Worker Organizing Resource and Knowledge Center

• Data from the past 100 years shows the inverse relationship between union density and inequality.
• A report from Cornell ILR details research on the types of representation workers want.
• Data from the American Sociological Association shows the decline of organized labor in the United States coincided with a large increase in wage inequality.
• Reduced worker power has contributed to sluggish wage growth, a declining labor share of income, unemployment and inflation.
• High union density in states correlates with better income and economic protections, increased access to health insurance and policies that support well-being, and more: Unions are not only good for workers, they're good for communities and for democracy.
• Eroded collective bargaining is a major factor in depressing wage growth for middle earners and increasing wage inequality.
• Through reducing inequality, increasing wages, and greater job protections and security, unions help reduce disparities and strengthen our democracy
• View union member characteristics, earnings, and more from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Union Members
• Unionization is associated with a substantial and significant decline in traumatic injuries and fatalities among coal miners. Learn more in this report on union's role in Coal Mine Safety.
• Unionized workplaces are more likely to receive safety and health inspections and enforce OSHA standards.
• The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) database contains detailed information on membership in trade unions and employers' associations, collective bargaining coverage, statutory minimum wages, and more from 56 countries/territories across 60 years.
• Search for a union or employer to view public and private sector collective bargaining agreements in the Office of Labor Management Standards database of public and private sector collective bargaining agreements
• View trade union membership by country across twenty years from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) database on trade union membership
• The Union Membership and Coverage database provides private and public sector labor union membership, coverage, and density estimates compiled from the monthly household Current Population Survey (CPS) using BLS methods.
• Learn more about coverage under the NLRA and what activities are protected with this flyer from the NLRB on workers' rights
• The wide range of organizing and collective action occurring across the country demonstrates how workers are attempting to fill the voice and representation gaps within their workplaces. Learn more in this Executive Summary from the Worker Empowerment Research Network.
• The union wage premium provides significant gains to union and non-union workers, and these benefits add up over time to an average of $1.3 million in additional lifetime earnings.
• A WorkRise landscape report showing strong unions are associated with lowering poverty and reducing inequality.
• Workers who are union members earn on average $1.3 million more over the course of their careers.
• The Wirtz Labor Library is a source for labor and labor law research.
• Fact sheet: Employers are charged with violating federal law in nearly 40% of union elections

Print Publications

• Bargaining for the Common Good: An Emerging Tool for Re-Building Worker Power, in No One Size Fits All - Joseph A. McCartin and Marilyn Sneiderman
• Labor Unions and White Racial Politics - Jake Grumbach and Paul Frymer
• Unions, Worker Voice, and Management Practices: Implications for a High Productivity, High-Wage Economy -- Thomas A. Kochan and William T. Kimball

