With voting rights under attack, it is hard not to see the decline of labor unions as an enabling factor in the erosion of America’s democratic institutions.
Shawn Fain, President of the United Auto Workers (UAW), speaks during the United Auto Workers union conference at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2024.
(Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
ADAM DEANJAMIE MCCALLUMJAKE GRUMBACH
Jan 27, 2024
EPI Blog
On Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that the share of workers represented by unions was 11.2% in 2023, down slightly from 11.3% in 2022. This news of stagnation is especially sobering for the American labor movement because the past year was full of major victories and growing momentum. The UAW’s ‘stand up’ strike led to record contracts for autoworkers, graduate students around the country won union elections, and public support for labor unions reached near-record highs—especially among young Americans.
The decline of the American labor movement since the 1970s has been a major cause of stagnating wages and rising income inequality, and contributes to U.S. workers facing more dangerous working conditions than their counterparts in other wealthy countries. With the 2024 presidential election approaching, however, it is crucial to look beyond these economic consequences—as important as they are—and to recognize that the decline of American labor unions also leaves American democracy vulnerable.
That is the conclusion of our recent EPI report on labor unions and the use of ballot drop boxes during U.S. elections. Since ballot drop boxes are a highly secure way to increase access to voting during elections, the Republican Party has sought to limit their use as part of a broad assault on voting rights. During the 2022 midterm elections, for example, we found that unified Republican control of a state government was associated with a 95% decrease in ballot drop boxes per capita. Seventeen states completely banned ballot drop boxes—and all but one of them had either a Republican governor or a Republican-controlled legislature. By contrast, Democrats championed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) of 2021—national legislation that included protections against numerous state-level voting restrictions, including those related to ballot drop boxes. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), however, joined Republicans to block these reforms in early 2022.
In the face of these threats, labor unions have led a struggle at every level of government to defend and expand voting rights. At the national level, labor leaders endorsed the VRAA and lobbied for greater access to ballot drop boxes. As AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler demanded, “We need mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes… in every community… in every state.”
At the state level, unions recently coordinated simultaneous protests in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Miami, Phoenix, and Houston against disenfranchisement laws sweeping Republican-led states. “The most brazen of these bills—some already passed into law—would suppress high-turnout voting methods by banning ballot drop boxes,” one protest organizer explained. Unions even fought for access to ballot drop boxes at the county level. For example, when a councilmember in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, proposed banning drop boxes during the 2022 midterm elections, unions rallied outside the local courthouse to voice their dissent.
To examine the relationship between such union efforts and access to ballot drop boxes, we analyzed data on all 17,935 drop boxes available during the 2022 midterm elections. As Figure 1 displays, we found a positive association between county-level union density and ballot drop boxes per capita. Using multilevel negative binomial regression models and controlling for various county-level socioeconomic factors and the partisan control of state government, we found that a one-percentage-point increase in union density was associated with a 9.8% increase in the number of ballot drop boxes per capita. This means that a new organizing drive that brought just 1 out of every 10 workers into a labor union, for example, could more than offset the decrease in ballot drop boxes associated with Republican control of a state government.
Figure 1: Relationship between county-level union density and ballot drop boxes per capita during the 2022 midterm elections.
With this week’s BLS report in mind, however, we must remember that the reverse also holds: Decreases in union density can lead to further restrictions on ballot drop boxes. Consider the state of Wisconsin, where union density decreased by 4.4 percentage points after then-Governor Scott Walker eliminated collective bargaining rights for public-sector workers. Our results suggest that a decline in union density of that magnitude is associated with the disappearance of more than 40% of ballot drop boxes in the average county.
With voting rights under attack, it is hard not to see the decline of labor unions as an enabling factor in the erosion of America’s democratic institutions. We need a resurgence of the labor movement not only to improve wages and working conditions for U.S. workers, but also to enable unions to continue their vital fight to defend American democracy.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that the share of workers represented by unions was 11.2% in 2023, down slightly from 11.3% in 2022. This news of stagnation is especially sobering for the American labor movement because the past year was full of major victories and growing momentum. The UAW’s ‘stand up’ strike led to record contracts for autoworkers, graduate students around the country won union elections, and public support for labor unions reached near-record highs—especially among young Americans.
