ABSTRACT
The percentage of the workforce that belonged to unions was nearly as low in 1999—;13.9 percent—;as in the early 1930s, just before passage of the Wagner Act. In order to restore meaning to the idea that workers are entitled to a democratic voice at work, lawmakers must both reverse the erosion of workers' rights and adapt to the changes in the economy. As the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations has argued, the first goal should be the common recognition that workers' right to form associations at work is a fundamental civil right, like freedom of speech or religion, and that workers need an effective countervailing force to employers, namely unions. Combined with campaigns on globalization, Federal Reserve Board policies, immigration, social wages, and federal spending, a new workers' civil rights movement could build public and political support for a broad reaffirmation of democratic principles at work.
