Why Unionize?
Joining a union gets you unprecedented access to rights, amenities, benefits, and protections in your workplace.
Simply put, unions make your life at work better.
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Below, check out some facts and statistics on what you stand to gain when you organize your workplace, courtesy of this 2023 report from the US Department of Treasury.
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Want to learn more? See why EMS needs unions more than ever.
The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.
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Martin Luther King Jr.
WAGES
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Unions have historically raised the wages of their members by 10 to 15 percent.
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On average, the median union worker earns about 20 percent higher wages than the median nonunion worker.
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This unconditional union wage premium is particularly evident among Hispanic workers (35 percent), Black workers (around 20 percent), and women (23 percent).
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Unionized employers contribute up to $900 more each year per worker to their employees’ pension plans.
BENEFITS
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Unions improve fringe benefits and workplace procedures such as retirement plans, workplace grievance policies, and predictable scheduling. ​
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Over 90 percent of unionized workers are offered sick leave, in contrast to 77 percent of nonunion workers.
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Employers of union workers are about 25 percent more likely to offer a childcare benefit than employers of nonunion workers.
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Unemployed unionized workers in 2018 were almost three times as likely to receive Unemployment Insurance benefits as their nonunionized counterparts, likely the result of unions providing resources that ease filing procedures for members.
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By joining a union, workers are:
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5 percent more likely to have access to health insurance.
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7 percent more likely to have access to paid sick leave.
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More likely to pay a lower portion of their healthcare expenses out-of-pocket.
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PROTECTIONS
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Unionized workplaces have better systems for addressing employee grievances, stronger protections for workers with seniority, and more formal processes for repositioning workers within the company.
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Unions have improved workplace safety. They bargain to improve safety practices, protect their members against retaliation for reporting a violation, or make complaints on members’ behalf about hazards to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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Union negotiations are more likely to reduce scheduling unpredictability— 54 percent of union members reported knowing their schedule four or more weeks in advance, in contrast to 35 percent of nonunion workers
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Not only do unions bargain for better health insurance options for their members, they also have been shown to increase health outcomes for patients in hospitals where healthcare workers are unionized.
EQUITY/DIVERSITY
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By encouraging egalitarian wage practices, unions serve to reduce race and gender wage gaps.
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In 2021, Black men had a particularly high union representation rate at 13 percent, as compared to the population average of 10 percent.
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The diverse demographics of modern union membership mean that the benefits of any policy that strengthens today’s unions would be felt across the population.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
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Unions contribute to more robust general economic growth and resilience. They do so, in part, by reducing overall inequality.
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Income inequality often feeds back into inequality of opportunity, which impedes growth if disadvantaged people cannot access the resources necessary to acquire job skills or start businesses. Unions end this cycle and allow people to grow to their full potential.
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Unions can spur overall economic productivity by improving working environments and giving experienced workers more of an input into decisions that design better and more cost-effective workplace procedures.
