Labor Unions a Key to Happiness, New Report Says

[Hannah Bell]

Even though U.S. public opinion of unions remains low, a new report finds that labor groups nonetheless improve the general well-being for union and non-union citizens in several industrialized countries.

The findings appear in the September issue of Social Indicators Research, a journal which focuses on quality of life measurements. They highlight a link between union density and life satisfaction based on data from fourteen developed nations...

The study outlines several variables that contribute to an improved well-being, including many that have been touted by labor advocates. For one, unions provide a measure of job security that provides safeguards for sudden layoffs. Secondly, the power of collective bargaining allows for a sense of empowerment through mechanisms like grievance procedures. Unions also reduce a sense of alienation through a support network. Nonunion members and society at large also benefit through a “contagion effect” through inter-personal communication.

“As such, people are likely to be more satisfied themselves the more they interact with other satisfied people. Those in countries with a higher proportion of more-satisfied-than-otherwise union members are likely to be more satisfied, on average, than those in countries with fewer proportional union members,” the report said.

http://socialistworker.org/blog/critical-reading/2010/10/07/happiness-warm-union

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. A no-brainer for some of us.

Thank the labor movement for the 40-hour week and the weekend.

A lot of people don't appreciate those who fought and were thrown in jail and even died for their rights as working people.

For a general overview, where things have not changed a whole lot, in the past hundred years, read THE JUNGLE by Upton Sinclair.

[billlll]

2. 20 or 25% higher wages if union?

Refresh my memory pls.

Thank you.

[blindpig]

3. k&r

Our labor is the only thing we got.

[maryf]

4. Thank the unions for the weekends, 40 hour work week...K&R...