Unions are voluntary associations of workers formed to improve the negotiating leverage of their members through collective bargaining.
Workers and employers need each other to create economic value, but often disagree about how that value should be apportioned. Because owners of capital are typically much wealthier and often more powerful than individual suppliers of labor, such disagreements have historically tended to resolve in favor of capital.
Unions rose as an effort to correct this imbalance in leverage, and they played a key economic role for much of the 20th century. More recently the power of unions has declined, though the tight labor market in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic aided high-profile unionization drives in services.
- Unions are worker groups formed to negotiate pay and working conditions with employers.
- Collective bargaining helps employees increase their…
