The Labor Movement Built the Middle Class. Broken Rules Are Tearing It Down.

The labor movement is the greatest force for human dignity the world has ever known.

We've lifted millions of families out of poverty, helped build the American middle class, made jobs safer and workplaces fairer, narrowed gender pay and racial wealth gaps and given generations of workers a voice they never would have had alone. 

But those gains were never handed down. They were won, workplace by workplace, against determined resistance. We see it all over Northeast Ohio. Workers organize with high hopes, only to face a long election process, and even victories bring years of delay at the bargaining table. By then, some lose faith, others move on, and some are pitted against colleagues as management pushes to decertify the union.

None of this is an accident. It's the result of decades of policy choices that tilted the playing field toward employers.

Union membership peaked at 35 percent of American workers in 1954, seven years after Congress overrode a presidential veto to pass the Taft-Hartley Act, restricting union power and paving the way for so-called "right to work" laws. State by state, statute by statute, the rules were rewritten to make organizing harder and just last year, the Trump Administration dismantled the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and eliminated bargaining rights for a million federal workers.

The result today is that just 10 percent of workers carry a union card. Corporations, public employers, and even small businesses and nonprofits hire expensive law firms and consultants to intimidate workers and thwart unionization efforts. Those who successfully organize will wait, on average, 15 months for a first contract.

As unionization has declined, wages have stagnated and inequality has widened. This is what a system stacked against workers produces. If we are serious about making life more affordable, we cannot focus only on lowering costs. We must give working people more power.

The Economic Policy Institute recently examined what would happen if union membership returned to 30 percent, roughly where it stood throughout the 1950s. That growth would raise median worker wages by nearly 15 percent, cut racial pay disparities by a third, substantially reduce the number of uninsured workers, and strengthen our communities.

To triple unionization rates and restore economic balance, we must reform labor laws that heavily favor employers. Congress has shown reform is possible. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would override "right to work laws," ban captive audience meetings, and increase penalties for employers that interfere with organizing, has passed in the U.S. House twice. The bipartisan Faster Labor Contracts Act, which would impose time limits on first-contract negotiations, passed in June and is awaiting action in the Senate.

We also need to use the power of government differently. When public work is privatized, we lose good union jobs, and when services are contracted to private employers, taxpayers can end up subsidizing union-busters. Governments should use labor peace agreements and award contracts to high-road employers instead of companies that violate workers' rights.

Labor Day is a celebration of the people who keep our communities running and a reminder that work has dignity. Work gives people purpose and stability while allowing us to provide for our families and contribute to our society. Working people deserve a voice in our economy and a share in the benefits they create. The economy should serve people—not the other way around.

That is the promise of the labor movement. That no worker should face the powerful alone. When working people stand together, we can build an economy that works for everyone.