Unions

Description and History

A union is an organization of workers—who share a common employer or industry—that advocates for their rights in the workplace. Typically, unions are membership-based, democratically governed entities that support better working conditions and overall worker well-being. Through collective bargaining processes, unionized workers negotiate with their employers to advocate for better wages, more comprehensive benefits, more expansive protections from harassment and discrimination, and more. 

Union membership has long defined the relationship between workers and employers in the United States. From the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers, established in 1794 by Philadelphia shoemakers (Sandroff 2024), to the founding of the National Labor Union in 1866 (Library of Congress n.d.) shortly followed by the American Federation of Labor twenty years later (AFL-CIO n.d.), American unions are responsible for the following gains toward fair work: 

  • an eight-hour workday; 

  • the two-day weekend; 

  • a minimum wage and overtime pay; 

  • legislation against child labor; 

  • paid time off, including sick leave; and

  • healthcare for workers, including workers compensation (Oldham 2023).

In 2023, a tenth of wage and salary workers in the United States were members of a union. Public sector employees—particularly teachers and law enforcement workers—are much more likely to be in a union compared to private sector workers (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2023).

Unions, Fair Work, and the Community Wealth Building Wedge 

Unions are seen as not only critical to fair work, but also social and economic democracy. Put simply, unions build political power (Collord 2020). 

Colloquially referred to as the “union advantage”, unionized workers tend to have higher wages—18% more on average—than their nonunion counterparts (Bureau of Labor Statistics n.d.). Under a system of wage-labor where financial capital is the way to negotiate basic needs such as food, housing, healthcare, and transportation, fair compensation for workers is critical. For minoritized workers such as women, people of color, disabled individuals (Brown 2024), and others, unions don’t just pay more, they reduce pay gaps and expand benefits, especially along lines of both race and gender (Brown 2022; Economic Policy Institute 2023; AFL-CIO 2024; WORK Center n.d.) Beyond fair wages and good benefits, unions offer a platform for workers to have a say—direct democratic control—of their workplaces. 

The benefit of unions for individual workers has also demonstrated significant spillover effects for local communities. Most evidently, the financial stability that comes from a single union job provides entire families with greater opportunities for homeownership, educational attainment, and good health (US Department of the Treasury 2023) across generations (Madland and Rowell 2016). Unionized workers also pay more taxes, which enables local governments to better invest in a more comprehensive social safety net for the middle class (Banerjee et al 2021). Further, nonunionized firms in high union density areas are influenced by unionized firms and are more likely to offer competitive wages and benefits, positively shaping the landscape of fair work in a particular region (US Department of the Treasury 2023). Finally, when workers participate in a union, they increase both their social and, by consequence, their political capital. As a result, union members are better participants in our democracy; they are more likely to vote (by 12%), donate to charity, attend community meetings, participate in neighborhood projects, and volunteer (Feiveson 2023). 

As we approach a much-needed transition to a greener economy, unionized labor will be critical to the process. Organizations like the BlueGreen Alliance are dedicated to ensuring that the move from a fossil fuel to a clean energy economy centers—and does not leave behind—workers. Unions can serve as a vehicle to facilitate this transition in alignment with both environmental justice and fair work principles (Office of Labor-Management Standards 2023). 

Some even argue that this moment is an opportunity for a “double transition”—not just toward a green economy, but also to a more democratically owned one (Rethinking Poverty 2019). Emerging models of unionized cooperatives, for example, offer workers an opportunity to both harness their collective power (through unionization) and share in the fruits of their collective labor (through a democratically-owned enterprise) (Criscitiello 2023; Akuno 2024). 

Examples

United Auto Workers’ Stand Up Strike

One of the most recent examples of a union win is in Detroit, Michigan, home of the three biggest automakers in the United States: General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. In 2023, the United Auto Workers (UAW), representing nearly 150,000 workers (JohnCox 2022) in Detroit, launched a strike against the city’s “Big Three”. Frustrated with the lack of local job opportunities for the companies’ new manufacturing commitments to expand their fleet of electric vehicles and decades of stagnant wages and poor benefits, workers walked out and joined picket lines on September 15. 

After 46 days, the Stand Up strike was able to advocate for nearly $23 billion in gains for autoworkers in the region (UAW 2024). Specifically, the new contract between workers and company executives included: increased contributions to 401ks, pay increases of nearly 33%, and guarantees that some EV batteries will be made by unionized workers (Domonoske 2023). Though calls for retiree health care, pensions, and a four-day work week were a bust in Detroit, the Stand Up strike has inspired auto workers around the country to demand better wages, benefits, and working conditions. 

Cooperative Home Care Associates

One example of a powerful union-cooperative partnership is that of the Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) and the Service Employees International Union (SEU) Local 1199. Founded in 1985 in the Bronx, CHCA is a worker-owned home care agency now employing over 1600 staff, half of whom are worker-owners (CHCA 2024). Of those 800 worker-owners, 90% are women of color (SEC4CD 2021). 

As a cooperative, CHCA offers employees a $1,000 equity stake in the organization, with dividends paid annually based on company profits. Over half of the company’s Board of Directors—the governance entity which determines the group’s strategic direction as well as profit allocation—is comprised of home care worker-owners. Twelve Worker Council members are also part of the cooperative’s governance structure, serving as intermediaries between worker-owners and the Board by explaining financial decisions to workers and sharing worker feedback with the Board (GEO 2010). 

In 2003, CHCA joined forces with the SEU Local 119 to collectively reform the care industry in New York, raising both wages and labor standards state-wide (SEC4CD 2021). By organizing campaigns and influencing policy, the union-coop partnership won a $3 per hour total pay increase phased in through 2022 and 2023 (Lurie and Fitzsimons 2021; Pinto 2022). 

Challenges and Limitations 

While public support of unionization remains fairly strong, with 71% of Americans in support of labor unions (Goldberg 2024), union membership has steadily declined since the 1950s from ⅓ of the labor force to a meager tenth today (Green 2024). Many structural changes of the labor market account for this reality—from globalization to technological change to employer concentration (The White House 2022) to the rise of freelance and gig work. But, one thing is clear: the erosion of worker power has been ossified through a series of conservative legal moves (Mishel et al 2020; Rosalsky 2023), a glaring paucity of labor law enforcement (Mangundayao 2021), and the rise of anti-union private corporations (Hanner 2021), all of which is a result of an intentional neoliberal deregulation program. 

For workers living at the nexus of several marginalized identities (e.g. domestic, agricultural, and retail workers, many of whom are undocumented immigrants of color) or those participating in the ever-growing gig economy as freelancers (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2023), even the opportunity to unionize and collectively bargain with their employers is not available (WORK Center n.d.). Further, the story of organized labor is not one immune to anti-Black racism (Moreno 2008). Indeed, many unions once explicitly barred the participation of Black and other workers of color. Today, unfortunately, some unions continue to replicate imbalanced and racist power structures within their own organizations, in spite of the wins unionized labor has made for BIPOC communities (Zola 2022). 


Taking It Forward

We know that unions are critical entities that not only promote control of workers’ own labor, but also build communities in which these structures “can serve as the ‘power bases for what becomes the next system’” (Collord 2020). As the Overton window for advancing workers’ rights—in the United States and globally—expands, economic development professionals, legislators, policymakers, community organizers, and workers can all work together to amplify the power of the union while also integrating the model with others rooted in more democratic ownership towards a greener, more just economic system for us all. 

Additional Resources