From pay to training to retirement, LIUNA members live better.

• Men and women working in the construction industry see the difference a union makes in every paycheck. The average wage for a union-represented construction worker is $20.60, compared with $13.30 for a construction worker without a union, according to the Current Population Survey.

• In some sectors, the advantage is even greater. For example, a heavy-highway LIUNA worker averages $25.47 an hour in wages and benefits, compared to $13.72 for heavy-highway workers not in a union, according to Engineering News Record’s Construction Economics Department.

• Joining together in a union helps neutralize pay discrimination. The most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that union construction workers who are women enjoy a 70 percent pay advantage. Hispanics enjoy a 64 percent pay advantage, and for all other minorities the advantage is 42 percent.
  
  
• LIUNA has one of the best continuing education systems in the world—and it’s free. This training—more than 50 different courses—opens the doors to new opportunities by providing members with the skills employers need. Classes are available in every state in the U.S. and every province in Canada.

• LIUNA helps keep members safer by empowering workers with the ability to speak out about workplace hazards, and by providing training that helps workers recognize potential hazards.

• When it comes to healthcare and retirement, construction workers with a union have the advantage. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 82 percent of union construction workers have health insurance compared to only 46 percent of non-union construction workers.

• The Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration reports that while only 35 percent of non-union construction workers have a pension plan, 77 percent of union construction workers have a pension plan.

• Public service workers find a strong collective voice through LIUNA, with bargaining rights, better pay and better benefits.