Benefits of Union Membership Narrow Racial Wage Inequality for Black Workers

http://cepr.net/press-center/press-releases/benefits-of-union-membership-narrow-racial-wage-inequality-for-black-workers


For Immediate Release: August 29, 2016
Contact: Tillie McInnis, 202-293-5380 x117

Washington D.C. – Black workers are more likely than workers of any other race to be represented by a union, finds a recent report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). The report, “Black Workers, Unions, and Inequality”, finds that Black union workers experience higher wages and better access to health insurance and retirement benefits than their non-union peers.

The report investigates the demographic characteristics and wage trends of Black workers, union and non-union, from 1983 to 2015. Compared to their predecessors of the early 1980s, Black union workers of today are more likely to be female, older, have more formal education, be immigrants, and work in the public sector.

Black union workers on average earn 16.4 percent higher wages than similar non-union Black workers. Black union workers are also 17.4 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 18.3 percentage points more likely to have an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Other highlights in the report include:

FULL story at link: http://cepr.net/press-center/press-releases/benefits-of-union-membership-narrow-racial-wage-inequality-for-black-workers