Why is there no labor union for Civil Engineers?
Asked by Christopher
There are labor unions for all types of construction workers such as carpenters and steel workers. So why does there not exist a union for Civil Engineers?

Best Answer:
I am a licensed Profession Engineer (Civil) and my husband is the 'other kind' of engineer - he actually 'drives' trains and belongs to a Union. There are many reasons why CE's don't have a labor union. One of the biggest reasons is that CE's more often than laborers work for companies in which they are co-owners of the company. My husband also has some shares in his railroad, but his portion is in the fractions of a percent of the total. I own more than 5% of the company where I work (we are a small firm, but, to the best of my knowledge, a junior engineer at a large CE firm could have a very significant portion of the stock). Ownership has it's advantages - one of which is voting rights on company policies. Also, if management makes a bad decision, they have to actually face us all the time. Another reason is that one of the prime purposes for labor unions is to help insure safe working conditions. While CE's often get the chance to go out in the field and see the project that they are working on, they generally work in safe environments. (For example, on the pipeline project for which I recently did inspection, I got to stand 10yrds away up on top of the trench bank while the laborer had to stand in the trench and man-handle the pipe being laid.) These are just two answers that I can think of - just off the top of my head. I hope this helps.
Licensed Professional Engineer (Civil) for 8yrs
Answered by Jennifer