Forward and Upward: Youth and the Employee Free Choice Act

Young people need unions, plain and simple. And we intend to get them with the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

The last 2 years have more than demonstrated the role of young people in strengthening social and political movements, culminating in the presidential and congressional elections on November 4th. Youth, typically defined between 18 and 29 years old, were not simply looking to the future, but trying to improve on the situation right now. Whether it was access to education or an end to the Iraq war, youth—now 18% of the electorate—are a political force.

Young voters are doing our part, and we will need a little help from Congress and the new president to maintain still higher levels of participation by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

You see the problem is that young people are the least likely to be organized into a union of all the age groups. And this is important because working people in the same age group that are in a union make more money and have more benefits than their counterparts without a union. A recently published report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) entitled “Unions and Upward Mobility for Young Workers” noted that in the past 3 years, the median income for young workers in a union was $4.57 more per hour than those without a union. It went on to note that “Unionized young workers were also much more likely to have health insurance (65.6&) than younger workers who weren’t in unions (38.4%), and also much more likely than younger non-union workers to have a pension plan (58.4%, compared to 25.6%).”

Youth, the labor movement, and the entire country would benefit if more young workers were in unions. And the Employee Free Choice Act would get us started. Sometimes called the Wagner Act of our time, this bill would strengthen labor laws on the side of working people—making it easier to form and join a union. EFCA would give us license to get organized and ready to struggle for access to healthcare, better wages, and strong pensions both for ourselves and for generations before and after us.

In an era where access to healthcare, retirement income, and over all economic security are common concerns at the dinner table, the status of young people as a part of the country’s workforce must be more strongly addressed. Consider the role 2.2 million newly registered young voters were able to play in the 2008 elections. Now, imagine the role 2.2 million newly unionized young workers could play in strengthening the labor movement and the economy over all.

The outcome of these elections is a huge turning point in American history, and could possibly open the doors to the most productive and fruitful period any of us have ever experienced. We call on Congress to take up and pass the Employee Free Choice Act in the first 100 days. Help us to help you move the country forward.