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

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.

Resources

Confronting the Labor Shortage Narrative and Protecting UI

  • June 3, 2021

Blogs, reports, and data to help describe current labor market conditions, address the labor shortage narrative, and discuss the need for continued UI:

Statements and blog posts responding to states pulling out of federal UI supplements:

Other potentially useful reports and data:

News Articles Mentioned:

Publication

Care for Our Commonwealth: The Cost of Universal, Affordable, High-Quality Early Care & Education Across Massachusetts

Key Takeaways

  • Massachusetts families depend on early care & education (ECE) to promote healthy child development and so parents can go to work knowing their children are safe. However, our ECE sector faces many systemic challenges. Care is often unaffordable and teachers are chronically underpaid. These concerns have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • High-quality ECE—including strong curriculum and supportive teaching in classrooms, professional development, small class sizes, well-compensated teachers, and full-time schedules—has been widely linked to positive benefits for kids that can carry forward into elementary school and beyond. This includes exemplary programs in Massachusetts.
  • Existing public programs, such as Head Start, state ECE subsidies, and the preschool programs offered by school districts meet some of the need, currently enrolling 91,000 children and spending $1.27 billion in public funding annually.
  • The full cost of high-quality ECE would be just over $28,000 per child each year for ages 0-4 (infants, toddlers, and preschool children), nearly double the funding of existing programs.
  • Universal high-quality ECE in Massachusetts, with affordable capped fees of no more than 7% of income and free for low-income families, would cover a total of 288,000 kids with net new costs of $5.03 billion.
  • Affordable high-quality ECE would particularly benefit families of color and low-income families who may be struggling with the high cost of care. Increases in teacher pay, benefits, and working conditions, necessary for high-quality ECE would also benefit teachers in the ECE field.
  • Like the reform of K-12 school funding in Massachusetts, funding universal ECE could be phased in over several years, with initial priority for the most under-served communities.
Publication

Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York

Throughout the coronavirus crisis, domestic workers have been placed under double pressure. Already underpaid, many domestic workers have lost their jobs, or lost hours on the job, putting them under added financial stress. Even when on the job, however, domestic workers find themselves under added physical and psychological stress, acting as essential workers during a pandemic at some risk to their own health as they protect the health of others. Domestic workers include house cleaners, nannies, and home care aides who care for people with disabilities or who are elderly or infirm.