NAACP Supports Union Labor

WHEREAS, to maintain a striving and viable community, good paying and high wages jobs are essential. This has been achieved with unionized jobs that give workers the right to participate in the democratization of their work place; and 

WHEREAS, 4.7 million Black workers are currently employed in the hotel and food service industries. They would benefit from increased unionization and increased benefits in those industries in the United States more generally; and

WHEREAS, Black workers in low-wage occupations that are represented by unions earn on average $15.60 per hour as compared to non-union Black workers in low-wage jobs earning an average of $11.25 per hour; and 

WHEREAS, Black union workers are more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and employer-sponsored retirement plans, and Black union workers with less than a high school degree earn higher salaries than their non-union peers; and 

WHEREAS, the mission of the NAACP is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all citizens; which includes advancing equal rights and eliminating racial economic disparity in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Janus v. AFSCME, a U.S. Supreme Court case that is supported by the Koch brothers' freedom foundation, represents the latest and most dangerous assault on working class people. Under current law, every union-represented public service worker has the choice whether or not to join a union even while that union is required to negotiate on behalf of all workers whether or not a worker joins; and 

WHEREAS, if the Supreme Court upholds the lower court's decision, Janus v. AFSCME would overturn Abode v. Detroit and thus open the floodgates to Right to Work. In Right to Work states union coverage has been reduce by 9.6 percent. Workers' wages on average is $6,109 less per year while poverty rates have increased to 15.3%. Moreover, workers have seen a 13% reduction in health care benefits and work place fatalities have increased by 49%. Employer sponsored pensions are 4.8% lower in Right to Work states; and 

WHEREAS, the NAACP and unions have a long history of standing together to end labor and employment discrimination, bring economic justice to the workplace, and social justice to the nation. 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ("NAACP") will support good hospitality jobs by prioritizing hotels with union contracts for conferences and business meetings; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP will reaffirm its commitment to supporting the right and ability for labor to organize public and private employees regardless of the Janus decision; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP encourages its local branches to support, raise awareness of, and participate in, labor movements that advocate for greater equality for union workers.