Old unions like this one that were originally more specific to a trade can and do attempt to expand and cover any type of trade if they want to. They also absorb (merge with) smaller unions all the time, even if the original name has nothing to do with the trade union they merged with. The end goal of international unions is to unionize most major trades, hence the concept of a general strike, to increase the bargaining power of the entire working class collectively across trades.

Late stage unionization.

There are several flavors of labor unions. Some represent entire industries, but in this case they are joining a federation of smaller unions that are company specific. So the titular IAM is more like a parent company, or franchise, and to an extent it can get somewhat arbitrary, but generally if there’s a union that already represents a similar industry as one’s own, that’s usually the one to choose, as they will have an established base of members, relevant expertise for preparing for a vote and negotiating contracts. Even for somewhat novel professions, there’s generally going to be a similar analog to start with. The nominal profession(s) (in this case, machinists) were simply the O.G. industry that kicked it all off back in the day. The IAM is part of the AFL-CIO, and represents more than 200 industries in North America according to Wikipedia. A labor union does what it says on the label, and represents a unified coalition of workers. Most of these kinds of unions have been around for far longer than even some of the industries they represent. The United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America also represents teachers, clerical workers, hospital workers, and railroad operators. Their power is derived from their numbers, and their reach is increased with a diversified pool of industries. They are incentivized to develop branches and provide a big tent in order to grow their influence and power. As long as the members’ interests are aligned, the specific jobs they occupy aren’t strictly relevant, however there needs to be some level of commonality in order to provide them with a meaningful amount of leverage during contract negotiations. If the organization is too untethered between industries, then things like labor strikes won’t carry the intended message very effectively.

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Note: I am not a union official, or even a member, and this is entirely based on my own (possibly flawed) understanding as a history and poli-sci enthusiast. Take it with the requisite grain of salt.

What you said makes sense. But I feel like representing lots of mostly-unrelated industries is a weakness, too?

Like, imagine you're a teacher and you're on strike because of conditions at some steel mill you've never heard of. You want to support your fellow workers... but also, you're forfeiting your income for a cause that's not yours, for people you don't know.

Typically, we’ll run unions have “strike funds” which are pools of money they distribute for strikes.

Additionally, I think backpay is sometimes part of a deal.

Few unions survived union-busting in the 80s, and pretty much no new unions formed. Between this and the hollowing out of the unionized trades in the US, we’re down to autoworkers, machinists, boilermakers, teamsters, and a few others as large unions able to help new shops unionize.

SEIU—service employees—is not insignificant. When I was involved with unionizing TAs at UIC in the 00s, we organized as an SEIU union.

NABTU is a large umbrella organization encompassing a lot of these.

Glaziers have their own union

IBEW (electrical workers) is another

Ironworkers, pipefitters/steamfitters, airline pilots, there are still a number of trade-specific unions.

Douglas J. McCarron head of the Carpenters Union Las Vegas, they own the most expensive piece of property in the USA (or thought to be) right across from the White House. The carpenters also do welders, carpet layers, ceiling tile, and a few others. Mostly in the upper US, as the south is known for being right to work. Some government contracts will pay prevailing wages even to non-union workers to make the bids fair.

isn't that paying them more, since they don't have to pay union dues?

Yes, the non-union employees will end up taking more home (paid the same but like you say less goes back to the Union, Insurance, Retirement, Training) than their union counter parts (assuming the boss is honest), but the idea is the Contractors need to base their bids off that number as to make the bids fair to all contractors both Union and Non-Union. Guessing the government has some auditing to ensure the employees are paid according to the Union wage of that location/trade. Without a prevailing wage would be very difficult for Union shops to get work on some of these Government projects.

It looks like Douglas J. McCarron is the head of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Brotherhood_of_Carpente...

Why do you say "Carpenters Union Las Vegas"?

Las Vegas is where the International Training Center is and where Douglas is usually based out of but you are correct he is the head of the whole union not just in Las Vegas.

It's more about which unions are willing to represent them. Sometimes it makes for strange bedfellows and sometimes it results in inter-union competition, but there are no strict laws on who can represent who as far as I know.

Some unions are more willing to take on an underdog, whereas others only get involved if it feels like a sure thing. Sometimes a union will support a drive if it specifically strengthens their position (like an adjacent industry). And some industries like fast food the big unions feel are a lost cause, so most union activity there is independent.

Think about it like finding an investor. There are a lot of unions and some are more similar to an organizing contract style than others to the groups organizing.

Others may not have the capacity or ability to help in larger cases like these.

It’s less formal than you might assume

Every Apple Store has a Genius Room, which repairs everything Apple makes. This union sort of makes sense.

It can get quite sophisticated as all stores are specialized and trained to make these repairs, including Geniuses getting trained on much of the same equipment as an iPhone assembly line, (plus the equipment to do the reverse) including test and validation equipment. I have worked at flagships in top tier cities, down to the smallest mall stores in a market that has exactly one store, the job is exactly the same. These jobs don’t require engineering degrees, but at least for Genius they require quite a bit of training, not so dissimilar from trades. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been there but used to be if one is promoted up to Genius they will be certified to do repairs. If one fails training and cannot get their Apple Technician Certification, they’re demoted or fired.

A benefit to getting into such a union is that other workers can put pressure on your managers via different mechanisms.

If your manufacturing job could be outsourced, you'll want the teamsters to refuse to unload the outsourced versions of the widgets off the boat