Common Questions & Answers
What is a union? How does it work? What's the point of unionizing in ABA?
What is a union?
A union is you and your coworkers, coming together, united in purpose.
Formally, a union is an organization of workers ("employees") at a workplace. A union enables workers to democratically bargain with management (your bosses) for changes to working conditions, such as pay and benefits.
Unions work through collective action - as individuals, we are unlikely to change too much. When united as a majority, we can create real change.
How do you start organizing a union?
You should start by talking to 1-2 trusted coworkers and forming an organizing committee ("OC").
The organizing committee's job is to represent the interests of your coworkers, with one member on the OC for every 5-10 coworkers. The AWU can help you learn how to talk to, survey, and create petitions for the issues that matter to you at work.
With enough worker support, you can bargain with your employer at the local level for immediate changes. With enough support across the industry, we can impact systems-level change. The ABA industry has embraced the for-profit model; The ABA Workers Union insists this needs to change. People over profits, every single day.
This sounds like a lot of work - why bother?
Unionizing is a lot of work. However, the work we do matters. Children and their families rely on us to help them through one of the most difficult times of their lives.
We show up every day for that task, but each year, big business interests carve off another slice of the resources that were meant to go to our clients and us, the workforce. This is a big problem, and it's not specific to ABA - but since we work in ABA, it's our big problem to solve.
If we want better, we have to demand it. By standing together, united, we can make that happen. There is no profit to be made without us, and collectively, we have the power to make management listen.
What changes have other workers won at their workplaces?
Teachers, Nurses, and other workers have won huge gains from employers by unionizing, and light the way for ABA Workers who may be unfamiliar with what is possible. You may have seen nurses and teachers on strike in your city or on the news. Strikes are uncomfortable, difficult, and often necessary when the employer won't make changes workers need to survive and thrive.
Workers at hospitals, schools, dockyards, coffee shops, grocery stores, and major logistics and tech companies (like Amazon) have gone on strike to realize change at their work, including:
• Fair Pay: Wage increases beyond just cost-of-living - as high as 20% more for many workers
• Time Off: Meaningful Vacation time - 2 weeks of paid sick time, personal days, and paid time off with flex days in the event an employee is required to work on a holiday.
• Health Care: Health coverage with zero deductibles, zero coinsurance, and zero copay - the type of "health insurance" they have in other countries with nationalized healthcare systems!
• Protection: when management has a problem with a union member, the union rep. will be present to ensure the worker's rights are protected and to prevent discrimination, harassment, and unfair labor practices.
Take a look at some of the contracts other unions have won - and remember, these are legally binding, enforceable documents. These workers have won their union, and fought for a contract that works for them.
This is what's possible, and this is why a union is worth fighting for:
So, what is this "ABA Workers' Union?"
The ABA Workers Union is a direct-join union - an organization led by ABA workers for ABA workers. You can directly join without requiring a vote at your company. There is no dues structure; we are entirely volunteer-led.
We're the workers who make this type of therapy both possible and life-changing. If we can change lives, we can change our industry, too. This is a dream job for many - but a nightmare in practice. We work long hours in dangerous conditions with little to no support. We're going to change that.
We support workers organizing unions by coordinating participation in existing training programs to help bring the labor movement to ABA. We support each other in developing the social and practical skills necessary to organize at your workplace.
As a direct-join union, we eliminate the barriers and the risk of retaliation that employers pose by creating a discrete network of organizers. Our union is worker-led, meaning you and your coworkers are responsible for determining what to change and how to change conditions at your workplace through democratic practices (e.g., the organizing committee model).
If workers choose and feel ready, we encourage and actively support members to certify a majority NLRB union. These are the types of formal unions you see on the news.
The NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) requires that workers hold an election at their workplace to decide whether to join a union. At your specific location within your company, a tremendous amount of work and camaraderie is necessary before a union election can be held. The AWU exists to support you if you choose to go that route; alternatively, you can join to support and be supported by other ABA workers in the field as we work to advance the interests of those who do this work.
The AWU provides a platform through this website, our social media pages, and our Discord & Signal Groups for organizing with others in the industry across the country.
The AWU is a space where you can safely connect with like-minded colleagues at your workplace. With your support, we can teach one another how to organize, fight for, and win real change at our job sites.
Who can be in a union?
The workers! In ABA, that typically means paraprofessionals, techs, RBTs, BCaBAs, BCBAs, and BCBA-Ds - anyone who isn't part of management.
Employers (management) cannot form a union since they already have the authority to decide who works where, with what, and how much someone gets paid. They can hire, fire, and act with autonomy when it comes to creating or enforcing company policy.
Many BCBAs have "supervisor" in their title, and can still join a union. If you are an ABA worker without the ability to hire or fire staff, you are eligible for union membership.
