Study: Tripling union membership could increase median wages by 14.5%

Washington D.C. – Tripling union membership in the United States could lead to a 14.5% wage increase for the median worker, amounting to over $7,700 annually. This finding comes from a new report released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) on Wednesday.

The EPI report argues that such an expansion of unionization would not only significantly boost worker earnings but also help to correct wage disparities. It estimates that a rise in union density could reduce the racial wage gap by more than a third, disproportionately benefiting Black and Hispanic workers. Furthermore, it could help align wage growth with increases in worker productivity, which has outpaced pay raises for the last four decades.

"Right now, almost every conversation about affordability focuses entirely on prices, as if the only way to make life more affordable is to make things cheaper—but affordability depends on both prices and pay," said EPI president Heidi Shierholz during a press conference. "There is one institution that has consistently proven capable of raising pay, and that is unions."

The study highlights that over 50 million American workers wish to join a union, and public support for unions currently stands at 71 percent. To facilitate this growth and achieve the proposed goal of union density reaching 30% of the workforce, EPI recommends labor law reforms, including the passage of the "Protecting the Right to Organize Act" (PRO Act). The report also suggests measures such as binding arbitration for contract negotiations and requiring employers with high CEO-to-worker pay ratios to engage in collective bargaining.