Senate Committee Hears Arguments for and Against Unions

​Lawmakers and union leaders debated the broad economic impacts of labor unions at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Nov. 14, highlighting the notable increase in union petitions and strikes this year. The debate grew heated, with disputes from past interactions coming up again.

Support For Unions

Union leaders emphasized unions' ability to shore up the middle class and strengthen benefits and pay for rank-and-file workers.

"Unions are necessary for a stable economy, our safety, our security and our democracy," said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-Communication Workers of America in Washington, D.C. "Nothing is more important for our nation to succeed than unions, collective bargaining, dialog between divergent groups, [and] solutions to the existential threats that we face."

Major strikes have hit the entertainment, health care and auto manufacturing industries this year.

"All over this country, we are seeing workers standing up and fighting back against the unprecedented level of corporate greed taking place," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. "This year alone, over 450,000 workers in America have gone on strike for better wages, better benefits and better working conditions, and that is up 900 percent, compared to just two years ago. … What we are seeing is these historic union victories are not only improving the lives of union members, but that is beginning to spill over into the lives of nonunion workers in America, as well."

He cited higher wages announced at Toyota, Honda and Hyundai after the United Autoworkers (UAW) union held strikes and eventually reached tentative deals with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis this fall. He also mentioned wage increases for Amazon delivery drivers after the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union struck an agreement with United Parcel Service in August.

"The average union worker makes 18 percent more than their nonunion counterparts," said Teamsters President Sean O'Brien. "Interest in unions is at an all-time high for good reasons."

But union membership has been falling nationwide. About 10 percent of U.S. workers were union members in 2021, down from 20 percent in 1983, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., mentioned several companies in her state that recently moved jobs to new locations that didn't have union representation. "I'm really tired of seeing our high-paying union jobs in Wisconsin go to nonunion states or abroad," she said. "Unions provide the security and wages necessary for workers to develop skills, expertise and institutional knowledge that are the bedrock of innovation and growth."

Opposition to Union Actions

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., raised concerns about union contracts leading to layoffs and company closings, which means job losses for workers.

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said franchisees and small-business owners don't want or need union involvement.

Unions often act in their own interest at the cost of the interests of the members in other unions, said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Heritage Foundation's Center for Energy, Climate and Environment in Washington, D.C.

She lamented examples of union leaders taking lavish gifts from companies. "Union corruption is endemic, and Americans don't like it," she said.

Wages rise and benefits increase on their own without unions when the labor market is tight, according to Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.

"Attempts to expand collective bargaining by workers could easily fall into the trap of coercing workers or making them do things on the basis of 'for your own good'," he said.

The PRO Act

Pending legislation, the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, would increase penalties for violations of workers' union rights, ensure that unions can collect fees in all states, modernize the union election process and facilitate initial collective bargaining agreements. It would also make it more difficult for employers to classify employees as supervisors and independent contractors, who are not covered by the National Labor Relations Act.

"Partisan legislation like the PRO Act isn't necessary," if unions are attractive enough to win members, Cassidy said. "If the benefits of joining a union are so good, then there is no reason unions should have to coerce and strong-arm people to join. And they certainly don't need government to help them coerce and strong-arm."

Ultimately, he said, the PRO Act "does little to advance the rights of individual workers."

The PRO Act would "force workers into corrupt unions" and make it easier for unions to intimidate workers into joining, Furchtgott-Roth said.