As more workers join unions, wages and protections for increase

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Margaret Poydock

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Senior Policy Analyst from the Economic Policy Institute, Margaret Poydock, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the increases in strikes, growth in public popularity of unions and the correlation between union membership and wage disparity.

There have been a large number of strikes this summer. Workers across the country have been striking and engaging in collective action more as the economy continues to provide equal income growth. The latest Bureau for Labor Statistics study shows that more workers have been on strike so far in 2023 than throughout all of 2022.

Unions have become extremely popular, receiving a 71 percent favorable rating in 2022. The National Labor Relations Board has also seen its largest caseloads since the 1950s. Poydock discussed the importance of these numbers increasing over time. As the popularity of unions grows, more workers seek improved rights and compensation.

Historically, union membership decreased, there would be a larger wage disparity. During the times of highest union membership in the 1970s and 1980s, the wage disparity was at its lowest. As more people learn about the benefits of unionizing, the wage disparity will decline. Unfortunately, as companies continue to use anti-union firms, the fight to unionize workers gets more difficult.

To hear more from the EPI and Poydock, please listen to the show above.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

As more workers join unions, wages and protections for increase

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