A new report from the Economic Policy Institute says that tripling US union membership to 30% would raise the median worker’s pay by 14.5% and move about $1.2tn a year from employers and owners to workers. The report argues this matters not only for wages, but also because stronger unions could reduce racial pay gaps, expand health coverage and reverse part of the rise in inequality that has accompanied decades of declining union membership.

The report says US union density was above 30% in the 1950s, fell to 22.2% in the 1980s and stood at 10% in 2025, even as more than 68% of Americans viewed unions favourably and more than 50 million workers said they would join one if possible. It estimates the median worker would gain about $7,700 a year, or nearly $270,000 over a 35-year career, and says ending “right to work” laws and public-sector bargaining restrictions alone could lift union density from 9.9% to 14.4%. The report links the long decline in unions to corporate anti-union tactics, restrictive laws and a widening gap between productivity and pay since 1979.