A union authorization card/petition/online form is a legal document that can give a union the exclusive right to speak and act on your behalf with regard to wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment. You do not have to sign a union authorization document to get more information or to vote in an election if there were one. You should carefully read anything you are considering signing and not sign a union authorization card/petition/online form unless you are sure you want to be represented by a union.

Authorization documents can take many forms and generally look harmless. Hard copy cards may resemble a magazine subscription renewal card. Petitions may look like a normal piece of paper often with very small writing outlining the legal obligations that come with signing. Some authorization documents are simply online forms that ask you to click on “I agree.”

Regardless of their appearance, however, a signed authorization card is a legal power of attorney that authorizes a union to act as the collective bargaining agent for you and other team members in negotiations with the employer. The documents also provide the union with personal information, including a home address and telephone number so the union representatives can contact you or visit you at home. The card may ask what department you work in and the type of work you perform. The NLRB requires only a signature and date on authorization cards; it is the union that wants the additional information about you that is requested on a card.

Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), if the union obtains signatures from 30 percent of the team members in a potential bargaining unit (team member group), it can file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a secret ballot election in which team members vote to determine if they want to be unionized. If the union collects signatures from more than 50 percent of those in a potential bargaining unit, it could demand that Corewell Health recognize the union as the team members’ representative without holding a secret ballot election. If this were to happen, CorewellHealth would exercise its legal right to reject this demand, which would require the union to file a petition with the NLRB to hold a secret ballot election.

Signatures on union authorization documents can be gathered in a number of ways including:

• Going to your home and asking to come in and speak with you
• Online and through texts and emails
• Waiting for you as you leave work
• Approaching you and other team members in Corewell Health facilities while at work, in the cafeteria, break areas or in the parking garage
• Through meetings purported to offer professional education credits
• Through sign-in sheets at informational meetings
• Through co-workers who support the union
• Through flyers sent to your home with cards attached

You have the right not to sign an authorization card, petition or online form and to not be pressured or harassed by any union organizer or supporter. If you feel you are being pressured or harassed to sign a union document, you may tell the organizer you are not interested and to leave you alone. You can also report this to your manager or Human Resources.

Signing a union authorization card, petition or online form does not guarantee anything. If a union were to be voted in, the only thing it can do is negotiate on behalf of those it represents. In contract negotiations, you could end up with more, the same or less than you currently have. No one can predict the outcome of union contract negotiations.

A team member who signs a card and then later changes his or her mind has every right to ask for the card back, and to rescind their authorization of union representation by sending a letter via certified mail to the union’s local office. It is also a good idea to send a copy to the National Labor Relations Board regional office as well, so that they know that the team member has revoked the authorization and requested that the card be returned. A team member also can attempt to revoke the card by asking the person the card was given to, to return it.