Unions and Worker Power

Unions represent workers of all levels of education, and union workers are diverse, just like America. As of 2016, roughly 10.6 million of the 16.3 million workers covered by a union contract are women and/or people of color, and more than half (54.5 percent) of workers age 18 to 64 and covered by a union contract have an associate degree or more education.

The erosion of collective bargaining has undercut wages and benefits not only for union members, but for nonunion workers as well. This has been a major cause of middle-class income stagnation and rising inequality. Yet, millions of workers desire union representation but are not able to obtain it. Restoring workers’ ability to organize and bargain collectively for improved compensation and a voice on the job is a major public policy priority.

Care Economy

Ensuring access to high quality early childhood care and education would have enormous benefits for children, families, society, and the economy. Read More.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing sector is of vital importance in maintaining states’ innovative capacities. Read More.

So-Called “Right-to-Work”

So-called right-to-work (RTW) laws seek to hamstring unions’ ability to help employees bargain with their employers for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. Read More.

Collective bargaining through a union is how working people gain a voice at work and the power to shape their work lives.

Publications

Publication

Murray-Kaine Proposal Would Protect and Improve Child Care For Thousands of West Virginia Working Families

With temporary federal funding to help families afford child care ending soon, US Senators Patty Murray and Tim Kaine have proposed an increase in child care funding for all states that would give West Virginia an additional $77 million annually, allowing it to serve some 4,200 more children and build on pandemic-initiated improvements to our child care system. Negotiations are reportedly underway in Congress over an economic package being considered for enactment this year, where Senator Joe Manchin’s support will be critical to ensuring that increased child care funding like that in the Murray-Kaine proposal is part of any final agreement.

Network ExclusiveResources

Building local solidarity with organizing workers: April EARN Worker Power Bulletin

EARN Worker Power Project Bulletin

State and local policy updates and resources for advancing racial, gender, and economic justice

We know EARN groups around the country are already contributing ideas, research, analysis, strong testimony, coalition building, and more to act in solidarity with workers who are organizing to build power in a wide array of state and local contexts.

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Publication

Coming Together for Loudoun County: Collective Bargaining Strengthens Communities and Families

Loudoun County is a growing, increasingly diverse community that is a place of aspirations and contrasts: one of the highest-income counties in the United States, and a place where many who do the essential work of our communities can’t afford to live. Loudoun has top-notch public services, and Loudoun’s public employees play a significant role in creating and maintaining those services, and it’s important that we make sure that those public servants are fairly paid and have a voice in their workplace. Allowing collective bargaining will provide county employees a formal voice to lift up ways to improve public services and build a more equitable workplace. In the end, that benefits every one of us.

Publication

Four ways the American Rescue Plan can support working people

Government works best when it works for all people, not just the wealthy few and corporations. The American Rescue Plan (ARP) approaches economic recovery from the ground up by helping people pay the rent, feed their families, fix the car and resume their lives after an unprecedented pandemic and recession.