Overview
Unions, collective bargaining, and other forms of advocacy have resulted in better wages, benefits, and working conditions for workers. Organized labor, however, is at a crossroads, as union membership has declined. As unions evolve to meet the needs of a globalized, 21st-century workforce, nonunion forms of worker organizing, sectoral bargaining, and worker representation on corporate boards have emerged as new forms of worker voice and representation.
Working Knowledge
Worker voice, representation, and power
June 07, 2023
Article
A National Industrial Policy Could Strengthen a Manufacturing Resurgence Underway
A national industrial policy could take on challenges that unions and business can’t fix on their own, according to Bill Dirksen, a member of the WorkRise Leadership Board and retired labor negotiator with Ford Motor Company.
Worker voice, representation, and power
June 01, 2023
Research Summary
Beyond Official Statistics Lies a More Complex Story of Worker Power
Unions are smaller and less powerful than they have been in 5o years but are more popular than they have been at any point in that same period. Recent research suggests a new way of thinking about worker power beyond the topline union membership rate.
Worker voice, representation, and power
July 12, 2023
Research Summary
Codetermination: What Is It and How Might It Be Good for Workers?
Codetermination is an arrangement that gives workers more control over company decisions. A recent study explores how it works and the impact on workers as well as firm outcomes.
Worker voice, representation, and power
January 17, 2023
Article
California’s FAST Act Offers a Window on How Worker Standards Boards Could Improve Job Quality in the Fast Food Industry
A new California law establishes a 10-person council of fast food employers, workers, and advocates as well as government regulators to set wages and other workplace standards.
Research
Worker voice, representation, and power
Brief
August 09, 2023
Worker Voice, Representation, and Power
In this brief, we provide a summary of the research framework that informs WorkRise’s thinking about the importance of worker voice and power for low-wage workers’ labor market mobility. We then offer a series of specific priority areas for future…
WorkRise Research
Employer practices
Executive Summary
June 26, 2023
A Workplace Divided: Survey Research and Stakeholder Engagement to Advance Equitable Workplaces
A national survey by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University explores workers' perceptions of discrimination and unfair treatment based on race and ethnicity. The survey reveals significant percentages of Asian-American, Black, and Latino workers experience discrimination in private-sector and government workplaces. Black workers are more likely to view workplace discrimination as a significant problem than white workers, with Black female workers reporting the highest levels of discrimination. The study highlights the impact of discrimination on career advancement and the need for government and employer interventions to promote workplace equity.
Grantee Research
Worker voice, representation, and power
Executive Summary
March 13, 2023
Nailing New Labor Models: Exploring Sectoral Bargaining and High-Road Training Partnerships in the Nail Salon Sector
This report from the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and the UCLA Labor Center explores how partnerships and sectoral boards can build a sustainable and equitable nail salon industry, focusing on two approaches from other sectors. High-road training partnerships and sectoral bargaining approaches can be adapted for nail salons but require distinct interventions and capacities for member participation.
Grantee Research
Worker voice, representation, and power
Report
July 28, 2022
Worker Power and Economic Mobility: A Landscape Report
This landscape report summarizes empirical evidence on two main pathways for workers to exercise their power in the labor market: the ability to exit their current job for better outside options and organizations and institutions that build worker voice within firms.
WorkRise Research
Worker voice, representation, and power
Report
July 11, 2022
U.S. Workers’ Organizing Efforts and Collective Actions: A Review of the Current Landscape
The report summarizes research evidence on the size of the voice and representation gaps workers are attempting to fill, and provides examples of different strategies workers are using to address the gap.
Grantee Research