While critics of labor unions argue that unions make it difficult to discipline low performers and drive up labor costs, union advocates believe that unions are a useful tool for increasing workers' pay and benefits.

With roots stretching back to the 18th century, unions have long been at the center of change in labor rights.

Unions are organizations workers form to improve aspects of their working conditions

While there are many different types of labor unions, they are, generally speaking, organizations workers form to improve aspects of their working conditions, such as vacation time or discipline processes.

Do unions still work?

Workers everywhere from Starbucks to Uber have made headlines about unionizing—and some union experts argue that despite union membership being lower than it was in eras past, unions could still help the economy.

Supervisors are legally prohibited from joining unions.

Explore a list of some of the largest labor unions in the United States.

Amazon has historically opposed efforts among its employees to unionize

Amazon has done everything from creating mandatory anti-union meetings to hiring union-busting consultants, and even engaging in employee surveillance. Such efforts have proven to be a lightning rod for pro-labor groups.

See the process of starting a union.

Union membership was 9.9% in 2024, the lowest in nearly 40 years.

Journalists are increasingly unionizing

The LA Times was a famously anti-union paper—until its owner sought to cut costs by consolidating positions across its portfolio. This paper isn’t alone. Over the past few years, as the news business struggled, many publications kicked their unionizing efforts up a notch.

The National Labor Relations Act gave workers the right to unionize in the US.

Hear an interview with Harvard Law School employee and labor law expert Sharon Block about how the parallel motivations of workers, employers, and government officials led to the creation of the National Labor Relations Act.

See the US industries with the highest union membership rates.

Are credit unions really worth it?

Credit union perks sound great on paper. They promise better interest rates and competitive customer service. But does this really translate to financial benefit for members? A new report dives deep into transaction data and answers with a resounding “yes.” Credit unions yield benefits of $179 per member or $376 per household. Dive deep into the data and read the report here.

Pay transparency advocates claim that increased awareness about how much coworkers are being paid helps stop speculative judgments about other team members' pay based on faulty data points, like what type of car a coworker drives.

Read a breakdown of the pros and cons of pay transparency.

While the benefits of pay transparency may seem plentiful to some, there are a few less obvious downsides. For instance, some argue companies that implement pay transparency could end up hiring fewer people or pitting employees against each other. For a full list of perceived pros and cons of pay transparency, click here.

27 states have right-to-work laws

That means employees in those states can choose whether or not to join a union at their workplace. Right-to-work laws also make it optional for employees in unionized workplaces to pay fees associated with union membership.

Research shows that increased pay transparency could result in lower wage growth and a potential decrease in worker bargaining power.

Research on pay transparency's impacts has been limited given the short amount of time since American states began passing pay transparency legislation. However, this early study from researchers out of Brown and Harvard found that increasing pay transparency could have the potential to decrease worker bargaining power, resulting in lower average wages for employees. Read the research here.

See the percentage of employed workers who are union members in your state.

Should companies be owned by their workers?

In the last half-century, so-called private equity has transformed industries by purchasing private companies, cutting costs, loading up debt, and then selling the business at a premium—all at a huge profit to the investors. Workers, on the other hand, are often left with nothing. Listen to how both pro-worker economists and a private equity stalwart are trying to shift ownership to workers—a growing tactic proven to improve worker satisfaction and company value.

Despite being completely legal to discuss salaries with your coworkers, the practice largely remains taboo in the US, particularly amongst older workers.

Pay transparency—once considered taboo—is gaining momentum. Despite being legally protected since 1935, open salary discussions have only recently become more common, especially among younger workers. This overview explores how cultural norms, economic shifts, and new state laws are reshaping the conversation around what we earn.

The economic impact of the Hollywood strikes

The 2023 strikes in Hollywood resulted in significant wins for the WGA, DGA, and SAG-AFTRA unions. Workers were promised to receive bonuses that allowed them to benefit from high-performing streaming shows and films. This article shares how the rewards have been distributed to union members since their implementation. See a breakdown of the bonuses for each union, how the industry has improved, and the challenges some members still face.

Does minimum wage hurt workers?

Many economists traditionally believed raising the minimum wage hurt workers more than helped them. They argued that doing so would lead to job losses believing that if something is more expensive (like labor), people (like business owners) would want to buy less of it. However, recent research suggests otherwise.

Some argue that restricting illegal immigration would raise wages for lower-income American workers

The Heritage Foundation argues that illegal immigrants' willingness to work for below-market wages suppresses wages for low-skilled American workers—and that reducing illegal immigration would increase wages and job opportunities, particularly for workers without a college degree.

Credit unions, explained

Proponents of credit unions often point to the fact they’re not-for-profit cooperatives instead of for-profit businesses as a key selling point. This explainer dives into what this looks like in action—instead of pocketing the profits from interest rates, credit unions reinvest that money into the products and services they offer. For customers, this tends to create a more personal and community-oriented experience.

Although credit unions offer many of the same services as traditional banks, they differ in that credit unions operate with not-for-profit status and are run by and for their members.

Historians reflect on the best State of the Unions ever

These political experts highlight standout State of the Union addresses that shaped the nation's direction—from Washington's first and Lincoln's Civil War messages to FDR's wartime resolve, LBJ's Great Society launch, and Clinton's scandal-shadowed 1998 speech.

