I am a union member

Good morning friends,

I am wondering what the right translation is for “I am a union member” and “My work is unionized.” Somehow “Είμαι μέλος συνδικαλισμού» and «Η δουλειά μου είναι οργανωμένη” don’t seem right.

Thank you.

Cosmasad

"Union member" would translate as "συνδικαλισμένος" or "μέλος συνδικάτου" (or possibly "μέλος του συνδικάτου" if referring to a union already mentioned).

As for "unionized work", in our times this would rather refer to the mere existence of a union: "στη δουλειά μου υπάρχει συνδικάτο" (or "σωματείο"). In older times, it might entail connotations of closed shop, obligatory contributions by workers to the union, or control of hiring by the union, which would require a rather descriptive translation.

Thank you, Themis. Am I right in saying that the word " συνδικατο" carries a bit of a negative connotation like it does in English? And if so, is there a more positive term -or emotionally neutral term - for a union -- maybe something colloquial that somebody might use casually?

Thank you.

...
Union Man - Neil Young


I'm proud to be a union man
I make those meetings when I can, yeah
I pay my dues ahead of time
When the benefits come
I'm last in line, yeah...

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nickel said:

How can you tell the difference between a chemist and a plumber? Ask them to pronounce unionized.
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Zazula said:

To 11 αναφέρεται στο ανιονάιζντ (μη-ιοντισμένος) που θα πει ο χημικός, ενώ ο υδραυλικός θα πει γιουνιονάιζντ (συνδικαλισμένος).
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daeman said:

Όπου πάτε θυμηθείτε, στη Λέξι όλα θα τα βρείτε: un-ionized vs. unionized, από το #15 έως το #25, σ' ένα νήμα ΧΧΧ, μα τη χημεία μου!

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Perfect:) Now if he could only sing in Greek!

cosmasad said:

Am I right in saying that the word " συνδικατο" carries a bit of a negative connotation like it does in English? And if so, is there a more positive term -or emotionally neutral term - for a union -- maybe something colloquial that somebody might use casually?

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Does the word "union" carry negative connotations in English? Unless you are referring to the word "syndicate", which has a slightly different usage in English (and especially American English).

Συνδικάτο or σωματείο are both acceptable words for union, however the latter is more commonly used for unions of all kinds, whereas the former is usually used to refer to the larger and sometimes noisier trade unions and may be used in a negative or a positive way.

Union doesn't have negative connotations in English, but "Syndicate" does. Thank you for the clarification on Συνδικατο vs. σωματειο. Thank you!