The decline of the American labor movement since the 1970s has been a major cause of stagnating wages and rising income inequality, and contributes to U.S. workers facing more dangerous working conditions than their counterparts in other wealthy countries. With the 2024 presidential election approaching, however, it is crucial to look beyond these economic consequences—as important as they are—and to recognize that the decline of American labor unions also leaves American democracy vulnerable.
That is the conclusion of our recent EPI report on labor unions and the use of ballot drop boxes during U.S. elections. Since ballot drop boxes are a highly secure way to increase access to voting during elections, the Republican Party has sought to limit their use as part of a broad assault on voting rights. During the 2022 midterm elections, for example, we found that unified Republican control of a state government was associated with a 95% decrease in ballot drop boxes per capita. Seventeen states completely banned ballot drop boxes—and all but one of them had either a Republican governor or a Republican-controlled legislature. By contrast, Democrats championed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) of 2021—national legislation that included protections against numerous state-level voting restrictions, including those related to ballot drop boxes. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), however, joined Republicans to block these reforms in early 2022.
In the face of these threats, labor unions have led a struggle at every level of government to defend and expand voting rights. At the national level, labor leaders endorsed the VRAA and lobbied for greater access to ballot drop boxes. As AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler demanded, “We need mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes… in every community… in every state.”
At the state level, unions recently coordinated simultaneous protests in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Miami, Phoenix, and Houston against disenfranchisement laws sweeping Republican-led states. “The most brazen of these bills—some already passed into law—would suppress high-turnout voting methods by banning ballot drop boxes,” one protest organizer explained. Unions even fought for access to ballot drop boxes at the county level. For example, when a councilmember in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, proposed banning drop boxes during the 2022 midterm elections, unions rallied outside the local courthouse to voice their dissent.
To examine the relationship between such union efforts and access to ballot drop boxes, we analyzed data on all 17,935 drop boxes available during the 2022 midterm elections. As Figure 1 displays, we found a positive association between county-level union density and ballot drop boxes per capita. Using multilevel negative binomial regression models and controlling for various county-level socioeconomic factors and the partisan control of state government, we found that a one-percentage-point increase in union density was associated with a 9.8% increase in the number of ballot drop boxes per capita. This means that a new organizing drive that brought just 1 out of every 10 workers into a labor union, for example, could more than offset the decrease in ballot drop boxes associated with Republican control of a state government.
Figure 1: Relationship between county-level union density and ballot drop boxes per capita during the 2022 midterm elections.
With this week’s BLS report in mind, however, we must remember that the reverse also holds: Decreases in union density can lead to further restrictions on ballot drop boxes. Consider the state of Wisconsin, where union density decreased by 4.4 percentage points after then-Governor Scott Walker eliminated collective bargaining rights for public-sector workers. Our results suggest that a decline in union density of that magnitude is associated with the disappearance of more than 40% of ballot drop boxes in the average county.
With voting rights under attack, it is hard not to see the decline of labor unions as an enabling factor in the erosion of America’s democratic institutions. We need a resurgence of the labor movement not only to improve wages and working conditions for U.S. workers, but also to enable unions to continue their vital fight to defend American democracy.
© 2023 Economic Policy Institute
ADAM DEAN
Adam Dean is associate professor of political science at George Washington University
Full Bio >
JAMIE MCCALLUM
Jamie K. McCallum is associate professor of sociology at Middlebury College.
Full Bio >
JAKE GRUMBACH
Jake Grumbach is an associate professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley
Full Bio >
'Donald Trump Is a Scab': UAW Endorses Joe Biden for President
"Rarely as a union do you get so clear of a choice between two candidates," said UAW president Shawn Fain. "Donald Trump is a billionaire, and that's who he represents."
United Auto Workers leader Shawn Fain and U.S. President Joe Biden appear at a union conference at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C., on January 24, 2024.
(Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
JESSICA CORBETT
Jan 24, 2024
After a month-long delay partly related to electric vehicle policy, the United Auto Workers on Wednesday endorsed Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden, who is seeking reelection in November.
