Worker Unions Matter to All of Us

The Pay Gap

Your paycheck tells the story.

The numbers are stark. Union workers take home significantly more every single week — and that gap compounds into hundreds of thousands of dollars over a career.

Union
Worker

$1,404/wk

Non-union
Worker

$1,174/wk

That's $11,960 more per year — enough to cover six months of groceries, a full year of utility bills, or two semesters of community college tuition.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union Members 2026

And wages are just the beginning.

The Benefits Gap

What you lose without a union.

Being union-represented is the single biggest predictor of whether you'll have retirement security, health coverage, and paid leave.

🏥

95%

vs. 71% non-union

Health Coverage

🏦

95%

vs. 72% non-union

Retirement Plan

🏖️

97%

vs. 87% non-union

Paid Leave

⚖️

4.3%

vs. 3.3% non-union

Annual Wage Growth

Sources: BLS Employee Benefits Survey 2024 · Employment Cost Index Dec 2026

What We Lost — And Why

Our grandparents had it better. Here's why.

When unions were strong, private employers routinely provided pensions — guaranteed retirement income for life. You gave a company your career; they gave you security in return.

Then corporations got greedy. Pensions were quietly eliminated, replaced by 401(k)s that shifted all the risk onto workers. Today, fewer than 15% of private-sector workers have a pension — down from over 60% in the 1980s. That security didn't disappear by accident. It was taken.

Then · 1950s–1970s

🏠

Pension + job security

Union membership ~35% · Middle class thriving

→

Now · 2025

📉

Pension nearly extinct

Private sector union membership: 5.9%

We rebuild the middle class — and revive the American Dream — by rebuilding and expanding unions.

This didn't happen by accident. It happened because union power declined — and when workers lost their collective voice, corporations had little reason to share their profits. Stronger unions are the proven path back to a thriving middle class. That's why this matters to everyone, union member or not.

A Vote Is Just The First Step

Winning a union election means nothing without a contract.

You've seen the headlines — Starbucks workers unionizing across America. Hundreds of stores. Thousands of workers. Victory, right? Not so fast.

A union card and a union contract are two entirely different things. Without a contract, an employer can ignore the union, stall indefinitely, and keep doing exactly what they were doing before. A union without a contract is a door with no lock.

🇺🇸 United States

666

Starbucks stores have voted to unionize

Contracts signed

4 years of organizing. Hundreds of strikes. Still no contract. Starbucks has committed more labor law violations than any employer in modern U.S. history — and paid almost nothing for it.

vs.

🇨🇱 Chile

100%

of Starbucks stores covered by a contract

✓ Won & Renewed

Contract won in 2022 — then renegotiated & strengthened in 2025

Chilean workers first unionized in 2009. After years of strikes and hunger strikes, they won a national contract in 2022 covering all 176 stores. Then in 2025, when that contract expired, they went on a 25-day strike and won an even better deal — including paid parental leave for all genders. That's what a real union looks like.

Why does Chile succeed where the US fails? Chilean law prohibits employers from running anti-union campaigns against their own workers. In the US, it's perfectly legal — and corporations spend billions doing exactly that. Starbucks alone has racked up over 100 complaints of illegal union-busting filed with the NLRB. The fines? Pennies compared to their profits.

This isn't a union failure. It's a law failure. And there's a bill in Congress right now to fix it.

The Law That Would Fix This

The PRO Act: what it does, and why it's stalled.

The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act is the most significant proposed update to US labor law in 80 years. It would directly fix everything wrong with the Starbucks situation — and millions like it. Here's what it would do:

⚖️

Forces First Contracts

If a company stalls, a neutral arbitrator steps in and sets contract terms. The Starbucks 4-year delay would be illegal.

🚫

Bans Union-Busting Meetings

Ends mandatory "captive audience" meetings where bosses pressure workers against their own union — on the clock, no choice but to attend.

💰

Real Penalties for Violations

Fines up to $50,000 per violation, $100,000 for repeat offenders. Right now the financial penalty for illegal union-busting is essentially nothing.

🔒

Protects Organizers From Firing

Requires immediate reinstatement of workers illegally fired for union activity while their case is pending — not years later after appeals.

🚗

Covers Gig Workers

Uber, DoorDash, Lyft drivers are currently excluded from all labor law protections. The PRO Act brings them in.

📜

Modeled on What Works

Chile's labor law — which bans employer anti-union campaigns — is why Chilean Starbucks workers have a contract and US workers don't. The PRO Act brings us closer to that standard.

⚠️

The honest truth: the PRO Act is blocked — for now.

The PRO Act was reintroduced in March 2025, but with Republicans controlling both chambers and the current administration actively rolling back union rights, it has no path to passing this Congress. The 2026 midterms are the real lever. In the meantime, the fight is happening in the states — Illinois, California, New York, and Vermont are all advancing their own labor protections right now.

