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Union Authorization Cards FAQs

Frequently asked questions about the name change to Corewell Health.

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. In our view, you should carefully read anything you are considering signing and not sign a union authorization card/petition/online form unless you know exactly how your signature will be used, what it will cost you, and what you can expect from a unionized environment.

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% 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 whether or not they want to be unionized. If the union collects signatures from more than 50% of those in a potential bargaining unit, it could demand that Corewell Health voluntarily recognize the union as the team member’s exclusive representative without holding a secret ballot election. If this were to happen, Corewell Health would exercise its legal right to reject this demand, and Corewell Health likely would file a petition with the NLRB to hold a secret ballot election. Corewell Health wants to ensure that all team members in the bargaining unit have the opportunity to determine their future with regard to unionization.

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 threatened or coerced by any union organizer or team member 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 threats or intimidation to your manager or Human Resources.

No. Signing a union authorization card, petition or online form does not guarantee anything. If a union were to be voted in, it gains the right to 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.

Yes. A team member who signs a card and then later changes their 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.

Organizing Tactics

Fact: Unions make numerous promises but there are no guarantees. Any change would have to be negotiated with and agreed to by the employer. In contract negotiations, you could end up with the same, more or less than you currently have.

Fact: You can get more information about unions without signing a union authorization card/petition/online form. Information is available from your manager, Human Resources and on the Internet. Information from the union should also be available without having to sign a legally binding document.

Fact: Signing a union authorization card/petition/online form isn’t about talking to the union. Your signature, and that of other team members, may be giving the union the ability to file a petition for election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) if they collect enough signatures. We think it is important to read the small print and do not sign a card unless you know how your signature will be used, what it will cost you, and what you can expect from a unionized environment.

Fact: You don’t need to sign a union authorization card/petition/online form to vote in an election if there is one. Only the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has the authority to determine which team members are part of the eligible bargaining unit and therefore able to vote in any election that may occur.

Fact: No matter what they say, the Teamsters will not leave just because you ask them to. There is too much money at stake for the union. Instead, if you want to remove the union, you would have to wait for at least one year and then initiate a formal legal process called “decertification.” This is a very difficult process for at least five reasons:

(a) it can only be done at certain times, which can be confusing to determine;

(b) it generally cannot be done when a contract is active, subject to narrow legal exceptions;

(c) it requires you to gather signatures from other team members, which could require hundreds of signatures depending on the size of the bargaining unit;

(d) Corewell Health cannot legally support or assist the effort; and

(e) the Teamsters are very likely to actively oppose the effort. The Teamsters know how difficult it would be to remove them, and in our view, they have no intention of leaving voluntarily.

Fact: If everyone else had signed, the organizer wouldn’t need your signature. He or she would already have enough signatures to petition the NLRB for an election or to approach the organization for voluntary recognition. The decision to sign – or not – is a personal one and should be based strictly on your own desire to be represented by a union, not on what the union says other team members have done.

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.

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