Very few high schools, and not many colleges, teach students about labor history — the struggles of working people for a better life and a more decent society. Only a handful of newspapers and on-line sites have reporters who cover labor (or even work) on a full-time basis.  Except when they go on strike (or when the Supreme Court endorses anti-union laws), the news media essentially ignore unions. You’d never know that the vast majority of Americans (62%) favor labor unions. But only 10% of American workers are in unions. Researchers at MIT found that if nonunion workers who wanted to join a union could do so, union membership would skyrocket from its current 15 million to 70 million.

Why the disparity? Fear. Our labor laws are so one-sided that they undermine workers’ rights to have a voice at work. One key solution is the Workplace Democracy Act, sponsored by 13 Democrats in the Senate. There are a growing number of progressive Democrats running for office this year who understand the connection between a stronger labor movement and a more humane society.

If the Democrats win a majority in the House and/or the Senate in November, will they make labor law reform a priority? Here are several Labor Day pieces that raise this and related questions about the future of the labor movement: