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Middle classes stronger in unionized states By DAVID MADLAND and KEITH MILLER Why should anyone — especially those who are not union members — care that union membership is at record lows and likely to fall even further? Be- cause if you care about the middle class, you need to care about unions. Critics of unions claim they are unimportant today or even harmful to the economy, but unions are essential for building a strong middle class. And rebuilding the middle class after decades of decline and stagnation is es- sential for restoring our economy. Unions make the middle class strong by ensuring workers have a strong voice in both the market and in our democ- racy. When unions are strong they are able to ensure that workers are paid fair wages, receive the training they need to advance to the middle class, and are considered in corporate decision-mak- ing processes. Unions also promote po- litical participation among all Ameri- cans, and help workers secure government policies that support the middle class, such as Social Security, family leave, and the minimum wage. But as unions became weaker over the past four decades, they are less and less able to perform these functions — and the middle class withered. The per- centage of workers in unions steadily declined largely because the legal and political environment prevents private- sector workers from freely exercising their right to join or not to join a union. Membership in private-sector unions stands at less than 7 percent today, from around 30 percent in the late 1960s. Public-sector unionization remained stable for decades — it was 37 percent in 1979 and is 36 percent today — but is now under signifi- cant threat from conservative politi- cal opposition and could start declining as well. All told, less than 12 percent of the total work- force is unionized, and this percentage is likely to continue falling. Without the counterbalance of work- ers united together in unions, the middle class withers because the economy and politics tend to be dominated by the rich and powerful, which in turn leads to an even greater flow of money in our econ- omy to the top of income scale. The percentage of unionized workers tracks very closely with the share of the na- tion’s income going to the middle class — those in the middle three-fifths of in- come earners. In recent years, the middle class ac- counted for the smallest share of the na- tion’s income ever since the end of World War II, when this data was first collected. The middle three income quintiles, representing 60 percent of all Americans, received only 46 percent of the nation’s income in 2009, the most recent year data is available, down from highs of around 53 percent in 1969. The middle class weakened over the past sev- eral decades be- cause the rich se- cured the lion’s share of the econ- omy’s gains. The share of pretax in- come earned by the richest 1 per- cent of Americans more than doubled between 1974 and 2007, climbing to 18 percent from 8 percent. And for the richest of the rich — the top 0.1 percent — the gains have been even more as- tronomical — quadrupling over this pe- riod, rising to 12.3 percent of all income from 2.7 percent. In contrast, incomes for most Amer- icans have been nearly flat over this same time period, and median income after accounting for inflation actually fell for working-age households during the supposedly good economy in the re- ...Unions are critical to defending the middle class, and their resurgence is key to rebuilding the middle class. covery between 2001 and 2007. The importance of unions to the middle class is not just a historical phenome- non, but is relevant to our lives today. To be sure, not everything unions do benefits the broad middle class, but unions are critical to defending the mid- dle class, and their resurgence is key to rebuilding the middle class. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a mid- dle-class society without a strong union movement. Across the globe, the countries with the strongest middle classes all have strong union movements. And in Amer- ica today, states with higher concentra- tions of union members have a much stronger middle class. The 10 states with the lowest percentage of workers in unions all have a relatively weak middle class, with the share of total state income going to households in the middle three-fifths of income earners in these states below the average for all states. Our analysis indicates that each per- centage point increase in union mem- bership puts about $153 more per year into the pockets of the middle class — meaning that if unionization rates in- creased by 10 percentage points (about the level they were in 1980) — then the typical middle class household would earn $1,532 more this year. This figure indicates how much better off all mem- bers of the middle class would be — not just those who are union members — if unions regained some strength. And these gains would continue year after year. To put these results in context, our analysis indicates that increasing union membership is as important to rebuild- ing the middle class as boosting college graduation rates, results that while shocking to some, are consistent with previous research. In our democracy, when workers are joined together in unions they are able to more forcefully and effectively speak for their interests. Unions give workers a greater voice not only by promoting political participation among all Amer- icans — ensuring that more of the mid- dle class vote and get involved in poli- tics — but also by being an advocate on behalf of the middle class in the daily, inner-workings of government and pol- itics. This provides a check on other pow- erful political interests, such as corpo- rations and the very wealthy, and en- sures that our system of government has the balance of interests that James Madison, a chief framer of our consti- tution, thought necessary to properly function. This counterbalancing role is essential for democracy to function properly and respond to the interests of all Americans. In the workplace, workers who join together in unions are able to negotiate on more equal footing with their em- ployers, providing a check on the inher- ently unequal relationship between em- ployer and employee. As George Shultz, secretary of labor during the Nixon Administration and secretary of state during the Reagan Administration argued in support of trade unions, in “a healthy workplace, it is very important that there be some system of checks and balances.” Indeed, the ability of workers united together to provide a check on corpo- rate power was the very reason Con- gress guaranteed private-sector workers the right to join a union, writing in the findings section of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935: (Turn to Page 4) (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 FEBRUARY 7, 2014 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 3