The announcement came on the final day of a UAW conference in Washington, D.C., and on the heels of an unsanctioned primary in New Hampshire—which Biden won as a write-in candidate, as he did not appear on the ballot due to a dispute between state leaders and the Democratic National Committee.
After a victory in the GOP's Iowa caucuses earlier this month, former President Donald Trump also won in New Hampshire on Tuesday, setting up a likely rematch between him and Biden later this year—despite the Republican's legal issues, some of which stem from his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss.
"We can stand up and elect someone who stands with us and supports our cause. Or we can elect someone who will divide us and fight us every step of the way."
Confirming the endorsement in a Wednesday speech, UAW president Shawn Fain stressed the differences between Trump and Biden—who in September became the first sitting president to stand with strikers on a picket line when he joined UAW members during their battle with the Big Three automakers, just months after working with Congress to thwart a threatened rail strike.
"This November, we can stand up and elect someone who stands with us and supports our cause. Or we can elect someone who will divide us and fight us every step of the way," said Fain. "That's what this choice is about. The question is, who do we want in that office to give us the best shot of winning? Who gives us the best shot of organizing? Who gives us the best shot of negotiating strong contracts? Who gives us the best shot of uniting the working class and winning our fair share once again?"
"Rarely as a union do you get so clear of a choice between two candidates," argued Fain, who has gained a national profile for last year's strike and his ongoing push to improve conditions for the working class. He shared a slideshow with details about how Trump and Biden have handled issues important to UAW members, highlighting that during the strike, the Republican "went to a nonunion plant, invited by the boss, and trashed our union."
"Donald Trump is a scab," Fain declared, using a derogatory term for someone who crosses a picket line. "Donald Trump is a billionaire, and that's who he represents. If Donald Trump ever worked in an auto plant, he wouldn't be a UAW member. He'd be a company man, trying to squeeze the American worker. Donald Trump stands against everything we stand for as a union, as a society."
Biden also took aim at his predecessor, telling the UAW conference crowd that "when Donald Trump was in office, six auto factories closed around the country. Tens of thousands of auto jobs were lost nationwide during Trump's presidency. During my presidency, we've opened 20 auto factories, with more to come. We've created more than 250,000 auto jobs all across America."
"We have a big fight in front of us. We're fundamentally changing the economy in this country... All anyone wants is just a fair shot," Biden added. "That's what my economic plan is all about. That's what the UAW is all about. That's what your battle has been about. The days of working people being dealt out of the deal are over in this country as long as I'm president."
CNNreported Wednesday that "although it's a key endorsement for Biden, the backing from union leadership may not convince all of the rank and file to vote for the president in November. Biden won the endorsement of the UAW in the 2020 campaign, even though many rank-and-file members supported Trump."
The president has collected various endorsements from labor and other groups throughout the campaign, though at least one organization recently revoked its primary support for Biden due to his position on Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, and others are facing similar pressure to do so. The UAW has notably called for a cease-fire in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The UAW has about 400,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members, many with ties to Michigan, a swing state. Reutersnoted that the president narrowly won the state in 2020 and "a Biden campaign official said this endorsement will mean more in November in Michigan than the anger among Muslim voters in the state over the administration's support for Israel."
The battle to win over organized labor continues. According toPolitico: "Trump, for his part, is scheduled to meet with Teamsters President Sean O'Brien and union members next week, as that union also has held out on a presidential endorsement. The Teamsters invited Biden to a roundtable with members that same day, the union said."
UAW Chief Says Billionaires—Not Migrants—Are Real Threat to Working Class
"In reality, we're all on the same side of the war against the working class," Shawn Fain said in a wide-ranging speech on Monday.
UAW president Shawn Fain speaks at the National Community Action Program Conference in Washington, D.C., on January 22, 2024.
(Photo: UAW/YouTube/Screengrab)
OLIVIA ROSANE
Jan 23, 2024
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain argued that the current fear-mongering around the U.S. border with Mexico is an attempt by the wealthy and political elites to divide workers.
The remarks came in a wide-ranging speech at the UAW's National Community Action Program Conference in Washington, D.C. on Monday, in which Fain repeated the union's call for a cease-fire in Gaza, confirmed plans for a 2028 general strike, and laid out a vision for a wider U.S. political movement led by the working class.
