The number of workers represented by a union rose by 200,000 in 2022, but the overall share of workers represented by a union dropped from 11.6% to 11.3%, according to an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of government data. That is, the overall size of the workforce rose more quickly than the size of the unionized workforce.
“The entire increase in unionization in 2022 was among workers of color—workers of color saw an increase of 231,000, while white workers saw a decrease of 31,000,” the EPI team of Heidi Shierholz, Margaret Poydock, and Celine McNicholas notes. “Of all major racial and ethnic groups, Black workers continue to have the highest unionization rates, at 12.8%. This compares with 11.2% for white workers, 10.0% for Latinx workers, and 9.2% for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers.”
But as the anti-union campaigns by the likes of Starbucks and Amazon remind us, many more workers want to be in unions. These companies wouldn’t be spending millions of dollars on union-busting consultants and lawyers if they thought workers would reject unions on their own. The most recent survey asking nonunion workers if they would like to join a union is from 2017. That year, 48% said they would vote to unionize. Extrapolating from that, EPI finds that around 60 million workers wanted to join a union in 2022 and didn’t have the chance.
● Starbucks' union-busting was once again so egregious that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is asking a judge to force the company to bargain with workers in a store where the union lost the election, saying the violations of labor law had irreparably tainted the election and a do-over wouldn’t be enough, Dave Jamieson reports. This is a rare step, but one the NLRB has now taken twice with Starbucks.
● Just who exactly are these union busters? Labor Lab digs into the federal forms that show a little bit about what union-busting consultants have been up to and who they’re working for.
● Jeff Schuhrke reports on how rail workers are fighting on after Biden blocked a national rail strike.
● Workers in states paying only the federal minimum wage are 46% more likely to make less than $15 an hour, via the Economic Policy Institute’s Ben Zipperer and Dave Kamper.
● Peet's Coffee workers are following Starbucks workers' lead in organizing unions.
● Okay, this was last week, but too good not to share:
Sign and send the petition to Starbucks company leadership and board: Stop union-busting and sign the Fair Election Principles.
On this episode of The Downballot, we're talking with Sara Garcia, the strategy and outreach manager at Crooked Media—home of Pod Save America—about everything her organization does to mobilize progressives and kick GOP ass. Sara tells us how Crooked arose to fill a void in the media landscape, how it not only informs listeners but also gives them tools to take action, and some of her favorite shows that she loves to recommend to folks.