You deserve wages that give you financial stability, allow you to support a family, and build a better life. Together, UFCW and our members can raise wages for every worker.
Fact: Union workers earn higher wages and receive better benefits.
On average, a worker covered by a union contract earns 12.8 percent more in wages than a comparable nonunion worker with a similar background. Along with this “union wage premium,” union workers are more likely to have access to employer-sponsored healthcare, and employer-sponsored retirement plans (and to receive employer contributions to them) and are more likely to have access to paid sick leave. (EPI, 2026)
Where union power is stronger, all workers benefit.
Our fight for sustainable wages and benefits doesn’t just help union workers, it also has a powerful overall impact on the whole economy. States with a larger share of workers represented by a union enjoy higher incomes, greater access to health insurance, and fewer voting restrictions.
Union membership strengthens communities well beyond the workplace by driving higher wages and stronger social protections. States with high union density have higher minimum wage rates, and those where union density has declined less have seen smaller reductions in employer-provided retirement plans. The benefits extend to health and economic security as well: in highly unionized states, more families have access to health insurance, and unemployed workers are twice as likely to receive unemployment benefits compared with those in states with low union density. (EPI, 2026)
The UFCW continues to fight for better wages for all Americans, including a living wage that keeps up with inflation.
Raising job standards
America’s workers are seeing their jobs provide less of what they need to get by. Wages remain stagnant, even as workers have become more productive and the demand for labor increases, but their benefits have not kept up. The UFCW supports raising standards for American jobs, so all working people are paid fairly for their efforts, and workplaces reflect the needs of today’s families, including the ability to care for children and family members.
Fighting for paid leave
The UFCW supports the Healthy Families Act, which would require employers to provide seven paid sick days a year for workers to recover from their own illness, care for sick family members, access preventive care, or seek help related to domestic violence or sexual assault.
We’re also proponents of the FAMILY Act, which would create a national paid family and medical leave insurance program to provide workers up to 85% of their regular pay for up to 12 weeks of time away from their jobs to care for themselves or a family member.
