The Biden White House Lends Support to Right to Organize a Union

Union organizing in the U.S is at a historic low. Just over 10 percent of wage and salary workers belonged to one in 2021. That’s down threefold from the 1950s when union membership was at a peak.

The White House has now released a detailed pro-union plan in hopes of changing this. Washington Post economics reporter Eli Rosenberg writes:

“The 43-page report, produced by the White House’s Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, is a strikingly pro-union document, seeking to connect the history of union organizing in the United States to its importance for the country’s economic well-being.”

This document comes on the heels of efforts to unionize at major companies like Amazon and Starbucks. We talk about the present and future of America’s labor movement and where unions fit into it.

GUESTS

Erik Loomis

associate professor of history, Rhode Island University

Eli Rosenberg

economics reporter, The Washington Post