
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., walks down the House steps of the Capitol on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
In November 2020, Democrat Congressmen Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Donald Norcross of New Jersey announced the creation of the Labor Caucus. Both longtime union members, the pair hope to represent the interests of organized labor in the House alongside more than 50 fellow caucus members.
At the time of the announcement, Pocan told CNBC that he also sensed growing support for unions —despite long-time efforts to limit them.
“There’s been ongoing organized attacks on working people on behalf of Republican legislatures and governors, including in my state of Wisconsin, for years. They destroyed public employee unions back in 2010 and then Wisconsin became a ‘Right to Work’ state, which we never were. They even went after prevailing wage laws,” he says. “We’ve seen this across the country, but public opinion for people having a voice in their workplace through labor unions is at almost an all-time high. It’s really up there because people have seen those attacks have really made it harder for people to get a fair share and a fair shake in their workplace.”
Labor union advocates “have strong public support,” said Pocan. “We just have to make sure that we actually deliver on some of the things that people want us to deliver on.”
For the Labor Caucus, those deliverables include passing the PRO Act and raising the national minimum wage.
But “support for unions is not just about wages and benefits,” says Trumka. “It’s respect, it’s dignity and it’s health and safety.”
Memesha Davis, a union ironworker from Brooklyn, New York, says this sense of respect is one of the biggest benefits of being a union member.
“I’ve heard stories of non-union ironworkers. They’re just another face or just another number. As far as being in a union, being a union ironworker, the benefits are enormous. Like, I never thought that I’ll be able to see a pension,” she says. “But I always thought the unions were important because it’s like a big family.”