Union members across the country earn significantly more than non- union workers. Over the four-year period between 2004 and 2007, unionized workers' wages were on average 11.3 percent higher than non-union workers with similar characteristics. That means that, all else equal, American workers that join a union will earn 11.3 percent more--or $2.26 more per hour in 2008 dollars--than their otherwise identical non-union counterparts. [CAP Report: Unions are Good for the American Economy, 2/18/09]
Latino Union Workers Earn More & Have Better Benefits. The most recent data suggest that even after controlling for differences between union and non- union workers --including such factors as age and education level -- unionization substantially improves the pay and benefits received by Latino workers. After controlling for workers' characteristics, the union wage premium for all Latino workers is 17.6 percent or about $2.60 per hour. The union advantage for Latino workers is even larger with respect to health insurance and pension coverage. Unionized Latino workers were about 26 percentage points more likely to have health insurance and about 27 percentage points more likely to have a pension than their non-union counterparts. [CEPR Report: Unions and Upward Mobility for Latino Workers, 9/08]
The NLRB Ruled Against a Fort Collins based dry-wall firm specifically on accusations it interfered with union organizing by Latino workers. In 2000, the Denver Post reported, "Phase 2, a Fort Collins-based drywall and steel stud framing contractor has had an ongoing battle with the Rocky Mountain Regional Council of Carpenters over the firm's treatment of its Latino immigrant workers. Recently, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Phase 2 had interfered with workers attempting to join the union. The company was ordered to post information about the union on several job sites." [Denver Post, 12/3/00]
Higher Wages & Benefits Help U.S. Economy by Giving Workers the Ability to Purchase More Goods & Services: According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund report, unionization is good for the economy overall and "putting more money in workers' pockets would provide a needed boost for the U.S. economy." Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich stated that higher wages and higher benefits would give workers the purchasing power they need to buy more of the goods and services that this economy produces. [CAP Report: Unions are Good for the American Economy, 2/18/09]
Workers at Laradon Hall Waited 18 Months for Their First Contract and Faced Continuous Intimidation. Roberta Ayala, a teacher's assistant a Laradon Hall in Denver, described how hard it was for she and her coworkers to get their first contract after voting to join a union. She wrote, "Eighty percent of us signed cards supporting the union. But the school refused to recognize our decision. We filed for an election and that's when management began harassing and intimidating us. They even fired several teachers' assistants--making our staffing problems even worse. They wanted to scare us. They wanted us to give up. But it didn't work--we won our election... Management continued their intimidation tactics even after we won our election. The facility experienced a 70 percent turnover in staff because of the campaign waged by management... Eighteen months after our election, we finally won our first contract. We finally won a voice in classroom decisions. But it shouldn't have been this hard to win improvements for our students." [SEIU, "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act," accessed 5/19/09]
It Took Over a Year for DIA Train Workers to Get Their First Contract After Joining a Union. In 2000, the Denver Post reported, "The company that operates and maintains Denver International Airport's train system and a union that represents 40 of the firm's workers reached a contract settlement late Thursday afternoon, averting a threatened midnight strike. Workers represented by the International Union of Elevator Constructors were seeking their first contract with the train firm, Adtranz, after 13 months of bargaining. The new labor pact contains wage and benefit increases for the Adtranz workers, said Dale Coalmer, business manager for elevator constructors union Local 25." [Denver Post, 2/18/00]
Management of Exempla St. Joseph Hospital Delayed First Contract with Nurses For 18 Months, Waiting for the Workers to Give Up. In 2002, the Denver Business Journal reported, "Emergency department workers at Saint Joseph Hospital are cutting union ties after failing to reach a contract with the department's management. Eighteen months ago, about 60 workers at Exempla Healthcare's Saint Joseph Hospital became the first health care employees to unionize in Colorado in more than 20 years. The small group, however, couldn't strike a deal with Saint Joseph's outside emergency room management company, Maricor. 'We never should have organized a subcontractor of a hospital. ... They are not going to let the tail of the dog wag the dog,' said Ernest L. Duran Jr., president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, the union that represents the hospital workers. 'We didn't have the power. People think the negotiating process is this sophisticated, intellectual process. It's not. It's all about power.'" [Denver Business Journal, 2/22/02]
When Nurses at St. Anthony's Were Organizing a Union Vote, Management Brought in Outside Anti-Union Consultant to Scare Them Off. In 2003, the Denver Westword reported, "Three years ago the SEIU was involved in an effort to unionize nurses at St. Anthony's two area hospitals. St. Anthony hired Kansas City-based Management Science Associates, a firm that specializes in battling union drives in the health-care industry, and soon the nurses were deluged with anti-union propaganda and forced to attend meetings warning them about the dangers of forming a union. 'The only reason we were trying to organize was to have a voice,' says Bernie Patterson, a St. Anthony nurse who was active in the union drive. 'Our Catholic, non-profit hospital hired a consulting firm and spent millions to fight us. It was really ugly.' Patterson's group eventually had to withdraw its petition for an election because many of the nurses who originally supported the union were frightened away. 'Even the nurses who believed we needed a voice were losing their confidence,' she says." [Denver Westword, 6/12/03]