"They try to divide us nationally by nationality," Fain said. "Right now, we have millions of people being told that the biggest threat to their livelihood is migrants coming over the border. The threat we face at the border isn't from the migrants. It's from the billionaires and the politicians getting working people to point the finger at one another, when in reality, we're all on the same side of the war against the working class."
"We fight for a political program that serves humanity, not the inhumane interest of the wealthy and corporate greed."
Fain added that the issue of immigration was personal to him because his grandparents had traveled between states to get jobs as autoworkers and become UAW members.
"They went somewhere else to find a better life. That's all these people are trying to do," Fain said.
The UAW has emerged as a major leader in a reinvigorated U.S. labor movement after its "stand up" strike won historic contracts against the Big Three automakers in 2023. As part of the final deal, the UAW negotiated a shared April 30, 2028 expiration date for all three contracts, opening up the possibility of a May Day strike. Fain has previously called on other unions to coordinate their contract expiration dates for the same date to allow the working class to "flex our collective muscles."
Fain repeated and strengthened that call on Monday, endorsing a general strike.
The U.S. has not seen a mass, cross-union walkout in decades, according to The Guardian, and Fain argued that this was a mistake.
"We have to pay for our sins of the past. Back in [1981] when Reagan at the time fired PATCO [Professional Air Traffic Controllers] workers, everybody in this country should have stood up and walked the hell out," Fain said. "We missed the opportunity then, but we're not going to miss it in 2028. That's the plan. We want a general strike. We want everybody walking out just like they do in other countries."
Fain said the union's success in 2023 gave him hope.
"We shocked the billionaires," he said, "and you know what that tells me? That if we can do things we've never tried before as a new UAW, we can win things we've never won before."
He also pointed to the 75% support the strike had from the U.S. population.
"Our issues are the public's issues," he said.
Fain said that the union's fight was larger than just its own contracts. For example, he noted that the union had failed to end the two-tiered system for retirement benefits. Those hired after 2007 receive a 401(k) with matching contributions instead of a pension and post-retirement healthcare, as The Detroit News pointed out. Fain argued that the UAW could resolve this in part by broadening the fight for retirement security to include the whole nation, though he said they would continue to push the Big Three as well.
"Either the Big Three guarantee retirement security for workers who give their lives to these companies or an even bigger player does: the federal government," he said.
He added: "We can't just fight for good contracts for our members alone. We fight for a society—from union contracts, to federal legislation, to our political system as a whole, that serves the working class and poor, that serves the people. We fight for a political program that serves humanity, not the inhumane interest of the wealthy and corporate greed."
He also criticized the wealthy for using issues like gender identity, sexual orientation, race, and nationality to divide the working class, and it was in this context that he criticized the scapegoating of immigrants. He also emphasized the UAW's history of backing civil rights and environmental justice.
"We have to, as a union, lead in the area of environmental safety," Fain said. "It does no good to bargain for another dollar an hour or another week's vacation, if on the vacation you take you can't swim in the lake, because it's dirty, and you can't breathe clean air."
Further, he emphasized the importance of international solidarity. The UAW was also the largest union at the time to officially demand a cease-fire in Israel's war on Gaza, a demand he repeated Monday to chants of "cease-fire now!"
"We don't stop our fight for justice at the workplace. We don't stop our fight for justice because it's not the right time. When and where there's a war, whether it's in Vietnam or Gaza, we call for peace," Fain said.
The UAW has not yet endorsed a candidate for president in the 2024 election. Fain criticized former President Donald Trump on Monday, telling reporters he was "pretty much contrary to everything we stand for," according to The Guardian. But he did not endorse his presumptive opponent President Joe Biden.
"We have to take the issues that matter to the working class and poor, and we have to make our political leaders stand up with us," Fain said. "Our message in doing this is simple: Support our cause, or you will not get our endorsement."
"In reality, we're all on the same side of the war against the working class," Shawn Fain said in a wide-ranging speech on Monday.
UAW president Shawn Fain speaks at the National Community Action Program Conference in Washington, D.C., on January 22, 2024.
(Photo: UAW/YouTube/Screengrab)
OLIVIA ROSANE
Jan 23, 2024
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain argued that the current fear-mongering around the U.S. border with Mexico is an attempt by the wealthy and political elites to divide workers.
