A new report refutes right-wing claims about unions by revealing some of the benefits of unions that extend far beyond union members themselves.
Beyond the Weekend by American Rights at Work (ARAW) shows union members are having positive impacts on jobs, health care, education and their communities.
The report’s key findings show that building trades unions are partnering with community groups to create new career paths for veterans, workers of color, and women. It finds that frontline union health care workers are collaborating with hospital administrators to find real solutions that improve patient care and control costs.
Partnerships between union-represented teachers and school administrators are boosting student achievement in schools that serve disadvantaged families. Union members’ pension funds are financing public and private projects that create good American jobs. And, child care providers are gaining new skills and resources through their unions to improve how they care for children of low-income families.
“In an era where employees’ basic rights to come together in the workplace are increasingly at risk, Americans need to understand what is at stake if these rights and resulting opportunities are lost,” reads the report. “Whether through funding development projects that create good jobs, operating effective training programs, or controlling healthcare costs, it’s clear from this research that when employees have a voice on the job, they improve more than their own working conditions.”
