Labor Notes’ Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Labor Notes Roundtable Series: How Can Unions Defend Worker Power Against Trump 2.0? We will be publishing more contributions here and in our magazine in the months ahead. Click here to read the rest of the series.

It shouldn’t be so hard for Workers to join a Union.

Nearly half of Non-Unionized Workers in the U.S. say they would join a Union if they could.

Yet only one in 10 belongs to one and that number continues to fall.

The main path to Unionization, through a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Election or the Public Sector equivalent, has long been broken and favors employers.

While Unionizing through the NLRB must remain a central strategy, alone it isn’t enough.

Imagine you’re a Worker at Target who wants to organize, but none of the Unions in your area is willing to support you.

Unionizing Target isn’t part of their strategic plan, and organizing major Retail Outlets seems too difficult right now.

So you give up.

You stop talking to your Co-Workers about organizing because no one could offer you a way forward.

This happens to thousands of motivated Workers every year.

The Labor Movement is losing potential Leaders and Organizers because it has no pathway for them to join and stay active.

If we want to build an organized Working Class capable of taking on the billionaires and defeating Trump-era policies like ICE’s reign of terror, we have to treat the Labor Movement more like a movement, one that brings more and more motivated people into its ranks.

Work has changed in fundamental ways and people relate to it differently than previous generations did.

Wages haven’t kept up with the cost of living.

Automation means Workers must quickly learn new skills or change jobs.

Increasingly concentrated corporate power and employer-friendly laws make winning Union Elections and first contracts difficult.

Our organizing strategies must account for the realities Workers face today.

We can win demands and advance material gains at work by putting direct, organized pressure on our bosses - not always relying on the NLRB election process or waiting for a contract before we start acting like a Union.

We should create structures to support Workers on this path when joining a Union isn’t an option.

This means focusing on developing more Organizers and Activists, which can grow the Labor Movement in the long term.

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