New Report Shows Unionization Substantially Improves the Pay and Benefits of African Americans
Labor Desk
March 31, 2008
On the Anniversary of King´s Assassination, L.A. Workers, Community Leaders Build on His Legacy.
Four decades after Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers, an economic think tank reports that African Americans who belong to a union are significantly better off than their non-union counterparts. King was tragically assassinated during this trip, which was emblematic of his increasing emphasis on issues of economic justice toward the end of his life.
In Los Angeles, workers, clergy and community groups are building on King´s legacy as they fight to improve the bargaining position of African Americans employed in the service sector and to increase the representation of black union members in industries where they have been traditionally underrepresented.
The study was released today by the D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). Entitled "Unions and Upward Mobility for African-American Workers," it reveals that unionized black workers earned, on average, 12 percent more than their non-union peers. In addition, black workers in unions were much more likely to have health-insurance benefits and a pension plan.
"The data demonstrate that unions raise wages and increase access to health insurance and pensions," said John Schmitt, a Senior Economist at CEPR and the author of the study. "Unions continue to be a central element of any plan to improve economic equality in this country."
The report confirms what workers like John Harriel, a union electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11, knows well. "Because I have a union job, I can afford to own a three bedroom house and help my daughter through school. I can contribute to my community."
Harriel, a former gang member who went through a rigorous apprenticeship program to become an union electrician, has been working with to ensure that L.A. City redevelopment projects have project labor agreements and local hire programs that target "at risk" workers, like ex-offenders and welfare recipients. Project labor agreements ensure that developers of public projects work in partnership with the building trades.
"For too long, African Americans have suffered from underemployment and a proliferation of low wage jobs," said Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. "In Los Angeles, we´re addressing both these crises and working to create jobs that will bring all our communities into the middle class."
The report, which analyzed data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), found that unionization raises the pay of African-American workers by about $2.00 per hour. According to the report, black workers in unions were also 16 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 19 percentage points more likely to have an employer-provided pension plan than black workers who were not in unions. There are 209,842 unionized African American workers in California.
According to the study, unionization has an even more dramatic effect on black workers in low-wage jobs. Among African-American workers in the 15 lowest-paying occupations, union members earned 14 percent more than those workers who were not in unions. In the same low-wage occupations, unionized black workers were 20 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 28 percentage points more likely to have a pension plan than their non-union counterparts.
"This study tells me what I know to be true – that a strong union contract will help me and my community," said Henry Watts, a skycap at LAX. Watts, who has worked at LAX for 22 years, is represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1877 and is working to negotiate his first union contract.
There are efforts all across the city to improve the pay and benefits of African American workers through unionization. SEIU Local 1877 has been working to organize 10,000 largely African American security officers at commercial office buildings. SEIU is also partnering with community and disability rights groups in a campaign to improve job quality and training for thousands of passenger service workers at Los Angeles International Airport.
More than a dozen Los Angeles hotels signed contract agreements over the past year that include steps to increase the number of African Americans employed at these companies. And African American workers played a key role in 2007 contract fight to restore family health benefits for grocery employees in Southern California.
"Rev. King knew that unions were one of the best ways to fight poverty in the African American community and beyond," said Rev. Donald Wilson, a diversity organizer with UNITE HERE. "His sacrifice reminds us how important this work is."
Four decades after Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers, an economic think tank reports that African Americans who belong to a union are significantly better off than their non-union counterparts. King was tragically assassinated during this trip, which was emblematic of his increasing emphasis on issues of economic justice toward the end of his life.
In Los Angeles, workers, clergy and community groups are building on King´s legacy as they fight to improve the bargaining position of African Americans employed in the service sector and to increase the representation of black union members in industries where they have been traditionally underrepresented.
The study was released today by the D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). Entitled "Unions and Upward Mobility for African-American Workers," it reveals that unionized black workers earned, on average, 12 percent more than their non-union peers. In addition, black workers in unions were much more likely to have health-insurance benefits and a pension plan.
"The data demonstrate that unions raise wages and increase access to health insurance and pensions," said John Schmitt, a Senior Economist at CEPR and the author of the study. "Unions continue to be a central element of any plan to improve economic equality in this country."
The report confirms what workers like John Harriel, a union electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11, knows well. "Because I have a union job, I can afford to own a three bedroom house and help my daughter through school. I can contribute to my community."
Harriel, a former gang member who went through a rigorous apprenticeship program to become an union electrician, has been working with to ensure that L.A. City redevelopment projects have project labor agreements and local hire programs that target "at risk" workers, like ex-offenders and welfare recipients. Project labor agreements ensure that developers of public projects work in partnership with the building trades.
"For too long, African Americans have suffered from underemployment and a proliferation of low wage jobs," said Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. "In Los Angeles, we´re addressing both these crises and working to create jobs that will bring all our communities into the middle class."
The report, which analyzed data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), found that unionization raises the pay of African-American workers by about $2.00 per hour. According to the report, black workers in unions were also 16 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 19 percentage points more likely to have an employer-provided pension plan than black workers who were not in unions. There are 209,842 unionized African American workers in California.
According to the study, unionization has an even more dramatic effect on black workers in low-wage jobs. Among African-American workers in the 15 lowest-paying occupations, union members earned 14 percent more than those workers who were not in unions. In the same low-wage occupations, unionized black workers were 20 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 28 percentage points more likely to have a pension plan than their non-union counterparts.
"This study tells me what I know to be true – that a strong union contract will help me and my community," said Henry Watts, a skycap at LAX. Watts, who has worked at LAX for 22 years, is represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1877 and is working to negotiate his first union contract.
There are efforts all across the city to improve the pay and benefits of African American workers through unionization. SEIU Local 1877 has been working to organize 10,000 largely African American security officers at commercial office buildings. SEIU is also partnering with community and disability rights groups in a campaign to improve job quality and training for thousands of passenger service workers at Los Angeles International Airport.
More than a dozen Los Angeles hotels signed contract agreements over the past year that include steps to increase the number of African Americans employed at these companies. And African American workers played a key role in 2007 contract fight to restore family health benefits for grocery employees in Southern California.
"Rev. King knew that unions were one of the best ways to fight poverty in the African American community and beyond," said Rev. Donald Wilson, a diversity organizer with UNITE HERE. "His sacrifice reminds us how important this work is."