How to Start a Union: A Beginner's Guide

A free printable min zine on basics for how to start a union at your workplace. Includes links to union organizers along with common reasons and benefits to start a union. Feel free to distribute!

This zine is a A4 design using Canva assets. 

"Union membership peaked in the 1950s at one-third of the workforce.  At that time, despite pervasive racial and gender discrimination, overall income inequality was close to its lowest level since its peak before the Great Depression, and was continuing to fall.  Over the subsequent decades, union membership steadily declined, while income inequality began to steadily rise after a trough in the 1970s. In 2022, union membership plateaued at 10 percent of workers while the top one percent of income earners earned almost 20 percent of total income." 

Zine Source: National Labor Relations Board. (n.d.). Basic steps to forming a union. https://www.nlrb.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/pages/node-184/steps-to-for...

Quote source: Feiveson, L. (2023, August 28). Labor Unions and the U.S. Economy. U.S. Department of Treasury. Retrieved August 26, 2025, from https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/labor-unions-and-the-us-economy

Header photo: kirill makes pics. (2017, May 1). Despaired Businessman Business. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/despaired-businessman-business-2261021/