Overview

Unions, collective bargaining, and other forms of advocacy have resulted in better wages, benefits, and working conditions for workers. Organized labor, however, is at a crossroads, as union membership has declined. As unions evolve to meet the needs of a globalized, 21st-century workforce, nonunion forms of worker organizing, sectoral bargaining, and worker representation on corporate boards have emerged as new forms of worker voice and representation.

Working Knowledge

Worker voice, representation, and power July 12, 2023
Research Summary

Codetermination: What Is It and How Might It Be Good for Workers?

Codetermination is an arrangement that gives workers more control over company decisions. A recent study explores how it works and the impact on workers as well as firm outcomes.

Joe Peck

July 12, 2023
A fast food worker with a mask on working in the drive through window.
Worker voice, representation, and power January 17, 2023
Article

California’s FAST Act Offers a Window on How Worker Standards Boards Could Improve Job Quality in the Fast Food Industry

A new California law establishes a 10-person council of fast food employers, workers, and advocates as well as government regulators to set wages and other workplace standards.

Joe Peck

January 17, 2023
Couple looking at the damage done to their home and yard after a fire.
Economic context November 22, 2022
Article

How Can the Forces of Change Be Harnessed to Create an Inclusive and Equitable Labor Market?

Greater public and private investment in job training, policies to support unionization, and efforts to close digital divides are core strategies for transforming risks from climate change and automation into opportunity, noted experts at the WorkRise October conference.

Joe Peck

November 22, 2022
Worker voice, representation, and power November 11, 2022
Article

New Federal Industrial Policy Creates Incentives for High-Quality Jobs

The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), alongside the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and CHIPS and Science Act, could shape the labor market in ways that benefit both workers and employers in industries poised for growth.

Joe Peck

November 11, 2022

Research

Worker voice, representation, and power Brief August 09, 2023

Worker Voice, Representation, and Power

In this brief, we provide a summary of the research framework that informs WorkRise’s thinking about the importance of worker voice and power for low-wage workers’ labor market mobility. We then offer a series of specific priority areas for future…

Joe Peck , Elisabeth Jacobs

WorkRise Research

August 09, 2023
Employer practices Executive Summary June 26, 2023

A Workplace Divided: Survey Research and Stakeholder Engagement to Advance Equitable Workplaces

A national survey by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University explores workers' perceptions of discrimination and unfair treatment based on race and ethnicity. The survey reveals significant percentages of Asian-American, Black, and Latino workers experience discrimination in private-sector and government workplaces. Black workers are more likely to view workplace discrimination as a significant problem than white workers, with Black female workers reporting the highest levels of discrimination. The study highlights the impact of discrimination on career advancement and the need for government and employer interventions to promote workplace equity.

Carl E. Van Horn, Ronald Quincy, Jessica Starace, Anton House

Grantee Research

June 26, 2023
Worker voice, representation, and power Executive Summary March 13, 2023

Nailing New Labor Models: Exploring Sectoral Bargaining and High-Road Training Partnerships in the Nail Salon Sector

This report from the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and the UCLA Labor Center explores how partnerships and sectoral boards can build a sustainable and equitable nail salon industry, focusing on two approaches from other sectors. High-road training partnerships and sectoral bargaining approaches can be adapted for nail salons but require distinct interventions and capacities for member participation.

UCLA Labor Center, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, California State University, Long Beach

Grantee Research

March 13, 2023
Worker voice, representation, and power Report July 28, 2022

Worker Power and Economic Mobility: A Landscape Report

This landscape report summarizes empirical evidence on two main pathways for workers to exercise their power in the labor market: the ability to exit their current job for  better outside options and organizations and institutions that build worker voice within firms.  

Ioana Marinescu, Jake Rosenfeld

WorkRise Research

July 28, 2022
Worker voice, representation, and power Report July 11, 2022

U.S. Workers’ Organizing Efforts and Collective Actions: A Review of the Current Landscape

The report summarizes research evidence on the size of the voice and representation gaps workers are attempting to fill, and provides examples of different strategies workers are using to address the gap.

Grantee Research

July 11, 2022


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