OPINION: We’re better off thanks to unions

Members of ASEA/AFSCME Local 52, Alaska’s largest public employee union, held a rally on the steps of the Capitol in Juneau on Feb. 10, 2023, urging the Department of Health to address its worker shortage. Thousands of Alaskans have been affected by an ongoing backlog of food stamps and Medicaid applications and shortage of staff at the Alaska Division of Public Assistance. (Sean Maguire / ADN)

It is the time of year when Alaskans are fishing, berry picking, and preparing for the winter ahead. It is also a time when we celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers. This Labor Day, I’d like to communicate one thing to Alaska’s working families: Life is better in a union. Being a union member means access to a good, sustainable job in the industries of the future. It means earning wages that help us afford a home and keep up with rising rents. It means critical benefits like affordable health care. It means a voice on the job, and it means knowing that your retirement is secure. Our future — and the future of our families — is better in a union.

Union members do some of the most essential work in our state. Our members build bridges and roads, keep the lights on, teach young pupils, take care of patients, staff our state, serve you at the grocery store, and so much more.

After decades of anti-union propaganda, misinformation and corporate attacks, we are on the rise. People all over the country are realizing unions are the single best tool we have to stand up to historic inequity and corporate greed. Every day, more workers are seeing past the lies and the well-funded anti-union campaigns from corporate America and deciding to come together: Unions won 76% of the National Labor Relations Board elections held in 2022, the highest rate ever. This trend holds true right here at home, where in just the last two months we’ve seen hundreds of graduate student workers and commercial retail workers exercise their collective power by forming unions in their workplaces.

Support for unions and workers on strike even transcends party politics. A recent poll found that a majority of registered Independents, Democrats, and Republicans approve of unions and support workers on strike. Unions are more popular with the public now than at any time since the 1960s, with an 88% approval rate among Americans under the age of 30.

Seemingly each and every day, more and more Alaskans are asking us: How can I form a union in my workplace? Workers are taking action because, while they feel the rising cost of living and see skyrocketing corporate profits, they aren’t seeing their wages trending in the same direction. They are taking action because they recognize that unions change lives. They’ve seen from friends, neighbors, and family members that when working people unite to fight for fair treatment and better wages and benefits, it enables a better life for entire families across generations.

Our labor movement is open to everyone and strives to leave no worker behind. By standing together in unions and organizing for a brighter future, working people in every type of job and every corner of our Alaska are strengthening our state and making life better.

Joelle Hall is the president of the Alaska AFL-CIO.

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