August 29—Prompted by unions, Congress in 1894 declared the first Monday in September as Labor Day to celebrate the social and economic achievements of America’s workers. But through unions, America’s workers, both unionized and nonunionized, won far more than just a day off work.

In fact, unions play a key role in social and economic achievements for all workers by setting compensation standards and winning legislation in areas such as safety and health, overtime and family and medical leave, according to How Unions Help All Workers, an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report released today.

 “The research evidence clearly shows that the labor protections enjoyed by America’s entire workforce can be attributed in large part to unions,” says EPI President Lawrence Mishel.

And last year, nearly 30 percent of all new union members were professional and technical workers, according to another new report, Professionals: The New Face of America’s Unions by the AFL-CIO Professional Employees. “Now unions are the…choice for professional workers seeking fairness, equity and a voice on the job in their everyday working lives,” says Paul Almeida, DPE president.

How Unions Help All Workers finds:

• Unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20 percent and raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by roughly 28 percent.
• Strong unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers often follow to prevent unionization. For example, a high school graduate whose workplace is not unionized but who works in an industry that is 25 percent unionized is paid 5 percent more than similar workers in less unionized industries. Unions’ beneficial impact on total nonunion wages is almost the same as their effect on total union wages in highly unionized sectors.
• The most sweeping advantages for union workers are in health coverage, retirement security and other benefits. Union workers are more likely than their nonunion counterparts to receive paid leave, are 18 to 28 percent more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 23 to 54 percent more likely to be covered by employer-provided pension plans.
• The health coverage union workers receive is far more comprehensive than that of nonunion workers. Union workers pay 18 percent less in health care deductibles and a smaller share of costs for family coverage. When retired, they are 24 percent more likely to have employer-paid health insurance.
• Union workers have better pension plans. Not only are they more likely to have a guaranteed benefit in retirement, their employers contribute 28 percent more toward pensions.
• Union workers get 26 percent more vacation time and 14 percent more total paid leave (including vacations and holidays) than employees who lack a union voice at work.
• Because unions are especially effective at raising wages for low-income workers, they play a powerful role in reducing income inequality.
• Unions historically played a pivotal role in securing legislated job protections and rights such as safety and health, overtime and family and medical leave—and then in enforcing those rights on the job. Unions act as ongoing intermediaries, providing a necessary shop floor complement to legislated benefits and protections.

More

Read How Unions Help All Workers.

Read Professionals: The New Face of America’s Unions.

Learn more about the union difference.

Find out how and why workers choose a voice at work.

Check the trends in union membership.