Unions improve working conditions and raise the standard
of living for millions of workers. Here are a few fast
facts that can get that message out in organizing
campaigns, in union meetings, and at rallies or other
actions.1. Unions lessen the inequalities of income and wealth that separate the rich from the rest of us. Union workers earn more than nonunion workers - with median wages of $615 a week vs. $462 for nonunion workers. For women and minority workers, the difference is even greater: Union women earn $549 a week and nonunion women earn $398; unionized African Americans earn $507, compared with $356 for nonunion workers; and unionized Latino workers earn $484, compared with $319 for nonunion counterparts, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
2. Union members have more and better health coverage than nonunion workers. Eighty-four percent of full-time union workers were covered in 1993, compared with 74 percent of nonunion workers.
3. Union members are more likely to be covered by pensions and to enjoy defined-benefit plans. Pension plans and the Social Security system are under attack. Unions are leading the fight to save Social Security while opposing pension plan proposals that seek to shift market risks from employers to workers.
4. Unions are at the forefront of battles to improve educational opportunities for all children. By working for public school funding and policy reforms that improve classrooms for all students, unions help counter the income and wealth inequality that reduces access to quality education for the children of middle- and low-income workers.
5. Unions enable workers to choose where and how to spend their personal time. Through lobbying and collective bargaining, unions fight to bring members more vacations, holidays, scheduling limits and other family-friendly workplace policies-an effective response to the economic challenges that are forcing parents to spend 40 percent less time with their children than they did a generation ago, and reducing their involvement in civic responsibilities.
As a voice for working families, America's unions helped
win:
1. After six years of economic growth in the 1990s, average family income is higher today than it was in 1989. __True __False 2. We're still the richest country in the world. What percentage of American families owns 70 percent of the nation's wealth? __10 percent __2 percent __20 percent 3. In the people's capitalism of the 1990s, the bottom 80 percent of American families, in terms of income, own what percent of stock, mutual funds and pension funds? __3 percent __10 percent __More than 20 percent 4. How many Americans have lost jobs through downsizing in just the last eight years? __ 6 million __5 million __4.5 million 5. Part-time and temporary workers now constitute what percentage of the U.S. work force? __Less than 6 percent __15 percent __More than 20 percent 6. Which European country can boast one of the region's lowest rates of unemployment and highest levels of productivity, and can also maintain the shortest average work year of any industrial nation? __The Netherlands __Switzerland __Italy ________________ 1. False. After six years of economic growth in the 1990s, average family income is still lower today than it was in 1989. 2. Ten percent of American families own 70 percent of the nation's wealth. 3. Three percent; the bottom 80 percent of American families, in terms of income, owns just 3 percent of all stock, mutual funds and pension funds. 4. Six million Americans have lost jobs through downsizing in the past eight years. 5. Part-time and temporary workers now constitute more than 20 percent of the U.S. work force. 6. The Netherlands has one of the region's lowest rates of unemployment and highest levels of productivity, and it also maintains the shortest average work year of any industrial nation.
Don't let the big business media portray your union
as outdated and unnecessary. Write letters to the
editor and promote the positive achievements of the
labor movement and the benefits to you and your
family of your union membership.
Through our union, we can make the economy work
for working families.