Getting a call that your company needs you on your day off can be deeply annoying. Setting aside the realization that, without you, an entire organization grinds to a halt, time off should be basically seen as sacred.

So one employee, after getting multiple texts and a call decided to clock in and make the most of it when told that the company urgently needed his help. Malicious compliance ensued, allowing OP to turn just minutes of work into nearly an entire extra day of paid leave. Netizens discussed this bit of MC and the benefits of being a union member. We got in touch with Canadutchian, who wrote the story, to learn more.

Working on a day off sounds like a proposition straight from hell

Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)

But one employee decided to make the most of it when their boss needed them to fix a phone system

Image credits: Jack Sparrow (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Canadutchian

Employees organizing and demanding better conditions is often a good thing

Image credits: Sora Shimazaki (not the actual photo)

Bored Panda got in touch with Canadutchian and they were kind enough to answer some of our questions. We wanted to hear their take on the benefits of union membership and some of the myths one often encounters about this topic. “Your job can offer you more than just the minimum set out by local law. As a collective group of staff, you can bargain for more vacation time, more sick time, and other forms of leave such as parental leave or bereavement leave, you can negotiate pension options, have the company pay for professional fees and expenses (such as uniforms or certifications), etc. Hourly wages are just the tip of the iceberg that employers can offer to their employees, and individually you have exceptionally little power to negotiate.”

Regarding the myths, OP had a lot to say. “Union Dues are so expensive: Union Dues are often set as a percentage of your income, with a cap. Union Dues on average are set to 1% to 2%, meaning that for each dollar you earn, 1 or 2 cents goes to the union. On average, in both Canada and the US, unionized workers earn more than 15% more than their non-unionized counterparts. If you were to get a 15% raise, and then a 2% decrease due to union dues, you would still be making more money. 2. Unions are only out for themselves: Unionized benefits help non-unionized people a lot as well. Things like the end of child labor, the 40 work week, occupational health and safety regulations, and many more are enjoyed by people around the world because other people fought so hard and long for those rights they have become standard. 3. Unions protect lazy people: Unions protect their members from unfair action against them. If an office worker is caught, for example, sleeping on the job and getting fired, a union will argue that for a first offense that’s not an appropriate discipline. There are dozens of examples I could give, and you might have some yourself as well, but each situation is unique and should be approached as such.”

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“If you are not in a union and are considering the benefits, contact any local union of your choice. Even if they do not specialize in your profession or industry, they will gladly direct you to the right resources. A chat with a union costs nothing but time, and you do not have to become unionized if you don’t want to. But learn about your rights, and exercise them. We as workers need their wages to live, but they as bosses need our labor to make their profits. If we all stand up together, they cannot stop us!”

OP, as a resident of Canada, is right to recommend union membership to anyone who can get it. Interestingly, union membership in Canada has been in steady decline over the last half-century and now sits around 28.7%. While most workers can unionize, the expansion of independent contractors has reduced union presence in the workforce. Independent contractors are not actually able to unionize in Canada.

Research suggests that unionization helps almost everyone

Image credits: Kindel Media (not the actual photo)

OP’s story demonstrates, in more than one way, why unionization is a good idea for most workers. First and foremost, the extra days off they get every single month. Secondly, the pretty generous overtime benefits, which were very likely achieved through union pressure. Even if this company implemented this policy independently, it likely only did it to match the norms in similar organizations.

This, in many ways, is one of the main benefits of unionization. By forcing just a few companies to improve conditions, they create a spillover effect across entire industries. After all, if new workers are looking for what company to join, they will often give preference to the one with the best conditions. So all businesses are forced to “escalate” their benefits to stay ahead, to the advantage of workers.

Surprising almost no one, unionization is widely associated with increased employee retention. Interestingly, this still holds even in companies where workers express unhappiness with their jobs. Since a union allows workers to actually raise their concerns and negotiate, employees actually have an incentive to not quit and simply work something out with management.

While some argue that unionization impedes productivity, it’s worth asking if productivity is actually worth anything, if it comes at the expense of workers’ mental and physical health. This argument doesn’t necessarily correlate to reality either. In the US, states with higher union membership have better minimum wages, higher median annual income, and better unemployment insurance.

In life, as in business, you get what you pay for, so it seems only rational that better-paid employees will do better work. The aforementioned study also found that areas with high union membership benefited from better revenues for the government and overall lower government spending, as companies would foot much of the bill for social safety nets.

Workers should always know their rights and take advantage of them

Image credits: Edmond Dantès (not the actual photo)

Because unions often pressure businesses into actually covering health insurance, and retirement plans and providing a certain amount of paid leave. While, ideally, these concepts would be made mandatory by law, but unions do allow the government to limit its expenses. Other studies have shown that areas with union membership have less restrictive voter laws and, overall, more participation in civic society.

So, while OP’s tale only loosely fits the concept of “malicious compliance,” it still serves as a great reminder of why it’s vital for workers to know their rights and to take advantage of all the laws, regulations, and rules that exist for their benefit. Anyone who has been actually forced to work (for more than 10 minutes) on a “day off” would no doubt agree.

OP chatted with some readers and shared some extra details

People loved OP’s malicious compliance and shared their own stories

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