•Press Release Unions United States Workers
Washington — While unionization is crucial to improving labor market conditions for all workers, it is particularly beneficial for Hispanic workers, as shown by Hayley Brown (English and Español). Notably, union representation supports substantial wage and benefit premiums for Hispanic workers, and for young Hispanic workers in particular, and it corresponds with reductions in wage and benefits disparities by ethnicity.
After adjusting for variables, Brown finds a union wage premium of 18.9 percent for Hispanic workers, which equates to a union pay raise of $3.13 per hour or a regression-adjusted median hourly wage of $19.69. For young Hispanic workers between the ages of 18 and 34, the regression-adjusted union wage premium was nearly 20 percent.
Unionization also appears to equalize earnings and benefits across ethnicity, particularly for health insurance benefit coverage. Here, Brown shows that union representation reduced the regression-adjusted white-Hispanic health insurance gap by more than a factor of three.
Throughout history, unionization has been a powerful tool for dismantling economic inequality and reinforcing worker power. “As we take stock in the aftermath of Hispanic Heritage Month, it is clear that removing obstacles to union organizing should continue to be a priority for the Hispanic community and the US as a whole,” said Brown.
