MEA VOICE At Issue
Unions have positive impace on entire U.S. workforce
Those quick to condemn unions need
a reminder of the positive impact
that unions have had on the compensation
and working conditions of all workers
in the United States, unionized and
nonunionized.
Strong unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers follow, a report, “How Unions Help All Workers,” by the Economic Policy Institute of Washington, D.C., says.
While unions raise wages of their members by roughly 20 percent and raise total compensation, including both wages and benefits, by almost 28 percent, the impact on total nonunion wages is almost as large, according to the report.
The impact unions have on nonunion workers carries over to fringe benefits Unions have positive impact on entire U.S. workforce and working conditions as well.
“Unions have set norms and established practices that become more generalized throughout the economy, thereby improving pay and working conditions for the entire workforce,” the report says.
“Many ‘fringe’ benefits, such as pensions and health insurance, were first provided in the union sector and then became more generalized—though, as we have seen, not universal.”
Labor protections enjoyed by the entire U.S. workplace can be attributed in large part to unions. For example, union grievance procedures, which provide due process in the workplace, have been mimicked in many nonunion workplaces, the report said.
