Myth:  Unions/unionized workers are destroying the economy.

The establishment rhetoric is that unions destroy jobs and businesses primarily because of wage demands.  However, there is absolutely no evidence to support this. Indeed, the highest rate of unionization was during the heyday of American prosperity (1955 to 1965).  Rapid decline of unions began during the Reagan administration, when striking air traffic controllers (PATCO) were fired and replaced.

Data Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

Although correlation does not necessarily establish causation, over the same period of time, real wages also declined:

Data source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

In addition to better pay, unionized workers are also more likely to be covered by health insurance and retirement pensions:

Data source:  US Bureau of Labor Statistics

Unions don’t just raise the wages of unionized workers, but raise the wages and working conditions for all workers.  Non-unionized employers must compete for the same workers, so unions serve as a counter-balance to employer incentive to drive wages lower and reduce job quality. Consequently, declining unionization rates are correlated with declining real wages for everyone, including non-unionized workers.

In addition to declining real wages, declining unionization is also correlated with increasing wage inequality.

Yet, unemployment was lowest between 1965 and 1970, spiking between 1975 and 1985, and then declining slightly thereafter. Thus, there appears to be no correlation between unionization rates (which have declined steadily over the past four decades) and unemployment (which rises and falls with the general economy).

Data source US Bureau of Labor Statistics