After a tough two-year battle, the workers at Rite Aid’s distribution center in Lancaster, CA, won their fight to join ILWU warehouse Local 26 on March 14, 2008. They prevailed despite Rite Aid’s all-out effort to squash their organizing drive. They overcame the flaws in U.S. labor law that make it almost impossible for workers to form unions. And they gave the ILWU the largest mainland organizing victory that anyone can remember, sending a hopeful signal to other workers on the inland end of the maritime logistics chain.

So you want to unionize?

Way to go! Forming a union gives you a real chance at improving your work life. Average wages and benefits run higher for workers with union contracts, and a contract makes your job more secure: you can no longer be fired "at will.” The contract’s rules apply to everyone equally, so they can help make the workplace fairer. And a union gives you something you never get otherwise: a chance for you and your co-workers to sit down across the table from your boss and have your say on issues that affect your life in a big way. But getting from here to union takes some doing. Each organizing drive is different, but you always need to take some basic steps.