Reblog Source: American Federation of Teachers.

As a social worker, I knew I wouldn’t make a lot of money coming out of school, but thanks to unions I landed my first job right out of graduate school at a unionized hospital with completely-covered ($0 premium, $0 copays) healthcare, four weeks of vacation, and protected overtime.

This is much more generous than the private sector, where many large agencies hire new social workers to provide fee-for-service contract work that excludes healthcare coverage or any other benefits that serve as safety nets for the unpredictability of life (e.g., disability insurance, sick days, personal time). This is one of the pitfalls of the gig economy “Uberfying” and exploiting the labor of as many industries as possible.

As an adjunct university instructor, I’m grateful for unions allowing me to do private practice while being able to rest easy on the health insurance policy from one of the institutions where I instruct. For me this is the perfect balance between being an entrepreneur and having the stability and collegiality of working in a public institution where many fight for labor rights and espouse the mission values of social work.

Happy Labor Day. Thank a union today.