Thursday, August 31, 2017
Andrew Bradley
Senior Policy Analyst
This Labor Day, Hoosiers are back
on the job in record numbers - and the state needs only 75,900 more jobs to
reach its pre-recession employment rate - but our hard work is less likely to be protected by union
coverage, and our pay keeps slipping compared to our neighbors’, too. Hoosiers who have been left out of the national economic recovery should ask
themselves why attacks on labor rights should be allowed to keep shrinking
our paychecks, job quality, and families’ futures.
Hoosiers do better when we band together to
make our voices stronger - whether in the PTA, in ag & rural electric
co-ops, or in collective bargaining on the job. But attacks on our rights
to negotiate better deals at work have had a negative impact in recent years that
can be seen in the declining rate of workers protected by union contracts. A new report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that only 11.4% of Hoosier
workers have union coverage, down from 22.6% in 1989. 32% of Indiana’s public sector workers are covered
(after years
of attack), and a mere 8.5% in the private sector have union coverage following the so-called ‘right to work’ law. Indiana now has the lowest union coverage of any
of our neighbors, including Kentucky.
This disproportionate lack of workers’ voice in Indiana is
doubly a shame, because today’s unions are increasingly diverse and are one of
the best routes for workers to secure guarantees for high paying, high quality
jobs. EPI found that unions workers are more likely to have essential job benefits like employer-sponsored health insurance,
paid family leave, paid sick time, and fair schedules. Unions have helped raise wages and standards for members and non-members alike. Nationwide, about
two-thirds of workers age 18 to 64 covered by a union contract are women and/or
people of color, and unions help close gender and racial wage gaps. More than half of union members have an associate degree, and two in five
have a bachelor’s degree or more education. And in Indiana, a new generation of
workers’ voice is bringing the spirit of social activism to counter Indiana’s restrictive state labor laws that go
hand-in-hand with flagging incomes.
Indiana’s decline in union coverage
and attacks on labor rights correlates with declining income rates. Hoosiers' incomes peaked
in value in 1999 and haven’t been the same since. In fact, Advisor Perspectives
labeled Indiana a ‘21st Century Loser’ in incomes, tied for the 9th-largest drop since
2000. This trend hasn’t abated since Indiana passed its so-called ‘right to work’ law in 2012. In fact in 2015, the same year Indiana repealed the common
construction wage, Indiana’s median household income grew so little compared to
other states that our income ranking dropped from 34th to 36th in the nation. Indiana now has the lowest median wages of any of our neighbors, including Kentucky. If there are
benefits to undercutting Indiana’s labor standards, they aren’t showing up in the
average Hoosier’s paycheck, or even in employers’ ability to find a skilled workforce. So why keep them?
Tired of Indiana falling behind our neighbors? Contact your state legislators and ask them to sponsor a study of the ‘return on investment’
of Indiana’s so-called ‘right to work’ law and other attacks on labor
standards. Any laws that get in the way of Hoosiers standing together for
higher wages and job quality should be terminated before next Labor Day comes
around.
______________________________________________________
Note: the Indiana Institute for Working Families receives no funding from union or labor sources, but supports collective bargaining for workers based on data and principle.
Please donate to help us advocate for an Indiana economy that works for all Hoosier families!
