President Joe Biden has taken commendable steps in this direction by coupling investments in public education with alternative, noncollege pathways to good jobs. Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS Act, and Inflation Reduction Act, his administration is working with unions, community organizations, schools, and employers to expand training programs in broadband, construction, and electrification.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, for instance, is implementing a program to equip trainees with the tools needed to install and maintain EV charging stations, while the AFL-CIO, in partnership with the Departments of Labor and Energy, is piloting training programs for lithium-battery manufacturing—an effort even Joe Manchin has been able to get behind.
Recognizing that college does not come with the guarantee of a living wage, young people are turning toward labor organizing in hopes of securing a brighter future. According to a 2022 study from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, “unionization throughout one’s career is associated with a $1.3 million mean increase in lifetime earnings, larger than the average gains from completing college.” It should come as no surprise, then, that Starbucks baristas at more than 350 cafés across the country have thrown themselves into successfully organizing unions.