Unions Are the Key to America’s Cost of Living Crisis

The growing cost of living in America is causing widespread struggle among working people across various industries and locations. Despite providing for their families, workers find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, with their paychecks failing to stretch far enough to cover essential expenses such as rent and utility bills.

At the same time, studies reveal that top executives receive substantial bonuses, with their salaries being more than 300 times higher than those of typical employees. The solution to this problem, according to our investigation, is the strengthening of unions. Unions raise wages for workers, and a recent study from the Economic Policy Institute indicates that tripling union membership in the United States could grant a 14.5% salary increase to the median worker, which amounts to over $7,700 annually, or the equivalent of 7.5 extra weeks of pay each year.

This would equate to almost $270,000 over a 35-year career. Furthermore, unions can be instrumental in addressing racial wage disparities, with the same study showing that a tripling of union membership could reduce the racial wage gap by more than a third. The impact of increased unionization goes beyond just union members, as nonunion workers would also experience significant salary increases due to the improved standards set by strong unions.

All in all, tripling union density would shift one trillion dollars worth of wealth to working people yearly, reversing a significant portion of the inequality gap since 1979. Moreover, union workers would gain access to better benefits like health insurance, providing healthcare to an additional 6.8 million Americans. Historically, the labor movement has seen higher wages, improved access to healthcare, retirement security, paid time off, sick leave, and dignity in the workplace as the "union difference."

Back in the 1930s and 1940s, the New Deal policies helped secure workers' legal rights, leading to a surge in union membership, which peaked at over 30% in the 1950s. During this period, workers witnessed substantial gains in wages, and racial wage gaps started to narrow. However, anti-union court rulings and "right-to-work" state laws have weakened the labor laws that once protected workers, creating challenges for unionization efforts.

Despite the increasing corporate spending of over $1.5 billion annually to prevent workers from organizing and the Trump Administration's efforts to weaken worker protections, workers are fighting back with unprecedented levels of organizing across various sectors, from manufacturing plants and newsrooms to technology, hospitals, and construction sites.

In 2025 alone, nearly half a million workers unionized, bringing the total number of union workers to its highest point in 16 years. Public-sector employees saw a unionization rate of 36.4% in 2025, while the number of private-sector workers covered by union contracts increased by nearly 250,000, including workers in healthcare, retail, construction, and education.

Union representation among federal workers also grew to 31.1% in 2025, despite the Trump Administration having stripped union rights from more than one million of those employees. The recent rise in worker organizing aligns with a surge in public approval of unions, and there are millions of nonunion workers who would join a union if given the opportunity.

Nevertheless, union membership remains below the level needed to unlock the full potential of worker power and raise pay standards across the economy. While progress has been made, there is still work to be done. The solution lies in using this momentum to win crucial legislation that makes it easier for Americans to organize. Key bills like the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act aim to restore worker protections and guarantee collective bargaining rights for public-sector workers.

Alongside these legislative reforms, Congress can pursue bold proposals, such as mandating collective bargaining for companies where CEOs earn at least 100 times more than typical workers or guaranteeing newly unionized workers a cost-of-living raise. While the path to achieving these goals is challenging, the research proves that workers have always known the benefits of being in a union, which include higher wages, better healthcare, retirement security, paid time off, and dignity in the workplace.