Unions for Veterinary Professionals

While the COVID-19 pandemic has shutdown some industries, veterinary services have become more important than ever with vet clinics and animal hospitals being deemed essential in most places. Unfortunately, vet and vet tech pay and conditions are not keeping up with the growing demands for vet services. Vet professionals are looking to collective action through joining together in union to address the following workplace problems:

  • Long and inconsistent hours

  • Low or nonexistent hazard pay

  • Sub-par benefits

  • Inadequate pandemic safety practices

Unions have made a difference in a variety of industries and its time veterinary professionals join together in union to raise their workplace standards. You can learn more about the benefits and process of unionizing below as well as contact us to find out more about forming a union in your workplace.


 

Connecting professionals with a union that is right for them is part of the Department for Professional Employees’ (DPE’s) Professional Union Initiative. The initiative aims to help professionals in different industries improve their pay, benefits, and working conditions with a union. Here are the other professional industries we are focusing on:

The Professional Union Initiative

Uniting for opportunity and stronger workplaces

 
 

If you are ready to join with your coworkers to form a union, we can connect you with an experienced, professional union that can answer your questions and help you through the process of forming a union in your workplace.

Unions of professionals improve their workplaces

Professionals in the private sector are joining together and achieving tangible gains, including salary minimums, work-life balance, improved retirement contributions, and a voice in decisions that affect them. Learn more about professionals who’ve experienced the union difference:

  • At aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, thousands of professional and technical employees are union members, and have used their collective voice to advocate for regular and transparent wage increases, better healthcare benefits, and employer contributions to retirement plans. Union members at Lockheed Martin have also secured flexible work schedules to balance the needs of work and family.

  • From Vox.com to HuffPost to The Onion, digital journalists at online publications across the news industry have realized the benefits of forming unions. By using their collective voice journalists at Vox.com negotiated for a union contract that guarantees a minimum salary of $56,000, annual raises ranging from 2.75 to 3 percent, health insurance for part-time employees, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave. News professionals at The Intercept secured first-of-its kind diversity and inclusion provisions in their union contract, including requiring at least two candidates from underrepresented groups are interviewed when hiring.

  • Medical professionals like doctors, nurses, radiologic technologists, speech therapists, and many others have formed unions and gained a say in their work loads and other working conditions. Doctors at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart in Oregon negotiated to prevent outsourcing of jobs, to have input on decisions related to work loads, as well as for a raise. Nurses at Munson Medical Center in Michigan have used their union to limit forced overtime, address nurse staffing levels, and establish new safety procedures to increase the quality of patient care.

DPE has helped connect thousands of professionals with unions. These professionals knew they deserved a written contract - just like their CEOs have - that guarantees pay and benefits, defends employees interests, and can’t be changed without their approval. When professionals stand together to negotiate with their employers, they are winning fair pay, improved benefits, and a voice in decisions that affect them.

How to form a union

Over six million professionals have exercised their workplace right to form a union, and many more would be supportive of a campaign to unionize their workplace if given the opportunity. Forming a union may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t need to be. A union is just a group of employees working together to improve their workplace, and forming a union largely consists of talking to coworkers about their experiences at work. Below are the steps to forming a union.

 

Contact Us

Professionals interested in learning more about unions should fill out the form below. DPE staff will connect you with a union in your area who can answer your questions and assist you with forming a union in your workplace.

We look forward to helping you start connecting with your coworkers about improving your pay, benefits, and working conditions.