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Economic Policy Institute • Lawrence Mishel • September 1, 2016
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<p><a href="http://www.epi.org/">Economic Policy Institute</a> &bull; Lawrence Mishel &bull; September 1, 2016</p>
<p>Between 1979 and 2013, the share of private sector workers in a union has fallen from about 34 percent to 11 percent among men, and from 16 percent to 6 percent among women. The decline in unions has not only hurt workers who would be in those unions, but it has hurt nonunion workers&rsquo; wages as well.</p>
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<p>This decline in union density has eroded wages for nonunion workers at every level of education and experience, costing billions in lost wages. For the 32.9 million full-time nonunion private sector women and 40.2 million full-time private sector men, there is a $133 billion loss in annual wages because of weakened unions.</p>
<p>Unions keep wages high for nonunion workers for several reasons: union agreements set wage standards and a strong union presence prompts managers to keep wages high in order to prevent workers from organizing or their employees from leaving. Moreover, unions set industry-wide norms, influencing what is seen as a &ldquo;moral economy.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Working class men have felt the decline in unionization the hardest. Specifically, nonunion men lacking a college degree would have earned 8 percent, or $3,016 annually, more in 2013 if unions had remained as strong as they were in 1979.</p>
<p>The effects of union decline on the wages of nonunion women are not as substantial because women were not as heavily represented in unionized private sector jobs. However, women&rsquo;s wages would be 2 to 3 percent higher if unions had stayed at their 1979 levels.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/the-decline-in-unions-has-hurt-nonunion-workers-too/?mc_cid=1aa5d3deb3&amp;mc_eid=7b9221669f">MORE&gt;&gt;</a></p>