But there is a bill with real momentum in the Senate right now. And it needs your voice.

🔥 Active — Senate Needs to Act Now

Protect America's Workforce Act (PAWA)

In December 2025, something remarkable happened. The House passed the Protect America's Workforce Act 231–195 — with 20 Republicans crossing the aisle to join every Democrat. It was the first time the House voted to overturn a Trump executive order during his second term. They did it via a rare discharge petition, forcing a vote over Speaker Johnson's objections because the support was simply too broad to ignore.

The bill responds directly to Trump's March 2025 executive order that stripped collective bargaining rights from roughly 1 million federal workers — nurses, firefighters, food inspectors, veterans' care workers, air traffic controllers — under a sweeping "national security" claim that courts and legal experts have called a sham.

1M+

Federal workers who lost
bargaining rights

231

House votes to pass it
(20 Republicans voted yes)

⅓

Of federal workers
in unions are veterans

The Senate companion bill has the entire Democratic caucus plus Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) as co-sponsors. It needs a few more Republicans to clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold. This is the bill where your senator's phone ringing actually matters right now.

📞 Tell Your Senator to Pass PAWA — via AFL-CIO →

⚡ What you can do right now

Stay in the fight. Support Starbucks workers directly.

The most meaningful action right now isn't a petition to a CEO — it's putting money directly in the hands of striking workers who are losing wages to fight for all of us. And staying connected to the broader labor movement.

💵 Donate to the Strike Fund ✊ Sign the No Contract, No Coffee Pledge →

Strike fund via Starbucks Workers United · sbworkersunited.org · PAWA action via AFL-CIO · act.aflcio.org

Common Questions

Things people wonder about unions.

"I can negotiate for myself — I don't need a union."

You can — but alone, you're one person. A union is collective bargaining power: your employer must legally negotiate with the group. Nonunion workers asking for raises individually have no legal protection from retaliation. Union workers do. The data proves it: union wages are $230/week higher than non-union, on average.

"Unions are just for factory workers or blue-collar jobs."

Not even close. Today, unions represent teachers, nurses, journalists, tech workers, baristas, grad students, actors, and flight attendants. The fastest-growing union campaigns are in service industries — Starbucks, Amazon, REI — and the UAW recently expanded to white-collar fields. If you work for someone else, a union can benefit you.

"Dues aren't worth it — I'd lose money."

Union dues average 1–2% of wages. Union workers earn $11,960 more per year than their nonunion peers. Even at 2% dues on a $1,404/week wage — that's about $1,460/year. The math is clear: union membership is one of the highest-return investments a worker can make.

"Unions are too political and I don't agree with their politics."

You get to vote. Union members vote on contracts, leadership, and endorsements — it's not a top-down institution. And your workplace rights — safety, fair pay, protection from arbitrary firing — aren't political. They're your life. A 2024 Gallup poll shows 70% of Americans support unions, cutting across party lines.

"My company would punish us for organizing."

Federal law (the NLRA) makes it illegal for employers to fire, threaten, or retaliate against workers for union organizing. Employers do sometimes break that law — which is why the PRO Act proposes stronger penalties. Knowing your rights is the first step. The DOL's WORK Center (workcenter.gov) is a free resource to learn them.

Take Action

You don't have to be in a union to support one.

Support the movement. Share what you've learned. And if you work for someone else — find out what a union could mean for your workplace.

✓ Takes less than 5 minutes to explore

⚠️ When unions weaken, everyone loses — not just union members. Wages stagnate, benefits disappear, and corporations pocket the difference. The decline of union membership from 35% to under 10% tracks almost perfectly with the decline of the American middle class. That's not a coincidence.

💵 Donate to the Starbucks Strike Fund ✊ Sign the No Contract, No Coffee Pledge →

Worker Unions
Matter to
All of Us.

Your paycheck tells the story.

What you lose without a union.

Our grandparents had it better. Here's why.

We rebuild the middle class — and revive the American Dream — by rebuilding and expanding unions.

Winning a union election means nothing without a contract.

The PRO Act: what it does, and why it's stalled.

Things people wonder about unions.

You don't have to do this alone.

You don't have to be in a union to support one.

Worker UnionsMatter toAll of Us.

Your paycheck tells the story.

What you lose without a union.

Our grandparents had it better. Here's why.

We rebuild the middle class — and revive the American Dream — by rebuilding and expanding unions.

Winning a union election means nothing without a contract.

The PRO Act: what it does, and why it's stalled.

Things people wonder about unions.

You don't have to do this alone.

You don't have to be in a union to support one.

Worker Unions
Matter to
All of Us.