The remarks came in a wide-ranging speech at the UAW's National Community Action Program Conference in Washington, D.C. on Monday, in which Fain repeated the union's call for a cease-fire in Gaza, confirmed plans for a 2028 general strike, and laid out a vision for a wider U.S. political movement led by the working class.
"They try to divide us nationally by nationality," Fain said. "Right now, we have millions of people being told that the biggest threat to their livelihood is migrants coming over the border. The threat we face at the border isn't from the migrants. It's from the billionaires and the politicians getting working people to point the finger at one another, when in reality, we're all on the same side of the war against the working class."
"We fight for a political program that serves humanity, not the inhumane interest of the wealthy and corporate greed."
Fain added that the issue of immigration was personal to him because his grandparents had traveled between states to get jobs as autoworkers and become UAW members.
"They went somewhere else to find a better life. That's all these people are trying to do," Fain said.
The UAW has emerged as a major leader in a reinvigorated U.S. labor movement after its "stand up" strike won historic contracts against the Big Three automakers in 2023. As part of the final deal, the UAW negotiated a shared April 30, 2028 expiration date for all three contracts, opening up the possibility of a May Day strike. Fain has previously called on other unions to coordinate their contract expiration dates for the same date to allow the working class to "flex our collective muscles."
Fain repeated and strengthened that call on Monday, endorsing a general strike.
The U.S. has not seen a mass, cross-union walkout in decades, according to The Guardian, and Fain argued that this was a mistake.
"We have to pay for our sins of the past. Back in [1981] when Reagan at the time fired PATCO [Professional Air Traffic Controllers] workers, everybody in this country should have stood up and walked the hell out," Fain said. "We missed the opportunity then, but we're not going to miss it in 2028. That's the plan. We want a general strike. We want everybody walking out just like they do in other countries."
Fain said the union's success in 2023 gave him hope.
"We shocked the billionaires," he said, "and you know what that tells me? That if we can do things we've never tried before as a new UAW, we can win things we've never won before."
He also pointed to the 75% support the strike had from the U.S. population.
"Our issues are the public's issues," he said.
Fain said that the union's fight was larger than just its own contracts. For example, he noted that the union had failed to end the two-tiered system for retirement benefits. Those hired after 2007 receive a 401(k) with matching contributions instead of a pension and post-retirement healthcare, as The Detroit News pointed out. Fain argued that the UAW could resolve this in part by broadening the fight for retirement security to include the whole nation, though he said they would continue to push the Big Three as well.
"Either the Big Three guarantee retirement security for workers who give their lives to these companies or an even bigger player does: the federal government," he said.
He added: "We can't just fight for good contracts for our members alone. We fight for a society—from union contracts, to federal legislation, to our political system as a whole, that serves the working class and poor, that serves the people. We fight for a political program that serves humanity, not the inhumane interest of the wealthy and corporate greed."
He also criticized the wealthy for using issues like gender identity, sexual orientation, race, and nationality to divide the working class, and it was in this context that he criticized the scapegoating of immigrants. He also emphasized the UAW's history of backing civil rights and environmental justice.
"We have to, as a union, lead in the area of environmental safety," Fain said. "It does no good to bargain for another dollar an hour or another week's vacation, if on the vacation you take you can't swim in the lake, because it's dirty, and you can't breathe clean air."
Further, he emphasized the importance of international solidarity. The UAW was also the largest union at the time to officially demand a cease-fire in Israel's war on Gaza, a demand he repeated Monday to chants of "cease-fire now!"
"We don't stop our fight for justice at the workplace. We don't stop our fight for justice because it's not the right time. When and where there's a war, whether it's in Vietnam or Gaza, we call for peace," Fain said.
The UAW has not yet endorsed a candidate for president in the 2024 election. Fain criticized former President Donald Trump on Monday, telling reporters he was "pretty much contrary to everything we stand for," according to The Guardian. But he did not endorse his presumptive opponent President Joe Biden.
"We have to take the issues that matter to the working class and poor, and we have to make our political leaders stand up with us," Fain said. "Our message in doing this is simple: Support our cause, or you will not get our endorsement."
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