Organizing the Warehouse Sector

Increasing union density in the warehouse sector is probably the number one way to improve working conditions for warehouse workers and to turn traditionally precarious and lower quality warehouse jobs into “good jobs.”

Increased union density even helps nearby non-union workers in some cases. As we know from other sectors, increased union density in a particular geographic location is correlated with increased wages for nearby non-union workers as well, a phenomenon known as the ‘union spillover’ effect.* Interestingly, the phenomenon is found mainly in the private sector, into which falls the vast majority of the warehouse industry.

* Denice, Patrick, and Jake Rosenfeld. 2018. “Unions and Nonunion Pay in the United States, 1977–2015.” Sociological Science 5: 541-561. (August 15, 2018). (from https://sociologicalscience.com/download/vol-5/august/SocSci_v5_541to561.pdf).