David Madland is a senior fellow and the senior adviser to the American Worker Project at American Progress. He has been called “one of the nation’s wisest young scholars” by Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr.
Madland is the author of Re-Union: How Bold Labor Reforms Can Repair, Revitalize, and Reunite the United States(Cornell University Press, 2021) and Hollowed Out: Why the Economy Doesn’t Work without a Strong Middle Class(University of California Press, 2015). Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, says, “David’s work is creating a North Star for how we increase workers’ power in the economy and democracy.”
He has appeared frequently on television shows, including “PBS NewsHour” and CNN’s “Crossfire”; been cited in such publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New Yorker; and been a guest on dozens of radio talk shows across the United States. He has testified before Congress on a number of occasions, as well as several state legislatures.
Madland writes frequently about the economy and American politics, especially the middle class, economic inequality, labor unions, retirement policy, and workplace standards such as the minimum wage. He worked on economic policy for former Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and has consulted for several labor unions. He is the co-author of Interest Groups in American Campaigns, and his dissertation about the decline of the U.S. pension system was honored as the best dissertation of the year by the Labor and Employment Relations Association.
Madland received his doctorate in government from Georgetown University and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. At American Progress, he previously served as the managing director for Economic Policy and the director of the American Worker Project.
Sectoral bargaining allows workers to negotiate wages and job standards across an industry, improving working conditions and boosting productivity.
In light of the strikes happening across industries this month, David Madland argues that Congress and companies should heed workers' calls for better jobs.
Aurelia Glass and David Madland explain how increasing union membership can help rebuild the middle class and narrow the racial wealth gap in the United States.
Unions help narrow the gap between working families and the superrich.
Union membership significantly increases wealth for all households, but Black and Hispanic families gain the most.
As lawmakers debate economic recovery investments, they must ensure that all companies receiving government funding comply with job quality standards.
David Madland's new book explains how to design a new labor system for today's economy with enhanced rights for workers, incentives for union membership, and greater sectoral bargaining.
Federal policymakers can raise funds and support unions with two policy reforms.
David Madland explains how a proposed law in California, the FAST Recovery Act, would vastly improve fast-food workers' rights in the state by creating a sectoral council.
David Madland argues that lawmakers and the Biden administration prioritize labor law reforms in the American Jobs Plan given that strengthening unions and collective bargaining rights will be critical for the United States' long-term economic recovery.