Latino Union Workers Earn More & Have Better Benefits. The most recent data suggest that even after controlling for differences between union and non- union workers --including such factors as age and education level -- unionization substantially improves the pay and benefits received by Latino workers. After controlling for workers' characteristics, the union wage premium for all Latino workers is 17.6 percent or about $2.60 per hour. The union advantage for Latino workers is even larger with respect to health insurance and pension coverage. Unionized Latino workers were about 26 percentage points more likely to have health insurance and about 27 percentage points more likely to have a pension than their non-union counterparts. [CEPR Report: Unions and Upward Mobility for Latino Workers, 9/08]
The NLRB Ruled Against a Fort Collins based dry-wall firm specifically on accusations it interfered with union organizing by Latino workers. In 2000, the Denver Post reported, "Phase 2, a Fort Collins-based drywall and steel stud framing contractor has had an ongoing battle with the Rocky Mountain Regional Council of Carpenters over the firm's treatment of its Latino immigrant workers. Recently, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Phase 2 had interfered with workers attempting to join the union. The company was ordered to post information about the union on several job sites." [Denver Post, 12/3/00]
- Unionized Denver drywall workers earn an average of $4.25 per hour than non-unionized drywall workers. The Orlando Sentinel reported, "A seasoned union drywall worker in Denver earns $17.25 an hour, and receives benefits worth an additional $5 an hour, union leaders say. Nonunion drywall workers are typically paid as little as $13 an hour, and receive no benefits." [Orlando Sentinel, 1/22/06]
Higher Wages & Benefits Help U.S. Economy by Giving Workers the Ability to Purchase More Goods & Services: According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund report, unionization is good for the economy overall and "putting more money in workers' pockets would provide a needed boost for the U.S. economy." Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich stated that higher wages and higher benefits would give workers the purchasing power they need to buy more of the goods and services that this economy produces. [CAP Report: Unions are Good for the American Economy, 2/18/09]
Workers at Laradon Hall Waited 18 Months for Their First Contract and Faced Continuous Intimidation. Roberta Ayala, a teacher's assistant a Laradon Hall in Denver, described how hard it was for she and her coworkers to get their first contract after voting to join a union. She wrote, "Eighty percent of us signed cards supporting the union. But the school refused to recognize our decision. We filed for an election and that's when management began harassing and intimidating us. They even fired several teachers' assistants--making our staffing problems even worse. They wanted to scare us. They wanted us to give up. But it didn't work--we won our election... Management continued their intimidation tactics even after we won our election. The facility experienced a 70 percent turnover in staff because of the campaign waged by management... Eighteen months after our election, we finally won our first contract. We finally won a voice in classroom decisions. But it shouldn't have been this hard to win improvements for our students." [SEIU, "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act," accessed 5/19/09]
It Took Over a Year for DIA Train Workers to Get Their First Contract After Joining a Union. In 2000, the Denver Post reported, "The company that operates and maintains Denver International Airport's train system and a union that represents 40 of the firm's workers reached a contract settlement late Thursday afternoon, averting a threatened midnight strike. Workers represented by the International Union of Elevator Constructors were seeking their first contract with the train firm, Adtranz, after 13 months of bargaining. The new labor pact contains wage and benefit increases for the Adtranz workers, said Dale Coalmer, business manager for elevator constructors union Local 25." [Denver Post, 2/18/00]
Management of Exempla St. Joseph Hospital Delayed First Contract with Nurses For 18 Months, Waiting for the Workers to Give Up. In 2002, the Denver Business Journal reported, "Emergency department workers at Saint Joseph Hospital are cutting union ties after failing to reach a contract with the department's management. Eighteen months ago, about 60 workers at Exempla Healthcare's Saint Joseph Hospital became the first health care employees to unionize in Colorado in more than 20 years. The small group, however, couldn't strike a deal with Saint Joseph's outside emergency room management company, Maricor. 'We never should have organized a subcontractor of a hospital. ... They are not going to let the tail of the dog wag the dog,' said Ernest L. Duran Jr., president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, the union that represents the hospital workers. 'We didn't have the power. People think the negotiating process is this sophisticated, intellectual process. It's not. It's all about power.'" [Denver Business Journal, 2/22/02]
When Nurses at St. Anthony's Were Organizing a Union Vote, Management Brought in Outside Anti-Union Consultant to Scare Them Off. In 2003, the Denver Westword reported, "Three years ago the SEIU was involved in an effort to unionize nurses at St. Anthony's two area hospitals. St. Anthony hired Kansas City-based Management Science Associates, a firm that specializes in battling union drives in the health-care industry, and soon the nurses were deluged with anti-union propaganda and forced to attend meetings warning them about the dangers of forming a union. 'The only reason we were trying to organize was to have a voice,' says Bernie Patterson, a St. Anthony nurse who was active in the union drive. 'Our Catholic, non-profit hospital hired a consulting firm and spent millions to fight us. It was really ugly.' Patterson's group eventually had to withdraw its petition for an election because many of the nurses who originally supported the union were frightened away. 'Even the nurses who believed we needed a voice were losing their confidence,' she says." [Denver Westword, 6/12/03]
