Unions can help women close the wage gap

On this day, Feb. 12, we recognize “Union Women’s Equal Pay Day,” an important reminder of how empowering more women to form and join unions can advance pay equity for women.

Since 1996, advocates for pay equity for women have observed National Equal Pay Day to spotlight the persistent gender wage gap in America and why fairness demands it be closed. On average, a woman working full-time, year-round in the U.S. must work until March 14 to earn what a man earned the prior year.

How do unions make a difference? Let some facts do the talking. On average, workers represented by unions earn more than those working in non-union jobs, and union men and women also have more equitable wages compared to each other. Today, 6.5 million women are union members and make up 47 percent of all workers unions represent.

Union representation also has reduced the gender and racial wage gap by nearly 43 percent, compared to the wage gap non-union women face. The narrower these gaps, the greater the wages earned by union women over the course of their careers. Over time, they’ve earned hundreds of thousands of additional dollars and enjoyed greater economic security.

Data clearly show that a woman with a union behind her makes 22 percent more, on average, than a woman fending for herself. Union membership can help ensure pay transparency and equity, and access to benefits such as paid sick days, health insurance, free legal services, professional training and pensions, come with the job.

By electing their leaders, union members democratically choose the people who negotiate their contracts and pave the way for regular wage increases, better job security and ways to address workplace grievances, discrimination and other concerns. They also feel empowered to speak out about pay discrepancies, sexual harassment and safety issues.

Unions empower workers, particularly women and women of color, as they drive organizing campaigns in new areas of our economy. They are leading historic campaigns across the nation: from coffee shops to airports and high-tech to hospitality, women are among the nation’s most determined and successful organizers.

In addition to these victories, unions are working to overcome the single largest measurable cause of the wage gaps: the differences in the jobs people hold. Too often, women and people of color are shut out of high-paying opportunities. Unions help level the playing field by ensuring that workers are not paid less, or excluded from promotions or advancement, simply because of their gender, race or ethnicity.

Unprecedented levels of federal investment through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act will directly create good middle-class jobs that many workers urgently need, especially for women and people of color who are vastly underrepresented in industries such as manufacturing and construction.

Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility are central to the Department of Labor’s and the AFL-CIO’s efforts to create good jobs in the U.S. as federal infrastructure investments arrive in our communities. North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) released their “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives in the Construction Trades” report on Jan. 17, 2023, which finds that union programs are far more effective at recruiting and training more women and racially diverse groups into the construction industry.

Working with the departments of Transportation, Commerce and Energy, we are determined to make sure the Biden administration’s investments produce good-quality jobs with access to paid family and medical leave, the free and fair choice of a union, paid sick days, health care, supportive services, and freedom from gender-based violence and harassment.

So, join us to mark Union Women’s Equal Pay Day and remember how unions are fighting for justice for all workers, and why we need to change history so that women are paid their full and fair wages each and every day.

Wendy Chun-Hoon is director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. Liz Shuler is the president of the AFL-CIO.