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
February 20, 2024
Research Summary
The Racial Wealth Gap Is Smaller among Union Members
New evidence sheds light on the wealth of union households, finding greater wealth, higher pay, more benefits, and more stable employment for union members of color compared to their nonunionized counterparts.
Worker voice, representation, and power
January 30, 2024
Research Summary
Sexual Harassment Is Underreported When the US Economy and Safety Net Are Weak
When the US unemployment rate is high and unemployment insurance benefits are weak, workers are less likely to report workplace sexual harassment. Fears of retaliation increase workers’ reluctance to report sexual harassment, reducing worker protections and worker power in the labor market.
Worker voice, representation, and power
December 12, 2023
Video
WorkRise Shorts: Economic Security for Low-Wage Immigrant Manicurists with Lisa Fu
California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative executive director Lisa Fu discusses her WorkRise-funded research that examines two specific approaches to elevate the industry—high-road training partnerships and sectoral bargaining—and offers insight into how unions, community partners, workers, and owners can use these strategies to move forward.
December 12, 2023
Worker voice, representation, and power
December 12, 2023
Research Summary
How Workplace Institutions Improve Employee Harmony
White workers have lower racial resentment toward Black coworkers when they are in a labor union. White workers in unions are more likely to support policies that benefit Black Americans, even after they lose union membership.
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…
WorkRise Research
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.
Grantee Research
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.
Grantee Research
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.
WorkRise Research
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