Opinion | Unions could succeed where Senate Democrats fail

It’s no secret that union organizing, in many cases driven by young people, has picked up. CNBC reports: “Between October 2021 and March of this year, union representation petitions filed at the NLRB increased 57% from the same period a year ago, according to recent data from the U.S. National Labor Relations Board.”

Meanwhile, more than 250 Starbucks stores have organized since the first victory last December. Employees at Amazon and Google have also had successful union drives. Public approval of unions hasn’t been this high since 1965.

So what does this have to do with progressive policy objectives? Unions can negotiate with employers over all sorts of things, from higher wages to better workplace safety measures to improved worker benefits. That can include items such as paid sick leave, assistance for child care and pre-K reimbursement.

They can also make demands well beyond traditional worker benefits. For example, they can seek requirements to include a voter registration form with new employee paperwork and paid time off to vote. They can also bargain with companies to allow use their facilities as polling places. In other words, they can help expand access to voting even when Republicans in Congress and state legislatures are trying to do the opposite.

Unions also can make proposals for paid time off and reimbursement if an employee needs to go out of state for an abortion. The cost and inconvenience of such absences might make businesses somewhat more inclined to support candidates who support in-state abortion care.

In addition, unions can negotiate provisions for companies to match their employees’ charitable giving or for a voluntary deduction for an employee’s designated charitable cause. These mechanisms don’t promote only progressive causes; they would enlist employers in helping facilitate employees’ own philanthropy.

Unions do more than simply maximize earnings. Union organizing involves face to face discussion, listening to employee concerns and developing a level of trust — behaviors rarely involved in more transactional political organizing (give me your vote for X). As a result, unions can not only achieve gains for employees workplace by workplace, including many items the political system should be securing for the entire country, but also create engaged networks of people. Those relationships can be activated in advance of elections to turn out the vote, support candidates and promote political initiatives. There is a reason Republicans have long sought to decrease political partisanship and inhibit unions’ political activities. Unionized people readily become politically engaged people.

If the MAGA crowd’s aim is to reduce the number of voters and deny family-friendly benefits to low- and middle-income workers, unions can serve as a counterweight that activates voters and increases benefits. Just as historical union victories — such as an eight-hour workday and work-free weekends — migrated to all workers, the progressive aims listed above might find their way into non-unionized workplaces or even state statutes.

Unions are not an alternative to legislation, but they can be a critical supplement. The beauty of unionization is that Americans need not wait for the requisite number of Democrats to eliminate the filibuster or for Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) to stop depriving workers of new benefits. Unionization can be another form of exercising political power — even when Congress is stymied by GOP obstruction.