Labor 101 Quiz

True or false, It is the explicit policy of the U.S. government to support workers to form unions and collectively bargain.

TRUE!

The National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 151, states:

“It is declared to be the policy of the United States to eliminate the causes of certain substantial obstructions to the free flow of commerce and to mitigate and eliminate these obstructions when they have occurred by encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and by protecting the exercise by workers of full freedom of association, self- organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection.”

Right to work means:

If a worker is represented by a union they can not be obligated to pay union dues.

State Right to Work Laws prohibit union security clauses in union contracts. These clauses require that all workers in a workplace are union members, or must pay a representation fee (often very similar to union does). Thus a worker at a union shop can not be a union member but the union is still required to represent them and bargain on their behalf.

“In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right to work.’ It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone…Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil rights. We do not intend to let them do this to us. We demand this fraud be stopped. Our weapon is our vote.” —Martin Luther King, speaking about right-to-work laws in 1961

African American workers are most likely to be represented by a collective bargaining agreement.

Black workers have the highest unionization rates, at 12.8%.

White workers: 11.2%

Latinx workers: 10.0%

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers: 9.2%.

Overall 11.3% of workers are represented by a union.

Multiple studies have shown that the majority of union recognition campaigns do not secure a contract within a year of recognition.

One study found that in 2018, 63% of unions failed to reach a first contract within one year of winning their election. After two years, 43% were still working without a first contract. The study also found that employers used illegal unfair labor practices to delay and undermine bargaining.