In their article, “Unions Are Necessary to Rebuilding Our Middle Class,” at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, David Madland and Nick Bunker write,

Over the past several decades, the decline in the unionization rate tracks almost perfectly with the decline in the share of income going to the middle class…According to our previous research, a 10 percentage point increase in union membership would translate into an extra $1,479 per year for the average middle-class household, whether or not that household includes union members–about the same effect as boosting college graduation rates by the same margin.

The next time Democrats get a working congressional majority, restoring the American labor movement as a force for economic security should be considered an imperative priority, not only for the good of American workers, but also for the future of the Democratic party.