At the beginning of October, the Hollywood Writer’s strike ended, and just after, we entered 100 days of the Screen Actors’ Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Strike. With the latest news from the union saying that a deal will most likely not be reached until after the new year, many people are wondering: What is the point of a union? But unions, especially in times like this, are vital to not only taking care of people but also our economy.
In a report by the Economic Policy Institute, they find that in states with high union activity, the minimum wage is 40% higher than in those with low union activity. They also have lower rates of uninsured people and less restrictive voting laws. These changes also lead to higher government revenue and increased political advocacy and community relations.
But how does this change occur?
Unions are essentially collective bargaining groups. In a non-union job, you bargain directly with the people you work for about how much you get paid and what type of benefits you receive. However, when you join a union, you instead join a group of people who all elect representatives to negotiate for the group. And, because they are negotiating for all their workers, not just one, they have a lot more power to make changes.
Think about it this way: when you negotiate on your own, the potential loss for a company is one worker, which, unless they are a highly trained and rare worker, is not a large loss for a company. However, if companies refuse to negotiate with a union, you could lose your entire workforce. That’s called a strike. And when companies go on strike, that is when the wheels fall off for the company.
We are seeing it play out with the current Hollywood strike. With SAG-AFTRA on strike, nobody is producing media, which means that soon, the production companies are going to run into a revenue drop when they run out of new media.
But that means we are also seeing the other benefits of union participation play out in real-time. Unions are community-building organizations, with union meetings and strikes also functioning as community events, with people bringing food and helping members get better access to existing resources, as well as coming up with their own.
During the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, people came out in droves, not just as members but also as community members looking to support those striking. The striking writers and actors also set up an auction to help support the crew members who had been affected financially by the strike. In other communities, union meetings become just as important and exciting events as Independence Day or a summer church picnic.
Unions are also rising in membership. In 2022, 16 million workers were members of unions, which was 200,000 more than in 2021, according to the EPI. And as union membership rises, we see more and more of the benefits of unions. More people are able to get more of the pie, and that is excellent.
In short, support your local union.
Abigail Spencer can be reached at [email protected] or on X @ABairdSpencer