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
Employer practices
July 01, 2021
Article
People First, Employees Second: Workers Reflect on What Good Jobs Mean to Them
Workers share their perspectives and experiences at a joint Urban Institute and WorkRise event that explored job quality and the roles different stakeholders play in creating higher-quality jobs for all workers.
Worker voice, representation, and power
March 03, 2021
Changemaker Q&A
Supporting a Workforce That Makes All Other Work Possible: A Q&A with Palak Shah
National Domestic Workers Alliance's social innovation director shares key insights on the domestic care workforce and the solutions we need to support them.
Economic context
January 19, 2021
Changemaker Q&A
A Call for Innovation in the Labor Movement: A Q&A with David Rolf
The founder and president emeritus of SEIU 775 and author of The Fight for Fifteen shares why worker power is essential to building an equitable labor market where economic mobility is possible.
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