Interested in unions and collective bargaining? We’re here to help.
60 million non-union workers in the U.S. say they would join a union if given the chance, but many don’t know where to begin. The Worker Organizing Resource and Knowledge (WORK) Center is a one-stop shop for information and resources on unions and collective bargaining for workers, employers, unions, government agencies, students and anyone interested in unions and collective bargaining.
Scroll down to learn how unions improve the lives of all workers, and how they support the Department of Labor's mission.
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Welcome to the WORK Center
Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh explains why the department is prioritizing empowering workers to organize.
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Unions 101
What is a union, and how can you form one?
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The Union Advantage
Learn how joining a union can improve pay and benefits, especially for women and people of color.
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Hear From Workers
Hear from workers about how organizing improved their workplaces--and lives.
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Unions in our Communities and Democracy
Find out how unions help keep our economy and democracy strong.
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Labor-Management Partnerships
Learn more about how unions and employers have worked together to improve workplaces.
Additional resources
- Unions and Inequality over the Twentieth Century
- What Forms of Representation Do American Workers Want
- Unions, Norms, and the Rise in U.S. Wage Inequality
- The Declining Worker Power Hypothesis: An Explanation for the Recent Evolution of the American Economy
- Unions and the enforcement of labor rights
- Unions are not only good for workers, they’re good for communities and for democracy
- The enormous impact of eroded collective bargaining on wages
- Unions help reduce disparities and strengthen our democracy
- Statistics from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Union Members
- Coal Mine Safety: Do Unions Make a Difference
- Enforcing OSHA: The Role of Labor Unions
- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) database on collective bargaining systems in OECD countries
- Office of Labor Management Standards database of public and private sector collective bargaining agreements
- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) database on trade union membership
- Union membership and coverage database with data from the Current Population Survey
- NLRB flyer on workers' rights
- Worker Empowerment Research Network Landscape Review: Executive Summary
- Union Membership means $1.3 million in additional lifetime earnings
Print Publications
- Bargaining for the Common Good: An Emerging Tool for Re-Building Worker Power, in No One Size Fits All - Joseph A. McCartin and Marilyn Sneiderman
- Labor Unions and White Racial Politics - Jake Grumbach and Paul Frymer
- Unions, Worker Voice, and Management Practices: Implications for a High Productivity, High-Wage Economy -- Thomas A. Kochan and William T. Kimball
- DOL Good Jobs Initiative website
- U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce Good Jobs Principles
- DOL website for employers, including information on obligations under the National Labor Relations Act
- U.S. Department of Commerce’s job quality toolkit
- Kaiser Permanente’s Historic Labor-Management Deal Survives Again
- Unions are having a moment. Here’s how that can be good for labor and business
- Quality Workforce Partnerships
- The Potential and Precariousness of Partnership: The Case of the Kaiser Permanente Labor Management Partnership
- How Can Labor and Management Collaborate More Effectively
- Apprenticeships and the Labor Movement
- Office of Labor Management Standards database of public and private sector collective bargaining agreements
- Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service – agency that assists parties with collective bargaining and dispute resolution
- National Labor Relations Board – administers and enforces the National Labor Relations Act
- NLRA Rights Poster Required for Federal Contractors
- The Employee Rights Poster Is a Gateway to Knowledge
- SBA Labor partnerships and worker organizing guide
- DOL Good Jobs Initiative website
- U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce Good Jobs Principles
- Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment among Public Sector Workers
- Report of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, listing more than 70 actions executive branch agencies are taking to support worker organizing and collective bargaining
- Federal Labor Relations Authority website, with resources on collective bargaining in the federal sector
- Unions are not only good for workers, they’re good for communities and for democracy
- Statistics on union membership
- U.S. Department of Labor History (2003)
- Women in Labor History timeline (through 2008)
- Labor History (AFL-CIO)
- Business and Labor History: Primary Sources at the Library of Congress
- Unions on Campus: How Some Undergraduates Are Organizing during COVID-19
- The Labor Film Database
- Women In the Labor Movement, National Park Service
- State of the Union: A Century of American Labor
- Labor History for the Classroom and the Public
- The Closing Gender, Education, and Ideological Divides Behind Gen Z's Union Movement - Center for American Progress
New and noteworthy
4 Ways Unions Complement the Department of Labor's Mission
Read more about the many ways in which unions complement the Department of Labor's mission to improve the lives of America's workers.
The Good Jobs Initiative
Learn how the Department of Labor is working with agencies, employers, and workers to promote good, high quality jobs.
The State of Our Unions - The White House
Read the Labor Day message from the White House on the state of worker organizing.
Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment, and Rights (M-POWER) Initiative
The International Labor Affairs Bureau is teaming with other federal agencies to promote unions and freedom of association around the world.
SBA guide to labor partnerships and worker organizing
SBA releases first-of-its-kind guide for small businesses on worker organizing and employer responsibilities Labor partnerships and worker organizing.
WATCH: Why #UnionsMatter
Throughout our history, unions have lifted workers' voices in their workplaces, communities and government. But union density has been declining for decades, with devastating consequences
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