionpriv.org/benefits/custom.cfm - including a Powell's discount!

Here is a pdf listing some of the benefits offered by Union Plus

 

Why Professionals Should Organize? -
From the AFL-CIO Dept. for Professional Employees

"If you love wealth greater than liberty, 
the tranquility of servitude
greater than the animating contest for freedom, 
go home from us in peace."

"We seek not your counsel, nor your arms."

"Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you."

"May your chains set lightly upon you;
and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Samuel Adams

Every advance in this half-century--Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another--came with the support and leadership of American Labor.—Jimmy Carter

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.—Albert Einstein

The next time you wonder what the union does for you, take a look at the car you drive, the house you own, the standard of living you have, and realize that the union got these for you and that management is hell bent on driving your standard of living into the ground.—Tom Kelly, Local President (VT) APWU

Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised wages, shortened hours, and provided supplemental benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor. —John F. Kennedy

One man can make a difference, and every man should try.—John F. Kennedy

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has.—Margaret Mead

Every piece of progressive social legislation passed by Congress in the 20th century bears a union label.—George Meany

The basic goal of labor will not change. It is -- as it has always been, and I am sure always will be -- to better the standards of life for all who work for wages and to seek decency and justice and dignity for all Americans.—George Meany

This troubled planet is a place of the most violent contrasts. Those that receive the rewards are totally separate from those who shoulder the burdens. It is not a wise leadership.— Mr. Spock of "Star Trek"

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. —George Orwell (Animal Farm)

I don't wear a tie because it is a symbol of management. I don't think like management, I don't act like management, and I damn sure don't want to look like them. — Leo Persails, APWU

Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous.—William Proxmire

Let the nation and the world know the meaning of our numbers.—A. Philip Randolph

There's s a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls. —Walter Reuther

Labor is not fighting for a larger slice of the national pie--labor is fighting for a larger pie.—Walter Reuther

This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.—Theodore Roosevelt

United we bargain; divided we beg!—SEIU Health Care Workers Union Local 250 button

The only antidote to dangerous ideas is strong alternatives vigorously advocated. —Lawrence Summers, President of Harvard University

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. —Harry S Truman

Today, we say that when you pick a fight with any of us, you pick a fight with all of us! And that when you push us, we will push back! —AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka Oct. 26, 1995

Activism is the rent I pay for living on this planet.—Alice Walker

Neckties strangle clear thinking.—Lin Yutang

 

 

With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men. - Clarence Darrow

 

To Join, Simply print out the IFPTE Local 97 application and the standard form SF 1187.  Fill each form out completely and either hand them to your steward or mail them to:

Gordon Taxer
President IFPTE Local 97
1125 NW Couch Street
Portland, OR 97208

Thank you for becoming a member and a warm welcome from your fellow union brothers and sisters.