The main purpose of Operating Engineers is to collectively negotiate for better wages, benefits and better working conditions through a legal and binding contract then enforce that contract representing you with your employer. By joining together in a Union, you and your co-workers have the collective strength to make sure you receive good contracts and fair treatment on the job. Unions are built on the same ideals that have made this country GREAT! Including the right to stand up and speak out to improve our lives and gain a rightful share of the American dream.
How will YOU benefit from working with an employer who has signed one of our master union agreements versus continuing to work nonunion?
CAREER SECURITY
The first question you must ask yourself is: Am I stronger by myself or with a team of workers all with the same desire to improve their lives and make the workplace a better place for everyone, including the employer? If the answer is yes, then working union is your career path to securing your future.
In today’s fast paced construction industry, as an operator you need options. Options are just one of the many things that working in a union offers. Currently you have very few options for employment. Working with us gives you over 900 options for employment, with opportunities in many different sectors. With this many options, you are more likely to find a good career path close to home so you can enjoy your life and family.
INSURANCE SECURITY
If you work under one of our current union master agreements with a signatory contractor, you have the comfort in knowing your family’s insurance will be there when you need it, without unexpected changes to coverage or a hike up of your premiums with deductions from your paycheck. We as members collectively vote how we want our insurance paid. This allows us to have the power to make positive changes that best suits our membership.
Currently, your employer can make changes to your wages, insurance, and retirement without you having an option. Working with us for a contractor that has accepted a master agreement gives you a voice you need and deserve. Take for instance your pay scale. Why do you deserve less from one day to the next? You don’t! Your skillset is worth the same wage and benefits each and every day, regardless of working on prevailing wage jobs or in the private arena. Secure your career and future by knowing your wages and benefits are protected by a contract that can not be broken.
RETIREMENT SECURITY
Working under a master agreement with one of our signatory contractors gives you the ability to know how much is in your retirement pension. Currently many are part of the Sapp 401k or Sapp ESOP retirement plan, both of which you can very easily outlive. Our collectively bargained pension plans through the master agreements are set up to provide for the rest of your life and the rest of your spouse’s life. Under your current plan, you hear these stories about all the successes in your plan from a select few, but are you seeing those successes? Probably not. Sapp ESOP and Sapp 401K have very few participants that qualify. Per the Sapp 2020 tax filing, their ESOP has 1,481 participants, but only 149 are eligible to receive a benefit. Per the Sapp 2020 tax filing the Sapp 401K plan, there are 1427 participants but only 135 are entitled to a benefit. Why are so few of you entitled to a benefit?
WORKPLACE SECURITY
Working with a signatory contractor under one of our master collective bargaining agreements provides a voice that cannot be suppressed. Currently, if you raise a safety concern or have to turn down leaving your family to travel for work or have a personality conflict with someone, you can be fired on the spot, with no recourse. Working with us gives you the power you deserve to protect your livelihood. If you are being targeted for standing up for what you believe, we as a union stand with you and with the protection and power of a legally binding contract with our signatory contractors.
Union Vs. Nonunion