Tripling Union Membership Could Boost Worker Pay 14.5%

In 2025, 16.5 million American workers were represented by a union, marking the highest share of unionized workers in 16 years. However, over 50 million workers reportedly desire union representation. A new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) posits that a threefold increase in union membership could significantly improve workers' financial situations, potentially restoring wage growth levels seen in the 1950s. EPI president Heidi Shierholz stated that affordability is influenced by both prices and pay, and unions are a proven institution for raising wages.

According to the EPI report, if union membership reached 30% of the labor force, the median worker could experience a 14.5% raise. This translates to an annual increase of over $7,700, or nearly $270,000 over a 35-year career. Collectively, this rise in unionization could inject an additional $1.2 trillion into workers' pockets annually. The report characterizes this estimate as conservative, noting that current low union density contributes to this figure. Previous research cited by EPI indicates that wage increases accelerate as union density grows.

Beyond direct wage negotiations, broader unionization is expected to exert indirect pressure on companies to offer competitive wages to nonunion employees to aid in retention. The EPI analysis also suggests that increased union density could help rectify existing wage disparities. Specifically, it could reduce the racial wage gap by over a third, disproportionately benefiting Black and Hispanic workers. Furthermore, enhanced unionization could align worker pay with the rise in worker productivity, a trend that has seen wages lag behind output gains.