"What do I get for my union dues?" is a question heard frequently around ready rooms and lodging facilities, but seldom really answered in any detail. This article provides some basic information about some of the benefits of union membership that don't show up in the check each payday, but are nevertheless just as real and as important as the take-home pay.

Based on costs actually known as of January 1, 2001, for an employee earning $59,700.00 (the tier 2 cap) in 2001, monthly fringe benefits paid solely by the Carrier are as follows:

If a member paid $80.00 per month in dues, the return on investment is over $25.00 for every dues dollar, just on these listed items. Additionally, our National Agreements require the Carriers to provide off-track vehicle insurance, holidays, vacation pay, and a host of other benefits, all without cost to our members. No Wall Street venture, regardless how risky, could even come close to the return on investment that UTU members realize every month.

Besides these purely financial benefits of union membership, UTU members enjoy the tangible benefit of having a voice, and of knowing that their union representative can take any unacceptable management decision to a higher, independent authority if necessary.

• Union members have the right of appeal on claims, grievances and discipline, and in some limited circumstances, the right to simply refuse to work. No amount of money could buy those privileges in a non-union workplace. These rights are ours under the Railway Labor Act, which exists only through the ongoing efforts of the union.

• Because of our legislative department, we also have a strong voice in state and federal government, allowing us to effectively pursue legislation favorable to working people and fight legislation favoring greedy management.

• Because of our legal department, we are collectively represented in the courts without direct cost to the aggrieved members.

• Injured railroaders have access to expert attorneys to pursue realistic compensation for injuries caused by negligent employers. The Federal Employers Liability Act is the only meaningful wrongful workplace injury legislation in the world, and is constantly under attack by railroad bosses who want a "no-fault" fixed compensation law like Workers Compensation.

• Another huge benefit to UTU members is our right to form a fraternal insurance division. This part of UTU has grown out of the foundational need to "take care of our own" when members in highly dangerous jobs are injured or killed. There was a time when insurance companies simply refused to sell life insurance to railroad workers because of their high mortality rate. Today we have our own insurance association and we know that our premiums are not being used by big business to defeat our goals as unionists.

Beyond these important rights and privileges, there are also many important but less tangible benefits of being a union member. Abraham Lincoln said "All that serves labor serves the nation. All that harms labor is treason to America. No line can be drawn between the two… There is no America without labor, and to fleece the one is to rob the other." When union workers do well, all workers gain in terms of decent wages and working conditions and dignity and fair treatment. When I pay my union dues I don't just help myself, I also help all working men and women and their families. I help strengthen the fabric of the American work ethic, and I help maintain the middle class, which was created by the labor movement and, more than anything else, distinguishes the American society from all other nations on earth. Even if my dues dollar didn't get me a 2500% return on investment every month, I would gladly pay my dues just to be part of this great movement.