Policy Proposal for the Unionization of Workers

Persuasive Policy Essay
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Generating a more equitable economy calls for dismantling barriers to workers’ ability to bargain collectively. Labor unions have made it possible for workers in the U.S. to remain organized and united when fighting for their rights. These organizations have a history of closing pay gaps, reducing inequalities, and raising wages for the American working class. They facilitate democracy, helping advocate for the rights of the working class and getting more into fighting to end discriminative systems. Employees are encouraged to join unions that subsequently offer a collective force for bringing these benefits. However, the constant decline in rates of employee unionization is worrying. These trends call for appropriate policy reforms to ensure that the current and future workforces do not miss the many historical benefits of unions. Following the acknowledgment by most adults that the current trends will bring about detrimental effects to the future workforce, public interest groups should support a policy for collective strategies at national, regional, and global levels to curb the decline of labor unionization.[Frymer, Paul, and Jacob M. Grumbach. "Labor unions and white racial politics." American Journal of Political Science 65, no. 1 (2021): 225.]
In 2021, the U.S. experienced a worrying decline in the unionization of workers. Only 15.8 individuals in the country were under the representation of a labor union this year. This data indicates a 0.5% fall in unionization compared to 2020. This assertion is not to say that 2020 was any better. The surge in the number of people supported by unions is attributable to the pandemic composition effect. The unwinding of the effects of COVID-19 in 2021 caused a continued decline, and there is no evidence that the situation will turn around on its own. Since 2019, union levels have dropped in the public sector (down 74,000) and, to a greater extent, in the private sector (down 507,000). In 2021, men and women showed declined unionization rates of 11.9% and 11.3%, respectively. In the absence of labor unions, the American workforce would face a myriad of challenges. An example is the high loss of jobs during the pandemic for employees not represented by a union. The rights of these individuals in the low and middle classes will need to be adequately recognized and enforced. The workers will be forced to serve under poor conditions due to the lack of a powerful force of collective bargaining. Vis-à-vis their employers, workers have two sources of potential power: the implicit threat to quit and engage another company and a union. The elimination of the second source of power leaves these individuals helpless.[Shierholz, Heidi, Margaret Poydock, John Schmitt, and Celine McNicholas. "Latest data release on unionization is a wake-up call to lawmakers: We must fix our broken system of labor law." (2022): n.p.] [I...