I think it's quite possible to see how in the next three to four years, 20 million more workers

could be in unions and collectively bargaining all across the economy.

And if we could get it to 33% of the American workers being able to bargain a better life,

we would be raising wages and creating good jobs for everyone,

not just union members. And that's the kind of power we need to create in this nation in order

for the economy and the democracy to include everybody.

Hey, this is Sean Morrow, host of Who Is, the podcast from Now This, where we examine

power through the stories of people who haven't.

We've got a special episode for you today, something a little different.

Over the past decade, the movement for a $15 minimum wage has gone from far off fantasy

to potential reality.

And since 2020, the global pandemic has made lots of folks realize just how essential our

essential workers really are.

You know what else is essential?

Workers organizing.

To learn more about organized labor today, I spoke with the long-time head of

the second biggest union in the United States. Mary K. Henry leads SEIU or the Service Employees

International Union, a labor union with nearly two million members. Today on Who Is, it's a conversation

with Mary Kay Henry.

Yes, I'm Mary Kay Henry, the president of the service employees international union and a

backer of the Fight for 15 and a union movement.

This is a question that's going to sound super simple, but what is a union?

...