What is so hard about changing unions?
First, if you are in an AFL-CIO affiliated union, and most union members are, then you run into the AFL-CIO’s “no raiding” rule: no AFL-CIO union can take on the members of another AFL-CIO union for at least a year after the workers leave their old union. This means you can not just switch from CWA, for example, to the Teamsters. Instead, you would have to join an existing independent union or form a new union and wait a year before affiliating with the Teamsters or some other AFL-CIO union. Second, there are only a few legitimate independent (non-AFL-CIO) unions out there. There is the United Electrical Workers union (UE) for example, and some local or regional independents. You can, like the workers who formed the Coalition of University Employees, start a new independent union. It’s a lot of work, but may give you the best chance to control your own affairs. Watch out, there are also a host of phony, company-dominated “independent unions” that will do their best to take advantage of
