So, now that we've won, let's talk policy. The AFL-CIO is promoting a measure that would, if passed by the Congress, allow the 57 million Americans who would like to join a union, but can't, to do so. The legislative vehicle that accomplishes this goal is The Employee Free Choice Act. This legislation died in the Congress that was just defeated, even though it had over 200 co-sponsors in the House and 40 in the Senate. A summary can be found here.

There is a direct and causal link between union membership and both income and job security. In lockstep with the decline in union membership in the workforce, incomes have stagnated or declined while corporate profits have risen. Meanwhile, surveys show that a large plurality of Americans, and a majority of those who have an opinion on the matter, would like to join a union; of course, what stands in the way of this choice are the practices of union-busting employers like, say, Wal-Mart.

David Sirota writes:

Think the minimum wage just happened? Think employer-paid health care and pensions have been around for as long as they have by some force of magic? Think again — unions used collective bargaining to preserve these benefits. As the saying goes, union members are the folks that brought you the weekend.

The government’s numbers explain how unions have helped their members. According to an analysis of federal data by the Labor Research Association, average union members receive a quarter more in compensation than nonunion workers. Eighty-nine percent of union members have access to employer-sponsored health care, compared to just 67 percent of nonunion workers. Unionized workers receive 26 percent more vacation than nonunion workers.

What's broadly unrealized by the public is that workers have the right to form a union and bargain collectively with their employers. In a time when CEOs draw salaries that would make J.P. Morgan blush, while working full time at minimum wage practically guarantees poverty, it's time to put some of our political capital to work; let's move on from that Clintonian NAFTA nonsense.