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A recent United States study reports that unionised workers in the lowest wage brackets in New York state earn 16% more than non-union workers with similar education. Across the United States, unionisation raises the wages of the typical low-wage worker by 20.6%. This can make the difference between living above or below the poverty line.



The report analysed data on 16-to-64 year old workers from 2003 through 2007 and was conducted by the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for Economic and Policy Research.



SEIU Local 32BJ is currently campaigning to organise 55,000 private security guards, who make as little as USD8 an hour, which is nearly 40% less than the median for unionised guards. To keep a family of three above the poverty level, a parent working full time needs to earn USD8.25 an hour.



See here for more details about SEIU's campaign: http://www.seiu.org/property/security/



To view the report - visit : http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_Release_UnionsMakeBigDifference.pdf