Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
The percentage of America’s workers who want to form a union (52%) is more than four times higher than the percentage of workers who are actually in a union (12%). Working people face many obstacles in their organizing attempts—including some ruthless employers who blatantly violate labor laws to snuff out their employees’ campaigns. And for others, there’s a lack of understanding about what unions are and what we can achieve through collective bargaining.
The Biden administration’s Department of Labor gets it. That’s why the department, under the leadership of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (LIUNA), is launching a new resource center for unions and collective bargaining. The resource center will serve as a hub of information for what working people can achieve as union members to lift up themselves and their co-workers, strengthen their industries and communities, and protect America’s democracy.
Walsh announced this new initiative on Wednesday night during the AFL-CIO’s Labor Day Kickoff webinar, where he said he sees it as his role to help grow union power. The department said it is “in a unique position to house this resource center because of its mission to foster, promote and develop the welfare of workers.” This move shows again why elections matter—and what we can achieve with pro-labor elected officials in office.