The balance of power in the United States’ economy and democracy is wildly off. Soaring inequality, stagnant wages, scant worker protections, and huge divides across race and gender are symptoms of a system where corporate interests dominate the American economy and political system. The COVID-19 pandemic and the protest movement against systemic racism have thrown this imbalance into stark relief. Now more than ever, workers need a greater voice and policymakers need to support them by passing pro-union legislation.
Unions and collective bargaining can help address many of the socioeconomic issues facing the United States by raising workers’ wages, closing pay gaps, reducing economic inequality, promoting safe workplaces, and increasing workers’ democratic voice. Yet the broken labor law system too often impedes the ability of workers to form unions and engage in collective bargaining and needs to be reformed.
The above excerpt was originally published in CAP Action.
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