Is it hard to get in a union?

Is it hard to get in a union depends on type of union, industry, and whether workplace already unionized. If your workplace already has union, joining can be relatively easy, you typically apply for membership after being hired, fill out card, pay initiation fee and start dues, sometimes after probationary period, process straightforward. If workplace not unionized and you want to unionize it, process is much harder, requires organizing coworkers, collecting signatures from at least 30 percent of employees to petition National Labor Relations Board for election, campaigning against possible employer opposition, winning majority vote, then negotiating first contract which can take months or years. For skilled trade unions like electricians IBEW, plumbers, or carpenters, getting in can be competitive, you must apply to apprenticeship program which requires high school diploma, aptitude test, interview, and may have waiting list, apprenticeship lasts 4 to 5 years with classroom and on job training, so entry is challenging but not impossible. For industrial unions like UAW, you get in by being hired at union plant. Overall difficulty ranges from easy if already union shop to moderately hard if entering apprenticeship to difficult if trying to organize new workplace from scratch.