IFPTE Welcomes Congressional Report on Benefits to Unionization for Workers, Industry Wages, and Quality Jobs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC – International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) President Matthew Biggs and Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson issued a statement in applauding the findings in the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Democrats and the House Education & Labor Committee report titled, “Unions Provide Major Economic Benefits for Workers and Families.”
The Joint Economic Committee and Education & Labor Committee’s report on the benefits of unionization comes at a time when public support of unions is at its highest point in the last 50 years and union organizing is surging. We thank JEC Chairman Don Beyer and Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott for their respective committees’ efforts to highlight the economic gains that unionization delivers working families. The report shows that it’s not just union members who benefit from the union wage premium – nonunion workers in unionized industries benefit from the wages, benefits, and fair working conditions that unionized workers negotiate. The report also cites research that shows that unionization narrows the pay gap for women and minorities.
As IFPTE delegates head to Philadelphia for the AFL-CIO convention to discuss the policies and direction of the labor movement, the JEC and Education & Labor Committee report only reiterates how vital labor unions are to our nation’s economic prosperity and building an economy where all Americans have good paying quality jobs and a voice at work.
IFPTE calls on all Members of Congress, regardless of party affiliation, to consider the findings of this report, engage with the issues and concerns of labor unions and union members in their Congressional districts and states, and work with President Biden to support the Administration’s efforts to protect workers’ ability to organize and negotiate to improve their workplaces, and pass the Richard L. Trumka PRO Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act.
Read the JEC and House Education and Labor Committee report, “Unions Provide Major Economic Benefits for Workers and Families.”
Across the United States and Canada, IFPTE represents 90,000 highly skilled workers in the federal, public, and private sectors. IFPTE is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO and the CLC. More information can be found at www.IFPTE.org.
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