Post Labor Day, signs of a resurgent union movement

Recent events have brought new considerations for America's workforce and real signs of a resurgent labor movement.

The labor market is tight. Concerns about inflation, safety and post-pandemic health issues are driving a national conversation about promoting job quality.

Notably, public opinion polls show approval of unions at historic highs, with majority support from Democrats and Republicans alike.

Now, a new study released by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois shows that last year, America gained union members for the first time since 2017. For its part, Illinois not only added a Workers' Rights Amendment to its Constitution in 2022 but saw its largest surge in new union organizing petitions since 2014.

Yet as the economy has transitioned away from manufacturing, it has seen growth in less-unionized service and knowledge jobs. Alongside a decadeslong effort to pass state laws that erode worker bargaining power and the Supreme Court's 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision that undermined public sector unions, both Illinois and the nation have continued to experience long-term declines in overall membership.

However, a closer examination shows that these broad numbers don't tell the whole story.

For example, as collective bargaining in the overwhelmingly unionized public sector was weakened following the Janus decision, staff vacancies surged. Nationally, there are over 900,000 job openings in state and local governments, including public education — up 78% since 2018. In Illinois, unfilled positions at school districts have risen 164% since Janus. Surveys show dissatisfaction with pay as the leading culprit. If these jobs were filled, it's likely that the share of American workers represented by unions would be increasing for the first time in decades.

With 13% of its workforce unionized, Illinois ranks 12th nationally. Unions boost wages by 12% for workers in Illinois. Over the last decade, hourly earnings have grown faster here than in neighboring states that passed laws to weaken collective bargaining rights. That's because Illinois lost significantly fewer union members.

Indeed, despite headwinds, 2022 saw more successful union petitions and newly represented workers in Illinois than at any other year over the past decade. The largest gains were in “difficult to organize” sectors, including high-profile campaigns at Starbucks, among graduate and teaching assistants at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, and for nursing assistants at hospitals. This follows a decade of growing unionization for Illinois' younger workers.

Going forward, while the Workers' Rights Amendment could improve worker bargaining power at the state-level, there are broader trendlines that point to a changing national environment.

This year, Michigan became the first state in 58 years to repeal a so-called “right-to-work” law. Both California and Pennsylvania proposed ballot measures to add collective bargaining rights to their state constitutions.

Last year, research showed that construction projects built with union workers were actually cheaper than the alternative and far less likely to be sidelined by labor shortages. With a new housing, infrastructure and commercial building boom underway, this could present new opportunities for expanded partnerships between contractors and skilled trade unions. The bipartisan federal infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act are already incentivizing the use of union workers and union-trained apprentices on public works and clean energy projects.

In 2021, a bipartisan group of 213 members of Congress, including all Chicago-area representatives, co-sponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. If passed, this measure would strengthen the ability of private sector workers to unionize by establishing common-sense protections against employer interference in organizing drives.

Ultimately, the data on unions is not a mystery. They improve job quality, raise wages and expand health insurance coverage. Union workers contribute more in taxes and rely less on government assistance programs. And unions produce safer workplaces and lower employee turnover, which reduces business recruitment, retention, and workers' compensation costs.

Americans overwhelmingly support unions because they know they contribute to better economic outcomes. Now, after years of decline, there are real signs to suggest these critical institutions of job quality may finally be rebounding.

• Frank Manzo IV is an economist at the nonpartisan Illinois Economic Policy Institute.