Unions: Can they help the economy?

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Sevice

According to a report titled “Unions Are Good for the American
Economy” released by the Center for American Progress Action Fund,
unions would significantly help every American now during the economic
crisis.

“Workers in Unions earn 30% higher wages taking home about $863 a week
compared to $663 for the typical non-union worker.” said Robert B.
Reich, Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public
Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and former
Secretary of Labor for President Bill Clinton. Reich also said that the
report shows that union workers are 59% more likely to have employer
provided health insurance as well.

According to the report, unions help workers achieve higher wages said
Karla Walter, the Policy Analyst with the American Worker Project at
American Progress. “We found when we controlled for factors like race,
age, and education level we were able to quantify the union
difference. What we found is that unionized workers wages on average
were 11.3% higher than non-unionized workers with similar
characteristics… That translates to $2.26 up per hour more.” she said.

Walter stated that non-union workers would also benefit because their
employers would be likely to raise wages in response to fears that if
they don’t raise wages their employees would unionize. “The Employee
Free choice Act is not only important because it makes it harder for
anti union companies to harass workers attempting to unionize and
break the law but it also provides a very important economic benefit.
Boosting unionization rates will improve millions of Americans
economic standing, it will provide the families who have union jobs to
pass to the middle class and it will pump billions of dollars into the
economy ever year.” Walter concluded.