Types of Jobs that are Ideal for Unionizing

May 30, 2011
Helen Akers

Employer Labor Unions Can Improve Job Satisfaction - Free Pixels

Most of the job growth that will occur in the United States by the year 2016 will be in low-paying occupations. Unions could improve overall job quality.

Unions have historically existed to protect workers from unsafe working conditions, unfair treatment, low pay and insufficient benefits. According to AFL-CIO, one of the nation's largest organized unions, over 36 percent of public employees are unionized compared to only 6.9 percent of private sector workers.

This is primarily due to the fact that private sector labor laws do not prohibit employers from using intimidation and harassment to prevent unionization. While educators continue to represent a large portion of unionized workers, according to a 2009 educational study written by Jeannette Wicks-Lim at the University of Massachusetts, Ameherst, the following four occupations stand to gain the greatest benefit from union representation: nursing aids/personal home health care aids, general office clerks, janitors, and accounting clerks.

Nursing Aides

According to Jeannette Wicks-Lim's research, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nursing and personal home health care aides will be one of the fastest growing occupations by 2016. As of 2009, 14 percent of those jobs paid at least $17 per hour. According to Wicks-Lim, this is the minimum wage that an average family with one income needs to earn in order to live at twice the government poverty line.

From 2003-2007, nursing and home health aides that were represented by unions received an average wage that was 15.9 percent higher than non-union employees. In addition, 33.5 percent more union workers in the nursing and home health care aides category received comprehensive health insurance benefits. As with most occupations, nursing and home health care aides that work for government agencies are likely to face less opposition from their employers towards union organization.

Office Clerks

Approximately 85.9 percent of unionized general office clerks received health care benefits from 2003-2007, compared to just 46.9 percent of their non-union counterparts. Unionized clerks, on average, received an hourly pay rate of $17.50 instead of $14.08 for non-union employees. General office clerks will also be one of the top ten fastest growing occupations in the United States by 2016. As Wicks-Lim argues in her research, one way to ensure that there are available jobs that pay a living wage is through collective bargaining for traditionally lower-paying occupations.

Accounting Clerks

Only 5.2 percent of accounting clerk jobs were covered by union contracts between 2003-2007. The low representation is most likely due to the high amount of private sector accounting firms. Union represented clerks had an average wage of $18.05 per hour and 77.5 percent of union clerks received health care benefits. Retirement benefits enjoy substantial improvement among unionized accounting clerks, with 64.8 percent receiving benefits as of 2007. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) of 2009 should make it easier for private sector employees to unionize.

Janitors

With union representation, janitors benefit from higher wages and increased health insurance coverage. Roughly 39.1 percent more workers received health care benefits with representation. Average wages increase by roughly 31.5 percent for this occupation, which expects to be one of the fastest growing by 2016.