1 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Unions Make Democracy Work for the Middle Class
Unions Make Democracy Work for the Middle Class
Organized Labor Helps Ordinary Citizens Participate More and Have a Greater Say
By David Madland and Nick Bunker January 2012
On Friday he Deparmen o Labor will release daa on he union saus o he American workorce. Unorunaely he daa are likely o show a decline in he percenage o workers who are unionized because o he one-wo punch o long-erm rendssuch as he escala-ion o aggressive employer campaigns agains union represenaionand poliical atacks such as Wisconsin’s new law banning public-secor collecive bargaining. Even hough less han 12 percen o all workers are currenly union members, Americanswheher unionized or noshould care abou his decline because unions give workers a bigger say in our economy and our poliical sysem.
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Ta helps he middle class, and i’s good or democracy. As our research and a number o academic sudies find,
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unions srenghen he middle class and significanly reduce economic inequaliy. In ac sudies indicae ha he decline in union densiy explains as much o oday’s record level o inequaliy as does he increasing economic reurn o a college educaion.
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Mos research on he imporance o unions o he middle class ends o ocus on how unions improve marke wages or boh union and nonunion workers.
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Tis research is no doub vial, bu i gives shor shrif o he criical role unions play in making democ-racy work or he middle class.Unions help boos poliical paricipaion among ordinary ciizensespecially among members, bu also among nonunion membersand conver his paricipaion ino an effecive voice or pro-middle-class policies.Tis explains why saes wih a greaer percenage o union members have significanly higher voer urnou raes, as well as higher minimum wages, a greaer percenage o residens covered by healh insurance, sronger social saey nes, and a more progressive ax code, as chars in his brie will illusrae.
Ta unions are imporan o he srengh o he middle class is easy o see by looking a he close relaionship beween he wo over ime. In 1968 he share o income going o he naion’s middle class was 53.2 percen, when 28 percen o all work-ers were members o unions. Since hen, union membership seadily declined alongside he share o income going o he middle class. By 2010 he middle class only received 46.5 percen o income as union membership dropped o less han 12 percen o workers. (see graph a righ)Te middle class weakened over he pas several decades because he rich secured he lion’s share o he economy’s gains. Te share o preax income earned by he riches 1 percen o Americans more han doubled beween 1974 and 2007, climbing o 18 percen rom 8 percen. And or he riches o he richhe op 0.1 percenhe gains have been even more asronomicalquadrupling over his period,
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rising o 12.3 per-cen o all income rom 2.7 percen.Even hough unions weakened, hey are sill criically imporan o he middle class: Te saes wih he lowes percenage o workers in unionsNorh Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Souh Carolina, ennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, and exasall have relaively weak middle classes. In each o hese saes, he share o income going o he middle class (he middle 60 percen o he populaion by income) is below he naional average, according o Census Bureau figures.
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Tis issue brie digs deeper ino hese findings by highlighing he criical role ha unions play in making he poliical sysem work or he middle class. Tey do his in wo key ways: increasing voer paricipaion and advocaing or policies ha help he middle class. As an increasing number o ciizens eel heir democracy is no longer responsive o heir needs, he role unions play is ever more imporan.
FIGURE 1
As union membership rates decrease, middle class incomes shrink
2 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Unions Make Democracy Work for the Middle Class
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 ‘67 ‘69 ‘71 ‘73 ‘75 ‘77 ‘79 ‘81 ‘83 ‘85 ‘87 ‘89 ‘91 ‘93 ‘95 ‘97 ‘99 ‘01 ‘03 ‘05 ‘07 ‘09
Middle class share of aggregate income Union membership rate Union Membership Rate Middle class share of aggregate income
Original figure by David Madland, Karla Walter, and Nick Bunker. Sources: Union Membership Rate is from Barry T. Hirsch, David A. Macpherson, and Wayne G. Vroman, “Estimates of Union Density by State,” Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 124, No.7, July 2001. Middle Class Share of Aggregate Income is from United States Census Bureau.
3 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Unions Make Democracy Work for the Middle Class
Helping get the vote out
Unions help ge ordinary ciizensunion and nonunion alikeinvolved in poliics by, or example, knocking on doors, educaing workers on he issues, and helping hem eel heir effors will make a difference.Case in poin: A 1 percenage poin increase in union densiy in a sae increases voer urnou raes by 0.2 o 0.25 percenage poins according o analysis by Benjamin Radcliff and Paricia Davis, poliical scieniss a he Universiy o Nore Dame and he Sae Deparmen, respecively.
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In oher words, i unionizaion were 10 percenage poins higher during he 2008 presidenial elecion, 2.6 million o 3.2 million more Americans would have voed.Similarly, research by Roland Zullo, a labor sudies proessor a he Universiy o Michigan, shows ha sel-described working-class ciizenswheher unionized or noare jus as likely o voe as oher ciizens are when unions run campaigns in heir congressional disric.
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Ye when unions don’ run campaigns, working-class ciizens are 10.4 percen less likely o voe han oher ciizens. A similar patern holds or communiies o color. Voers o color are jus as likely o voe as whie voers in disrics wih union campaigns bu are 9.3 percen less likely o voe in disrics wihou campaigns. Figure 2 below shows ha saes wih higher levels o unionizaion have higher levels o voer urnou by highlighing he relaionship or all ederal elecions rom 1980 o 2010. Tis relaionship would also hold i we were o look a only presidenial elecions or only miderm elecions. Oher acors conribue o voer urnou, bu unionizaion cerainly plays an imporan role in geting he voe ou.Unions play a criical role in geting ordinary ciizens involved. Te Unied Saes has one o he lowes voer urnou raes in he indusri-alized world, an average o 56.9 percen, and one o he lowes raes o union membership, an average o 12.1 percen in he 2000s, as Figure 3 shows below. I union membership coninues o decline, he qualiy o our democracy will as well.Beore people ake poliical acion, hey mus hink i is worhwhileha he ben-efis are greaer han he coss. Bu he coss o acionime, money, and energyare someimes higher han he benefis o acion.
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Tis is especially rue wih acions such as wriing a leter o a member o Congress or racking he progress o a bill, bu i can hold
FIGURE 2
Voter turnout is higher in states withgreater levels of unionization
Top 10 states byunion density
010%20%30%40%50%60%58.9%42.1%Bottom 10 states by union density
Sources: Unionstats.com, United States Elections Project (Both are averages of 1980-2010. Elections are all federal elections during the period.)
FIGURE 3
Countries with higher unionizationrates have higher voter turnout
020%40%60%80%Top 10 countries by unionizationBottom 10 countries by unionization77.9%61.8%
Sources: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. (Both data sets are average of data from 2000 to 2010. Outliers in terms of income level have been removed, but trend would be similar regardless.)
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