Since the early 1880’s, labor unions in the United States have played a pivotal role in ensuring the rights and fair treatment of workers in the United States. The origins of these unions trace back to the Industrial Revolution; the proliferation of factories fostered unfair treatment of workers and bitter work conditions. These workers had no choice but to band together and fight to further their interests. These interests include higher wages, stable working hours, and safe working conditions. Unions’ ability to protect these interests is directly correlated with their ability to collect union dues through membership. Although labor unions have done a lot to protect factory worker interests, many people have been left to believe that labor unions have outlived their usefulness while others still believe they play an important role in today’s society.
Labor unions play a significant role in securing workers’ rights, however there has been a steep decline in union membership in recent history. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union membership has dropped nearly 10%. In 1983, there were about 17.7 million union workers. A little over thirty years later that number had dropped to 14.8 million in 2017. There are a number of reasons why this has occurred. First, a number of union memberships come from American manufacturing jobs. This is due to the fact that labor unions were started to protect the rights of manufacturing workers during the Industrial Revolution, as noted above. However, those jobs are hard to come by these days. Today’s jobs are more technologically based, while the archaic factory is dying. Right-to-work laws also contribute to the demise of unions. These laws are designed to allow workers to work without being forced to join a union or pay union dues. Due to the growing number of states that are implementing these laws, more workers are deciding to abandon unions if it means they save more money.
Since labor unions were first formed, membership has always been relatively low. Although traditional labor union jobs are declining , the question still remains as to why people in today’s market are not joining unions; it is widely believed that the answer is because members feel they are not receiving the benefits promised. However, this is false. A 2013 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that unionized workers earned on average $16.17 per hour while non-unionized workers earned on average $10.16 an hour. So, even with these benefits, people are still refusing to join unions for other reasons.
A closer look into the situation reveals other factors that might be at play when determining this issue. One variable could be that unions have been and have increasingly become politicized. This is most commonly observed in today’s politics with union lobbyists pushing for certain legislation to be passed. Due to the political nature of these union lobbying groups, union members might not want to sponsor the message that these unions push for. In this instance, union membership will decline since there is no other alternative to the union that is specific for their field of work. Unions are also entrenched with the two major parties in the U.S. In 2018, Gallup polling found that eighty-one percent of Democrats approve of unions, which is significantly higher than the 42% of Republicans who approve. This disparity is not as stark as it was in 2011 when Republican approval was 26% and Democratic approval was 78%. The concept of unions have become increasingly used as tools for politics between the two parties which ultimately splits workers into two camps, join or not join.
Due to the highly politicized nature of labor unions, there are also a multitude of legal implications that come with it. Abood v. Detroit Board of Education is a 1977 case in which a group of non-union Michigan teachers filed a lawsuit with Michigan state courts stating that the agency-shop clause between the Detroit Federation of Teachers and the Detroit Board of Education violated their constitutional right to freedom of association. The agency-shop clause required non-union employees to pay union dues despite the fact that they were not members the union. The unions argued that since they were legally required to represent every worker, member or not, everyone should pay into the system because everyone receives the benefits. The plaintiffs brought this case to the district court of Michigan where they upheld collective bargaining laws on the basis of private sector precedent in Railway Employees’ Dept. v. Hanson. After the case had been decided in district court, the plaintiffs decided to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals which reaffirmed that collective bargaining laws were in fact constitutional. When the Michigan Supreme Court refused to review the case, the plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that collective bargaining laws were constitutional on the grounds that they do not compel non-union employees to support activities unrelated to collective bargaining.
Despite the success of Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, the latest challenge to collective bargaining came earlier this year in a case known as Janus v. AFSCME. A 5-4 vote in the Supreme Court ruled that collective bargaining laws were unconstitutional, effectively overturning Abood v. Detroit Board of Education. The Court agreed that these laws violated the right to freedom of association. Public sector unions could not force individuals to pay union dues even if they were not members. This could potentially cause unions to lose millions of dollars that otherwise would have been used to strengthen worker rights. Justice Alito affirmed the ruling stating that, “We recognize that the loss of payments from non-members may cause unions to experience unpleasant transition costs in the short term, and may require unions to make adjustments in order to attract and retain members, but we must weigh these disadvantages against the considerable windfall that unions have received”. All the conservatives on the Court joined the opinion of Alito, while all the liberals on the Court dissented. Conservatives have always been opponents of collective bargaining laws and this ruling substantially weakened public sector union’s ability to collectively bargain for higher wages, reasonable working hours, and better working conditions.
The question still remains: where do labor unions go from here? Adam Dean, a professor of political science at the George Washington University, believes that unions have potential to strengthen themselves. Professor Dean believes that the potential to strengthen unions in specific industries like teaching or healthcare is great because of America’s inability to outsource those types of jobs. However, he does share a little pessimism due to how severe a blow Janus v. AFSCME had on unions ability to protect employee interests. The story of the future of labor unions is one that is still being written by the guidance of the law and of public opinion.