Value for money
Union contributions represent only around half a percent of workers‘ earnings but the pay back is considerably greater.

Support at work
You have the legal right to be accompanied by a trade union representative if you have a workplace grievance or if you are facing disciplinary action.

Better pay - especially for ethnic minority and women workers
Trade union collective bargaining produces a better rate of pay for workers. Average earnings are around eight per cent higher in workplaces where the bulk of the workforce is covered by collective bargaining.
Black and Asian trade unionists earn almost a third more than their non-union counterparts. For white workers the union premium is ten per cent.

Pensions
Workplaces are more likely to have a pension scheme where a trade union is recognised for the purposes of collective bargaining.

Sick pay
Workers in unionised workplaces are more likely to get sick pay paid at higher than the statutory minimum than those in non-unionised workplaces.

Annual leave
The average trade union member in the UK gets 29 days‘ annual leave a year compared with 23 days for non-union members.

Equal opportunities and family-friendly working
Workplaces with union recognition are 20 per cent more likely to have an equal opportunities policy than workplaces where no union is recognised and 12 per cent more likely to have parental leave policies in place.
Women in unionised workplaces are better off in terms of career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and support for family responsibilities than women in non-union workplaces.

Job security
Trade union members are only half as likely to be sacked as non-members and if they do they get better compensation.
Three quarters of union-organised workplaces in an LRD survey had a procedure agreement on redundancy consultation, 80 per cent had agreed measures to avoid redundancy and almost three quarters had a redundancy pay scheme better than the statutory scheme.
The benefits of membership in BIGWU continue for all members of our union.