Biden supports act that gives chance for more worker power

Workers across the country are unsatisfied with their subpar employment arrangements and many feel empowered to do something about it.

While some are quitting their jobs, others are using collective power to create lasting change. Last month, which came to be known as “Striketober,” workers across the country joined picket lines and threatened to walk off the job in response to stagnant wages, long hours and poor working conditions.

One big reason San Antonio Symphony musicians, film and television professionals and John Deere workers have been so effective at exercising workplace power is their union membership.

As a union, employees also gain additional workplace rights, including the right to negotiate collectively with their employer over pay, benefits and working conditions.

However, far too many U. S. workers are not union members; even though they face many of the same workplace issues, they lack the support and power necessary to take meaningful action.

More than two-thirds of Americans approve of unions — a 50-year high water mark — and new groups of employees have realized their workplace power in recent years.

These new union workers are both changing the face of the labor movement and rethinking what can be won with a union contract.

As many young professionals continue to be saddled with large amounts of student debt, union nonprofit employees at the statewide policy advocacy organization Every Texan bargained for a monthly student loan stipend.

Still, union membership among U. S. workers remains low at just above 11%. Given the strong popularity of unions, there would likely be far more unionized workplaces if U. S. labor law had stronger protections for workers.

That’s why we need the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which includes enforceable penalties for employers who break the law and expanded collective bargaining rights for workers and access to fair elections.

President Biden said he supports this legislation and the House passed it on a bipartisan basis, but the bill is held up in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster.

While Striketober may be over, we have a chance to turn its energy and attention into action that can make a difference every month of the year. As working people, we must take advantage of this moment by forming more unions and getting our labor agenda through Congress.

I look forward to a November full of organizing.