Skip to main content

Building Power for Working People

Social share icons

A union is you and your co-workers coming together as a team to make improvements at your workplace.

Union members work together to negotiate and enforce a contract with management that guarantees the things you care about like decent raises, affordable health care, safer workplaces, job security and a stable schedule.

There is a union for every type of career. There are unions for NFL players, lobstermen and sitcom actors, and many other professions. No matter what profession you are in, you deserve to make ends meet, have a good life and plan for the future.

Here are some of the ways you benefit from forming or joining a union:

Better Wages and Benefits

Decent raises, predictable schedules and family-friendly policies don’t just happen without working people coming together and advocating for better workplaces.

When people negotiate together, they gain better wages and benefits.

Working people in unions make improvements at the workplace, and they fight to improve the rights of all people. Union members helped create workplace health and safety standards, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Family Medical Leave Act, increases to minimum wage, workers’ compensation and lots of the other laws you rely on.

See what union members are advocating for today.

The Union Difference Is Clear

Health Insurance

People in a union participating in job-provided health insurance: 79%
People without a union participating in job-provided health insurance: 49%

Pensions

People in a union participating in guaranteed (defined-benefit) pension plans: 76%
People without a union participating in guaranteed (defined-benefit) pension plans: 16%

Paid Sick Leave

People in a union with paid sick leave: 83%
People without a union with paid sick leave: 62%

Median Weekly Earnings

People with a union median weekly earnings: $980
People without a union median weekly earnings: $776

Black Working People

Black working people in a union median weekly earnings: $800
Black working people without a union median weekly earnings: $617

Latino Working People

Latino working people with a union median weekly earnings: $862
Latino working people without a union median weekly earnings: $586

Asian American Working People

Asian American working people with a union median weekly earnings: $1,094
Asian American working people without a union median weekly earnings: $97