{"id":2576,"date":"2021-08-10T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uniontrack.com\/blog\/?p=2576"},"modified":"2021-08-30T20:57:28","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T20:57:28","slug":"american-jobs-plan-labor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/american-jobs-plan-labor","title":{"rendered":"How Will the American Jobs Plan Impact the Labor Movement?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ken Green
CEO & Founder
UnionTrack<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Joe Biden\u2019s American Jobs Plan<\/a> is an investment not only in the country\u2019s infrastructure but also in its labor movement. Labor unions have suffered membership declines over the last few decades to the point where only 10.8 percent<\/a> of workers are union members. This has weakened unions and their ability to collectively bargain on behalf of workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key reasons for that decline in membership is the lack of union jobs available to workers. The other crucial reason is anti-worker labor laws. \u201cCurrent labor law makes it difficult, if not outright impossible, for unions to provide the services that workers say are most important,\u201d explains Alexander Hertel-Fernandez<\/a>, associate professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Jobs Plan addresses both of those issues. It seeks to create more union jobs and stronger labor laws that would make it easier for workers to join unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unions Jobs are Vital to a Strong Labor Movement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Workers are the heart of the labor movement, which is why more union jobs would strengthen the cause of the labor movement. To that end, the American Jobs Plan would be a stepping stone for creating those jobs through the rebuilding of America\u2019s infrastructure, giving more Americans the opportunity to secure good-paying union jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It accomplishes this by calling on Congress to tie jobs created by federal investments to prevailing wages and labor protections. The president also asks Congress to commit to \u201cBuy America and Ship America\u201d provisions to increase the number of jobs created through the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Jobs Plan will \u201ccreate millions of good paying, family sustaining jobs that rebuild the middle class by empowering our workers to build America\u2019s future,\u201d says Labor Secretary Marty Walsh<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of these jobs would be created in industries that traditionally have a high concentration of union workers, such as the hard trades. \u201cThese are good-paying jobs for welders, carpenters, truck drivers, electricians, steelworkers, and others, including those who want the collective bargaining opportunities that come from belonging to a union,\u201d writes Mitchell Bernard<\/a>, president and chief counsel at the Natural Resources Defense Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Labor Laws Must Support Workers in the Labor Movement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the labor movement to make progress, workers need laws that support their right to unionize and collectively bargain. Biden seeks to strengthen labor laws in favor of workers by calling on the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act<\/a> and guaranteeing union rights for public service workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PRO Act is one of the most empowering pieces of pro-worker legislation since the passage of the National Labor Relations Act. Essentially, it makes it easier for workers to join unions and collectively bargain. Celine McNicholas, Margaret Poydock and Lynn Rhinehart<\/a> at the Economic Policy Institute explain that the PRO Act:<\/p>\n\n\n\n