CAN A UNION REVIVAL SAVE TRUMP'S MAGA PLANS?

Trade unions once represented the pinnacle of American worker empowerment. During the mid-20th century, union membership reached over 35 percent of the U.S. workforce, peaking in 1954.^2 From the Teamsters to the United Auto Workers, from textile unions to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, organized labor was the backbone of the American middle class.
Unions as Engines of Upward Mobility
Unions offered:
Apprenticeships and trade schools
Health and welfare benefits independent of government
Pension systems
Stable wages sufficient for family formation
Community cohesion, fraternal identity, and social capital
Economists have documented the “union wage premium”—often 10–20 percent above comparable non-union jobs—as a central driver of mid-century middle-class growth.^3