With the help of one photographer who took photos of children at work, child labor in the US was eventually restricted by law in the mid-1900s.

Philosopher Bertrand Russell's 1932 case for laziness: with modern machinery, society could work four hours a day and still produce just as much.

Timeline of women in labor history

In 1866, newly freed black women working as laundresses in Jackson, Mississippi, formed a union and went on strike for higher wages. But it wasn't until 1974, that the Coalition of Labor Union Women was founded as America's only national organization for union women. Want to find out more about the history of women in the labor movement? Click here for the full timeline.

Pros and cons of minimum wage

The federal minimum wage hasn’t been raised since 2009. Over the past decade or so, proponents of significantly raising the minimum wage have argued that doing so could reduce reliance on government financial assistance programs and increase consumer spending. But opponents say higher labor costs could lead to job cuts.

Europeans, on average, have roughly double the amount of vacation time as Americans, thanks to a long-standing belief that leisure benefits society.

Policymakers make complex trade-offs when considering tariffs—while they can generate government revenue and encourage the consumption of locally produced goods, they can also lead to higher consumer prices and may negatively impact economic growth.

One of the driving forces behind an increase in pay transparency laws is their ability to help close the gender pay gap.

Since 2018, pay transparency laws have been enacted in more than a few states and cities across the US. But what's driving the trend, from a legal perspective? This law review article attempts to answer that question, citing factors such as the Great Recession and the gender pay gap—click here to learn more.

Minor leaguers once unionized for better pay, housing, and medical care

For decades, Minor League baseball players endured overcrowded housing, indifferent medical care, and all-night bus rides for a chance to make it to “The Show.” And they did it for as little as $4,800 a year.

In 1975, a Major League Baseball clause that kept players legally tied to their teams after retirement was dismantled, creating the modern concept of free agency.

Unemployment benefits are calculated as a percentage of a worker's average weekly wages over a recent base period.

Explore the history of Labor Day in the United States.

Part of the reason why American teachers aren't paid well has to do with gender

In the US, the wage gap between teachers and others with the same level of education and experience was nearly 20% as of 2021, per CNBC. That's partly because teaching was originally branded as a woman's profession.

Read about the pros and cons of working from home

While proponents argue that it's cheaper for both employers and employees to work from home (rather than spending money commuting to an office with an expensive lease), others point out that working remotely can make some workers feel isolated. These are just a few of the many common critiques and perks mentioned in the remote work debate.

Critics argue that term limits weaken democracy and legislative effectiveness

Opponents contend that term limits deprive voters of choice, remove experienced lawmakers, and shift power to lobbyists and unelected staff. They believe frequent turnover reduces institutional knowledge and undermines the effectiveness of legislatures.

An economic evaluation of US tariffs

Most economists agree that the implementation of large-scale tariffs on foreign goods would hurt both the American and global economies. This video from The Wall Street Journal explains the rationale for tariffs as a tool for domestic job creation, but explains why they may hurt the overall economy.

American CEOs are so wealthy in part because of stock buybacks, the process of a company purchasing shares of its own stock.

6 union history facts

Founded in 1794, the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (who were leather workers and cobblers) is considered to be the first union in the United States.

Over 1.9 million Americans—more than a quarter of those unemployed—have been classified as 'long-term' unemployed in a given month in 2026, meaning they've been out of work for at least 27 weeks.

The National Mediation Board handles labor relations for the airline and railroad industries

Established in 1934, this independent federal agency mediates disputes between airline and railroad carriers and their unions, conducts union representation elections, and helps with disagreements over existing contracts with the goal of keeping work in these industries moving ahead.

Critics argue that the World Bank, IMF, and WTO were designed to serve Western interests

Some analysts from developing nations argue that the Bretton Woods institutions were designed to reinforce Western economic dominance rather than to promote fair development for poorer countries. Supporters respond that these institutions have improved living standards worldwide.

130,000 working musicians once went on strike

The early days of the record industry looked much different than they do now. There were few national record labels and there were organized musicians who viewed themselves more as day laborers rather than artists. That allowed for an organized strike by the American Federation of Musicians.

The first recorded worker strike in the United States predates the American Revolution.

Read how Fordism helped invent the American middle class

Henry Ford's revolution of the assembly line and American manufacturing as a whole gave rise to the American middle class. The introduction of the $5 workday (in exchange for eight-hour days of highly repetitive work) raised factory workers' wages enough to reorient the economy around consumer demand.

The head of MGM Studios created the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to combat unionization efforts

The organization, which votes for the Academy Awards, was founded in 1927 by Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM Studios, to stifle labor disputes and maintain the public image of the film industry. "I found that the best way to handle them was to hang medals all over them,” Mayer said, according to Scott Eyman's biography of the studio head.

HSAs are frequently criticized for exacerbating inequality in healthcare access

Health savings accounts offer large tax advantages, but require personal contributions. Some argue that the tax advantages benefit wealthy individuals more than anyone else and that HSAs don't do much to help people who can't afford to regularly contribute to one. As a result, HSAs only decrease costs for those who can comfortably invest in them, and health inequalities between high-income and low-income individuals are exacerbated.