In the labor movement, we all know that our claim that we helped build the American middle-class is more than rhetoric. When earnings lead costs, discretionary income results. Unions raise everyone’s wages. Thirty years ago, the nation’s largest employer was General Motors. It was unions bargaining a livable wage and benefits which set the standard -- pulling up wages and benefits across the nation.  Today, the nation’s largest private employer is Wal-Mart and their wages and lack of employee benefits drag down wages and working standards across the country because their workforce is not unionized. 

 With unions, all workers generally gain better wages and benefits by providing a fair counterbalance to the unchecked power of employers. We still earn as much as 25 percent more than our non-union counterparts, making us more likely to work our way into the middle-class and stay there.  In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, unionized and non-unionized workers, make over $6,000 more in a state like Michigan where unions are strong.

 As you know, unions continue to believe in, and fight for healthcare for all our Michigan family members - both as active employees and as retirees. Our union brothers and sisters tend to be more confident about health care and retirement safety, two of the greatest insecurities of the squeezed middle class -- especially in this fragile economy.  Seventy-five percent of us union workers have health benefits -- compared to only 49% of non-union workers. Furthermore, several recent economic studies show that employers with non-unionized workforces only provide health insurance because employers with unionized workforces do so.

 The safety and health protections we now expect at the workplace are due to union-supported MIOSHA regulations which are provided to unionized & non-unionized workers alike – by virtue of the work that unions do.

 Unions work to improve trade agreements, lifting the standard of living for workers in our community and the world. America’s unions remain the best voice for fair trade that helps keep jobs for all workers in Michigan. We work hard during election time to protect manufacturing jobs in America – even though two out of three jobs are non-unionized.

 With unions, all workers gain more flexibility for work and family needs due to union-backed Family and Medical Leave Act. This legislation was passed due to the lobbying of unions - but it applies to all workers.

 So often we tend to think of ourselves as islands in the ocean of life, when nothing could be further from the truth. Whether you are a unionized or non-unionized worker, all Americans have and continue to benefit from a robust labor movement.

 Mark Gaffney
President
Michigan State AFL-CIO