- Paul Constant is a writer at Civic Ventures and the cohost of the "Pitchfork Economics" podcast.
- He argues union efforts could be rolled back if Republicans win the midterm elections.
- Democrats should stand on picket lines with union organizers to gain supporters.
- This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
With hundreds of Starbucks stores voting to unionize around the country, along with high-profile union victories at Amazon warehouses and Trader Joe's locations, unions are more popular with the American people now than at any point since 1965. The National Labor Relations Board reported that union applications have increased by 58% over the first nine months of the 2022 fiscal year compared to the first three quarters of 2021.
But many Americans don't yet realize that depending on the results of the midterms, unionization efforts could be nipped in the bud. This presents a unique opportunity for Democrats running in the midterm elections.
Workers want unions
Given the strong labor market and plenty of high-profile coverage of unionization campaigns in the news and on social media, it's probably no surprise that unions are gaining popularity. A poll this month from online-worker community Jobcase found that 70% of hourly and skilled workers in the United States would consider joining a union if given the opportunity. Some 41% of respondents to the Jobcase survey reported being more interested in joining a union now than they were three years ago. And the younger workers are, Jobcase found, the stronger their desire to join a union — some 76% of millennial workers said they'd be eager to join a union, compared to 66% of Gen Xers and 62% of baby boomers.
About 55% of all Americans polled by Pew last year believed that "unions have a positive effect on the way things are going in the country." From a wage perspective, they're right: Strong unions improve outcomes for all workers. A 2021 report from the Economic Policy Institute found that in states with strong union concentration, weekly wages were almost $180 higher on average for nonunion workers than in states with weak union concentration.
But many in Congress don't
At the same time that unions are gaining popularity with Americans, Congressional Republicans are quietly lining up bills to strip unions of their power. Sam Becker at Fast Company profiled several of the most egregious bills from Republican representatives, including a bill that makes it legal for prospective employers to discriminate against pro-union applicants and a national so-called "right-to-work" bill that would make it harder for labor unions to organize and collect dues that has the support of 100 House Republicans. Republican Rand Paul is one of the leading proponents of anti-union legislation, arguing that his National Right to Work Act allows workers to "choose to refrain from joining or paying dues to a union."
However, even if Republicans were to take control of the House and the Senate in the midterm elections, President Biden has shown strong public support of unionization efforts and would likely veto any of those anti-union bills. But Congress does control the funding levels for government agencies, and Republicans have already frozen the NLRB's budget, effectively cutting funding for the organization by a quarter last year. It's not hard to imagine a unified Republican Congress slashing that budget even further.
This matters because the NLRB investigates alleged violations of American labor law, and the agency has seen a huge influx of cases as workers at Starbucks and other corporations have begun to organize. Just this month, the NLRB brought a case to a judge who ordered Starbucks to rehire seven Memphis baristas who were found to have been wrongfully fired for pro-union activities.
Given that the NLRB has lost half of its staff of field agents since Congressional Republicans began freezing the budget in 2014, it's likely many more wrongful firings like this one could simply slip through the cracks.
Time for Democrats to step up
Given that Starbucks employees have gone on dozens of strikes in 17 states over the past few months, Democratic candidates across the country could win easy publicity by joining baristas on picket lines and speaking about the benefits of strong union protections. By centering the conversation on growing paychecks for American workers, Democrats have the opportunity to expand their voting base. Union workers enjoy 11.2% higher salaries than comparable nonunion workers, according to a 2020 report by the Economic Policy Institute, and more paid sick days, too.
Dozens of Republicans on the ballot this year have already signed on to legislation that would strip unions of power, but Democrats also have the opportunity to run on a piece of legislation that would improve outcomes for working Americans: The Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which would roll back more than four decades of trickle-down legislation that made it harder for Americans to organize by overriding state right-to-work laws, barring employer influence in union elections, and establishing fees for employers who violate labor laws.
Progressive Senate candidates like John Fetterman and Mandela Barnes should promote the PRO Act as a simple litmus test for all prospective midterm candidates: Either you stand with more Americans taking home bigger paychecks and earning better benefits, or you stand with anti-union CEOs like Howard Schultz. For the American people, the choice couldn't be any clearer in November.