1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Workplace Action for a Growing Economy Act or the WAGE Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) was enacted to encourage the practice of collective bargaining and to protect the exercise by workers of full freedom of association in the workplace. Since its enactment in 1935, tens of millions of workers have bargained with their employers over wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment and have raised the standard of living for all workers. (2) Through acting collectively and bargaining with their employers, workers who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement earn 25.2 percent more than workers who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. They are 40.8 percent more likely to be offered health insurance through work and nearly 5 times more likely to have employer-provided defined benefit pensions. The wage differential is significant for women and people of color. African-American workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement earn 25.1 percent more than African-American workers who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and Latino workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement earn 45.7 percent more than their peers who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Women covered by a collective bargaining agreement earn 32.1 percent more than women who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and the wage gap between men and women is much smaller at workplaces covered by a collective bargaining agreement. The wage gains achieved through collective bargaining agreements benefit workers and their communities. (3) Labor organizations and collective bargaining ensure that productivity gains are shared by working people. The decline in the percentage of workers covered by collective bargaining has contributed significantly to skyrocketing income inequality and flat wages. (4) As enacted in 1935, the National Labor