Union jobs lead to better wages—not just for unionized workers, but for the entire working class.
@EconomicPolicy has a must-read new report showing the erosion of collective bargaining has been costing working people money for forty years.
@EconomicPolicy has a must-read new report showing the erosion of collective bargaining has been costing working people money for forty years.
The share of workers covered by a union contract fell from 27.0% in 1979 to just 11.6% in 2019.
The declining unionization rate translates to a loss of $1.56 per hour worked, the equivalent of $3,250 for a full-time, full-year worker.
epi.org/publication/er…
The declining unionization rate translates to a loss of $1.56 per hour worked, the equivalent of $3,250 for a full-time, full-year worker.
epi.org/publication/er…
Unions built the middle class by raising the wages of all workers.
The declining rate of unionization in the past 40 years is directly correlated with the collapse of the middle class.
The declining rate of unionization in the past 40 years is directly correlated with the collapse of the middle class.
"Unions have disproportionately benefited Black and Latino workers, workers with low and moderate wage levels and lower levels of education since as far back as the 1940s."
Unions do the most to help disadvantaged workers who have the least power on their own.
Unions do the most to help disadvantaged workers who have the least power on their own.
Unions help raise the wage of non-union workers through "spillover effects."
Once unions establish a good wage in a given industry, profession, or area, the prevailing wage increases. Unions make it easier for other workers to demand higher wages.
Once unions establish a good wage in a given industry, profession, or area, the prevailing wage increases. Unions make it easier for other workers to demand higher wages.
The loss of union jobs has a negative impact on the wages of all workers.
The loss of union jobs is most impactful to the wages of Black and Latino workers, low and moderate income workers, and the less educated.
Being anti-union is racist.
The loss of union jobs is most impactful to the wages of Black and Latino workers, low and moderate income workers, and the less educated.
Being anti-union is racist.
In the era from the end of WWII until the 1970s, unions “[were] a powerful force for equalizing the income distribution.”
As the number of union jobs declined, so did the middle class.
As the number of union jobs declined, so did the middle class.
How did we lose so many good union jobs?
"The primary reason was a concerted corporate attack on unions, starting in the 1970s, that exploited weaknesses in our labor laws to suppress the ability of workers to choose collective bargaining and organize."
"The primary reason was a concerted corporate attack on unions, starting in the 1970s, that exploited weaknesses in our labor laws to suppress the ability of workers to choose collective bargaining and organize."
The percentage of workers who want to join a union hasn't decreased since the highpoint of unionization in the 1970s.
"This collapse of [union] organizing was due to increased employer aggressiveness and use of both legal and illegal tactics."
"This collapse of [union] organizing was due to increased employer aggressiveness and use of both legal and illegal tactics."
As we showed in the Bessemer, AL union election at an Amazon warehouse, corporate America can get away with intimidating, threatening, and coercing workers to vote against a union.
And it's costing working people everywhere thousands of dollars per year.
And it's costing working people everywhere thousands of dollars per year.
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