On March 10, 2009 Dr. Paula B. Voos testified before the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions during a hearing entitled “Rebuilding Economic Security: Empowering Workers to Restore the Middle Class.” Voos, a a professor in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University, presented findings on the benefits of unions for the middle class and the economy overall. Highlights of the research introduced include that unions typically:
- Raise the wages of the employees they represent
- Reduce income inequality in the wider society by reducing inequality not only within and between represented firms, but also across entire industries as nonunion employers increase compensation to discourage unionization, all of which strengthens the middle class (Card, Lemieux, and Riddell 2007).
- Increase the retention of skilled employees, enhancing human capital and productivity in both the firm and the economy as a whole (Freeman and Medoff 1984; Bennett and Kaufman 2007)
According to Voos’s testimony, “The most important reason to improve the ability of employees to organize into unions is that such membership is a fundamental right in democratic societies, related to freedom of association and the right of all human beings to band together to improve their lives. For that reason alone, I would urge you to pass legislation to make real in the U.S. once again the promise of the National Labor Relations Act.”
Voos draws a clear connection between the decline of the middle class and unions with the current economic crisis, and explains why passage of the Employee Free Choice Act will play a vital role in helping the U.S. economy recover, achieve stability, and thrive in the highly competitive global market. For the complete text of her testimony, visit the Alaskans for Free Choice related studies page.
