AFT’s Weingarten on Economic Policy Institute Report on Nonunion Wages

WASHINGTON— Statement by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the Economic Policy Institute’s new report, ‘Union Decline Lowers Wages of Nonunion Workers’:

"For America’s middle class to truly prosper, we need a thriving labor movement. Over the last three decades, real wages for many working Americans have gone nowhere, a trend often blamed on trickle-down economics, globalization and technological change. This report highlights another major factor—the decline in union strength, which has suppressed wages, not just in unionized jobs but right across the economy. It proves the correlation between collective action and a better life.

"Beyond the critical fact that unions raise wages for all workers, the report adds to recent research from the Center for American Progress that shows kids who live in communities where unions are stronger have a better chance to succeed and climb into the middle class. And it’s long been known that declines in union strength have mirrored the explosion of social inequality.

"The writing’s on the wall: We urgently need to fight for America’s future by working together to rebuild and revitalize organized labor—and with it the middle class."