Opinion: The power of unions

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Beth Shulman, author of ‘The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans’ and a member of the board of directors of American Rights at Work, responds to The Times’ Jan. 26 Opinion L.A. blog post. If you would like to respond to a recent Times article, editorial or Op-Ed in our Blowback forum, here are our FAQs and submission policy.

The fact that unions raise wages, standards and safety in workplaces is obvious and indisputable -- but perhaps not to Jon Healey, who recently wrote the lengthy Jan. 26 Opinion L.A. blog post, ‘’ Sure, unions are not the cure-all for our economic woes, but that does not mean that the right organize into a union isn’t worth fighting for if we are going to pursue a recovery for America’s families, especially for the 30 million low-wage workers in this country who make less than $10 per hour and have few or no benefits.

The reality is, low-wage jobs are the least likely to provide healthcare, sick pay or retirement benefits. As for job training and advancing through the ranks, opportunities are limited in most cases. Women, who make up 60% of this lower-paid workforce, are especially vulnerable, often receiving little in the way of enough flexibility from their employers to care for their children.

These low-paid workers are the ones unions have the power to help by offering a pathway out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class. According to a December 2008 report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, ‘Unions and Upward Mobility for Women Workers’ (pdf), union membership increases women’s wages by an average of 11% (or about $2 per hour) compared with women in similar nonunion jobs. Women workers in unions are about 19% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and about 25% more likely to have an employer-provided pension.

Let’s not forget that historically, workers organizing into unions are what made higher wages, paid leave, health insurance and retirement benefits standard compensation in what were once ‘bad’ manufacturing jobs. This transformation helped put these workers solidly into the middle class, from which generations of Americans raised families, bought homes and put their children through college.

The Employee Free Choice Act is the next logical step in strengthening the middle class by helping the American workforce get back on its feet. A recent poll commissioned by American Rights at Work reveals that 60% of voters support the legislation, which would require that employers recognize a union once a majority of workers signed membership cards. This bill is an important step in shielding unionizing workers from harassment by employers.

I agree that unions are by no means perfect. But before the 30 million low-wage workers in the U.S. can even aim for perfection, they need to be provided with a decent working environment, where rights are protected and standards are raised. That’s the power of unions.