• The DOL Good Jobs Initiative is focused on providing critical information to workers, employers, and government agencies as they work to improve job quality and create access to good jobs free from discrimination and harassment for all working people.
• These eight Good Jobs Principles from the U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce create a framework for workers, businesses, labor unions, advocates, researchers, and federal agencies for a shared vision of job quality.
• Find answers to frequently asked questions about pay and benefits, workplace safety and health, required posters, and more on this DOL website for employers, including information on obligations under the National Labor Relations Act.
• The U.S. Department of Commerce's job quality toolkit is an actionable tool that organizations can use to improve the quality of the jobs they offer.
• Read about Kaiser Permanente's Historic Labor-Management Deal and how it has survived challenges.
• Unionization can benefit labor and business if employers and employees work together and make the right choices.
• By expanding the use of Quality Workforce Partnerships, policymakers and unions can help government employers and unions work together to solve challenges and deliver good results for workers, employers, and the public.
• In 1997, the Kaiser Foundation Health Care and Hospitals, the Permanente Medical Federation, and a coalition of unions created one of the most ambitious labor management partnerships in U.S. history. Learn more about The Potential and Precariousness of Partnership in The Case of the Kaiser Permanente Labor Management Partnership.
• Learn about the promising Labor and Management collaboration practices the 1199SEIU League Labor Management Project (LMP) has supported.
• In recent years, union-sponsored Apprenticeship programs have helped racial and ethnic minorities and women access higher-paid segments of the workforce, while helping lift all their apprenticeship graduates into sound middle-class jobs.
• Search for a union or employer to view on the Office of Labor Management Standards database of public and private sector collective bargaining agreements.
• To assist management and labor in improving their relationship so they can learn to work together on issues of mutual interest, as a team instead of adversaries, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service offers a range of collaborative union-management processes.
• The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) enforces organizing and bargaining rights in the private sector.
• Explore NLRA rules on employer, employee, and union protected activity with this NLRA Rights Poster Required for Federal Contractors.
• The right to organize and the National Labor Relations Board's enforcement of those rights mean nothing if workers do not know about them. This Employee Rights Poster Is a Gateway to Knowledge
• Explore a compilation of resources on labor partnerships and worker organizing offered by the Small Business Administration, the Department of Labor, the NLRB and the FMCS.
• Employers and labor relations consultants who have arrangements to undertake persuader activities relating to employees' organizing rights are required to disclose the activity by filing reports with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards.  Learn more about employer and consultant reporting obligations by viewing slides from a September 2022 webinar.
• How We're Promoting Timely Reporting of Anti-Organizing Consultant Activities
• Harvard Business Review article by business leader and academic on How Businesses Should (and Shouldn’t) Respond to Union Organizing
• Fact sheet: Employers are charged with violating federal law in nearly 40% of union elections
• Project labor agreements negotiated by construction managers and unions can improve efficiency on construction projects but also provide opportunities for women and people of color to get good union jobs.
• Helping Employers and Workers Build Relationships and Reach Agreements Read how the NLRB and FMCS assist both workers and employers in newly organized units build positive labor-management relationships and successfully reach first collective bargaining agreements.

• The DOL Good Jobs Initiative is focused on providing critical information to workers, employers, and government agencies as they work to improve job quality and create access to good jobs free from discrimination and harassment for all working people.
• These eight Good Jobs Principles by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce create a framework for workers, businesses, labor unions, advocates, researchers, and federal agencies for a shared vision of job quality.
• Find private and public sector labor Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment estimates compiled from the monthly household Current Population Survey (CPS).
• This report of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment lists more than 70 actions executive branch agencies are taking to support worker organizing and collective bargaining. Read the March 2023 implementation update to the report and a fact sheet on the Labor Department's implementation progress.
• The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) enforces organizing and bargaining rights and labor-management relations of federal employees in the United States.
• In this video produced by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, learn about Labor-Management Forums, how they can be integrated into the collective bargaining process using Pre-Decisional Involvement, and on ways they can improve labor-management relations in the federal government.
• Project labor agreements negotiated by construction managers and unions can improve efficiency on construction projects but also provide opportunities for women and people of color to get good union jobs.

• Unions protect our communities and democracy. High union density in states correlates with better income and economic protections, increased access to health insurance and policies that support well-being, and more: Unions are not only good for workers, they're good for communities and for democracy.
• View union member characteristics, earnings, and more statistics from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Learn more about U.S. Department of Labor History (2003), from 1884 until today.
• Explore the profound impact women have had on U.S. labor history with this Women in Labor History timeline (through 2008)
• In this article, the AFL-CIO explores Labor History and its intersection with gender inequality, workplace safety, civil rights, and more.
• The Library of Congress offers a wide variety of primary sources documenting business and labor history in the United States.
• Undergraduates have been using the power of their campus community to drive their union organizing. Read this article from Teen Vogue about Unions on Campus: How Some Undergraduates Are Organizing during COVID-19 for more.
• The Labor Film Database is a handy resource for labor film festival programmers and anyone interested in films about work, workers and worker's issues.
• Read the stories of Women In the Labor Movement from the National Park Service.
• In his book State of the Union: A Century of American Labor, Nelson Lichtenstein examines trade unionism ideas, stories, strikes, laws, and people.
• LAWCHA lists resources created to help facilitate teaching labor history and understanding the relationship between teachers and labor history. Learn more about teaching Labor History for the Classroom and the Public.
• Support for unions is strong across all generations, particularly among Gen Z. Learn more from Center for American Progress report: The Closing Gender, Education, and Ideological Divides Behind Gen Z's Union Movement.
• The Wirtz Labor Library is a source for labor and labor law research.
• Beyond the Bargaining Table: Unions Fight Wage Theft. Read how unions help combat wage theft.