Supposedly and there is some statistical evidence to support the claim unionized workers enjoy higher earnings than non-unionized workers in comparable jobs.
Unions also claim that they give workers greater job security, safety, and voice.
The salient fact is that the percentage of unionization among private-sector workers peaked in 1953, at 36 percent. Now, only about one in ten workers has union representation. In his new book, Beyond Unions and Collective Bargaining , Rutgers University economics professor Leo Troy attempts to explain why. Yes, unions promise various benefits, but most workers have figured out that the benefits are dubious and the costs, both in dues and the possibility of job loss because of the well-known propensity of unions to make firms uncompetitive, are very real. The product the unions are selling their services in negotiating and administering a collective labor contract is one that many workers have come to see as unattractive or irrelevant.