Sachs Keynote Address on "The Continuing Vitality of Unions”

Professor Sachs delivered the keynote address at the NYU Annual Survey of American Law’s annual symposium on February 21 on “The Continuing Vitality of Unions.” Sachs argued that “[u]nions are an essential contributor to economic equality,” noting that “[a]cross time and across countries, the higher the level of union density, the more economically equal a society is likely to be.” Additionally, Sachs emphasized, “[w]hen unions were active and strong, they helped ensure that the government was responsive to the actual preferences of the poor and middle class. So the decline in union density over the last few decades has contributed not only to economic inequality, but to political inequality as well.”

Professor Sachs also explored “new approaches to traditional union organizing, such as private organizing agreements, fresh models of public-sector unionizing, and attempts to utilize state and local laws,” as well as “new forms of labor organizing that hold some promise,” like worker centers.

To read more about Professor Sachs’ keynote address and the symposium, see this review of the talk.