West Virginia workers who belong to unions earn hourly wages that are 11 percent higher then those who are non-union.

The lowest-wage workers find their pay boosted by 15.8 percent if they are union members.

Those are among the conclusions of a new study jointly released on Thursday by the Center for Economic Policy Research in Washington, D.C., and the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.

Over the last generation, wages across the country have dropped slightly.

"While West Virginia has seen modest wage growth over the last several years, a typical worker in West Virginia still makes almost a dollar less per hour today, after adjusting for inflation, than in 1979," said Ted Boettner, director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.

Hourly wages for a typical West Virginia worker, adjusted for inflation, dropped from $14.87 in 1979 to $14.06 in 2007.

The typical male worker saw his real hourly wages drop from $18.91 to $16.35 during that 28-year period.

"The Union Advantage for Low-Wage Workers," the new study, shows that a non-union worker in the lowest 10 percent of all wage earners made $6.86 an hour in 2007. Union workers in that same category made $7.94 an hour.

John Schmitt, a senior CEPR economist who wrote the study, said, "Unions give the biggest boost to low-wage workers because these are the workers that have the least bargaining power in the labor market.

"Unionization has a large and measurable impact on the bargaining power, and therefore the wages, of low-wage workers."

Perhaps even more significant, unionized workers are more likely to receive paid vacation and sick leave, health insurance and employer-provided pension plans.

West Virginia workers who belong to unions earn hourly wages that are 11 percent higher then those who are non-union.

The lowest-wage workers find their pay boosted by 15.8 percent if they are union members.

Those are among the conclusions of a new study jointly released on Thursday by the Center for Economic Policy Research in Washington, D.C., and the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.

Over the last generation, wages across the country have dropped slightly.

"While West Virginia has seen modest wage growth over the last several years, a typical worker in West Virginia still makes almost a dollar less per hour today, after adjusting for inflation, than in 1979," said Ted Boettner, director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.

Hourly wages for a typical West Virginia worker, adjusted for inflation, dropped from $14.87 in 1979 to $14.06 in 2007.

The typical male worker saw his real hourly wages drop from $18.91 to $16.35 during that 28-year period.

"The Union Advantage for Low-Wage Workers," the new study, shows that a non-union worker in the lowest 10 percent of all wage earners made $6.86 an hour in 2007. Union workers in that same category made $7.94 an hour.

John Schmitt, a senior CEPR economist who wrote the study, said, "Unions give the biggest boost to low-wage workers because these are the workers that have the least bargaining power in the labor market.

"Unionization has a large and measurable impact on the bargaining power, and therefore the wages, of low-wage workers."

Perhaps even more significant, unionized workers are more likely to receive paid vacation and sick leave, health insurance and employer-provided pension plans.

Boettner and his organization also back legislation to protect the rights of workers to organize unions, including the proposed federal Employee Free Choice Act and the West Virginia Worker Freedom Act.

"They would reduce the intimidation factor and meaningfully restore the right to organize that is enshrined in federal and state law," Boettner said.

The percentage of employees covered by union contracts has dropped slightly in recent years.

Throughout the United States, the percentage of workers covered by union contracts dropped from 23.3 percent in 1983 to just 13.1 percent in 2006.

In West Virginia, those percentages were slightly higher. But they also declined from 28.5 percent in 1983 to 15.5 percent in 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's "2008 Statistical Abstract."

The new report is the second in an ongoing series of studies being published by CEPR.

The first report, released in March, found unionized African-American workers earn 12 percent more and have better benefits than their non-union counterparts.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research is an independent, nonpartisan think tank established to promote debate on economic and social issues.

The new report is available, at no cost, at www.wvpolicy.org.

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.