1099 contractors are a notable exception - but are still encouraged to join the AWU. Many industries employ 1099 contractors as a way to circumvent providing meaningful benefits while still having a steady, full or part-time workforce. If you are a 1099 contractor and want to fight for recognition for the work you provide, join us and the thousands of other works who are organizing to change the laws that prevent you from winning your union.
How do I join the ABA Workers Union?
Apply for membership by clicking the join button and filling out the membership form. A response will be sent to you within 24 hours.
We're currently using Signal and Discord as community organizing platforms - both are free and allow us to protect ourselves by using pseudonyms and not sharing our phone numbers directly with others.
Please use basic safety hygiene on Signal or Discord. Use a pseudonym and ensure your privacy settings are set to hide your personal information. The reason we use Signal is that it provides us all with a layer of protection against malicious actors, as long as we use it correctly.
What are my rights, when it comes to union organizing?
Workers in the private sector are protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This federal law guarantees workers the right to organize, form unions, improve working conditions, and engage in collective action without retaliation by their employer.
These protections apply whether workers are just starting to talk about a union, have won a vote, or are already engaged in bargaining.
What are my specific rights under the NLRA?
Under Section 7 of the NLRA, workers have the right to:
It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against workers for engaging in protected organizing activity under the NLRA.
Examples of illegal retaliation include:
These actions are known as unfair labor practices.
Why are union campaigns so secretive?
Once management becomes aware of a union campaign, they often begin an organized response. That response can include meetings, messaging campaigns, policy changes, or increased supervision. Remember - your boss has everyone's phone number, email, address, and paycheck, AND they can call a 1-on-1 meeting with you at any time.
Workers should first build strong support so that, when the campaign becomes public, they are prepared to move forward together. Strong support should look like 60% - 100% of the workforce committing to and participating in the campaign.
It’s less about secrecy and more about timing. Most campaigns fail because they go public too early, not because they were too cautious.
How do I form an organizing committee?
An Organizing Committee (OC) is a group of workers from across different roles, departments, shifts, and locations who lead the union organizing effort at their workplace. The OC should be representative of the workforce - with workers of all demographics, job types, etc., having their voice heard. The goal of an OC is to reflect the full diversity of the workforce so that every group of workers has a voice in the campaign.
Why does the committee need to be “representative”?
A union campaign is strongest when the leadership reflects the workplace as it actually exists. That means including workers from different job classifications, tenure levels, backgrounds, and schedules. A representative committee helps ensure that concerns from all parts of the workplace are heard and that organizing efforts reach everyone.
What is a workplace map?
A workplace map is a structured list of the people who work at your company. It often includes their role, issues, and level of involvement/expressed support for the union (or opposition). It helps workers understand the full structure of their workplace so that organizing efforts reach everyone.
Organizing Committee members will often be "assigned" on a 1-to-10 ratio with general members of the workforce to help coordinate information, recruitment, and strategy. Labor organizer and author Jane McAlevey emphasized that strong organizing campaigns are built on careful mapping of relationships and leadership across the workplace, not assumptions or guesswork. The workplace map is a crucial tool to turn guesswork into certainty.
You can make a copy of the AWU's example, template workplace map to use in your own organizing campaign.
Workplace mapping might sound like busywork, but just as ABA relies on data to drive decisions, organizing also requires solid information to make judgments about what to do and when to do it. The organizing committee cannot be certain it is representing the majority of workers' needs without solid information on who supports them and what their issues are, and the workplace map is the perfect tool for that.
What does "going public" mean?
Why do union campaigns sometimes seem secretive?
Union campaigns are often kept confidential in the early stages to protect workers from pressure, retaliation, or interference while they build internal support and strategy. Organizing requires honest conversations among coworkers, and those conversations are easier when workers feel safe to speak freely.
Confidentiality is not about hiding information. It is about creating space for workers to organize without disruption.
Why not tell management right away?
Once management becomes aware of a union campaign, they often begin an organized response. That response can include meetings, messaging campaigns, policy changes, or increased monitoring/supervision.
All of this amounts to pressure that can negatively impact your campaign. Workers often know very little about unions, other than that their boss doesn't want them to be in one. There's a long history of management retaliating against workers for organizing, and sometimes this retaliation can be subtle: managers have even scheduled organizers on shifts separate from unorganized workers to keep workers separated and hinder campaigns. For these reasons, it's best to avoid telling management until you are well organized and prepared to coordinate with and support one another.
Does confidentiality mean workers are doing something wrong?
No. Confidentiality is a practical organizing strategy used in many situations, including business planning, legal cases, and negotiations.
The workers are simply protecting their ability to make decisions together without outside pressure.
A campaign typically becomes public when workers: