Young Union Workers Earn More, Get Better Benefits

by James Parks, Oct 16, 2008

Young union workers like Dayton, Ohio, AFSCME member Brandran Mullins, earn more than their non-union counterparts.

With the economy in meltdown and record numbers of young voters on the rolls, a new report demonstrates how important the November election could be for younger workers. The report, from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), shows young workers are taking some of the hardest hits from the stagnant wages and economic problems over the past three decades. They earn about 10 percent less than their counterparts did in 1979, according to the report, despite impressive gains in young workers’ educational attainment over the same time period.

The good news is that young workers—between ages 18 and 29—who join a union earn, on average, 12.4 percent more than their nonunion peers. In addition, the report, Unions and Upward Mobility for Young Workers, found that young union workers are 17 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 24 percentage points more likely to have an employer-provided pension plan than young workers who were not in unions. Says John Schmitt, a senior economist at CEPR and author of the study:

Even though they’ve done everything right—finished high school and college at higher rates than in the past, young workers have been the hardest hit by stagnant and declining wages over the last 30 years.

Unions make a big difference for younger workers. There is no economic theory that says young people have to be poorly paid or go without benefits.

According to the study, joining a union strongly benefits young workers in low-wage occupations. Among young workers in the 15 lowest-paying occupations, union members earned 10.2 percent more than those workers who were not in unions. In the same low-wage occupations, young union members were 27 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 26 percentage points more likely to have a pension plan than their nonunion counterparts.

Click here to read the full report.

Despite the benefits of a union for all workers—including young workers—the deck is stacked against them when it comes to trying to form a union. The Employee Free Choice Act would level the playing field and give workers options on how to choose a union.

As 4worker writes on Daily Kos, the report shows clearly why we need to elect a worker-friendly Congress and president who will enact the legislation:

These days, when CEO greed runs rampant and our economy is in a tailspin, everyone could benefit from the advantages a union provides. But, as the CEPR study shows, young workers could benefit most of all as they find themselves at the bottom of the economic totem pole. 

This is just another reason why we need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act in the coming year. Young workers may want a union, but they may not be able to organize one at their workplace with our current laws in place—laws that leave employers free to harass and threaten employees and infinitely delay elections with little more than a slap on the wrist from the NLRB (National labor Relations Board). Young workers, feeling the least secure in their jobs, may be the most vulnerable to employer intimidation. We need the Employee Free Choice Act so that workers are free to join and form unions without company interference—improving their lives and our economy in the process.

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (2)