New EPI policy brief: How states can expand union and collective bargaining rights amid federal attacks

As the Trump administration escalates attacks on U.S. workers' rights and protections, a new Economic Policy Institute brief outlines what state policymakers can do to protect and expand union and collective bargaining rights.

Over the last year, the Trump administration has stripped collective bargaining rights from more than 1 million federal workers, undermined the National Labor Relations Board's ability to enforce labor law, and eliminated federal mediation of difficult contract disputes.

Amid these threats, states can take a range of measures to maintain and strengthen workers' rights to unionize and collectively bargain, including:

• Locking in and shoring up existing federal protections. This could include repealing so-called right-to-work laws and guaranteeing collective bargaining rights in state constitutions.

• Extending organizing and collective bargaining rights to workers who are excluded from federal labor laws, such as public sector, agricultural, and domestic workers.

• Leveling the playing field for unionizing workers by streamlining organizing and first contract processes, strengthening state labor law enforcement, and ensuring all workers have access to information about their rights to organize.

The policy brief is part of EPI's "Holding the Line" series that provides state solutions to the U.S. workers' rights crisis. Previous installments in the series have outlined how state policymakers can boost minimum wage standards, protect and expand overtime pay coverage and unemployment insurance, and strengthen child labor standards.

On Thursday, February 19, at 3 p.m. ET, EPI's Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) will hold a webinar on ways states can build worker power. Register here .