Workers in the U.S. are facing two potential futures.

In one direction, there’s movement toward better working conditions and finally seeing wages catch up to the cost of living. In the other, inflation continues to outpace income — even if people recently fought for higher pay and won.

Unionization efforts and collective bargaining, like what’s currently taking place at several Philadelphia institutions, are a major factor in deciding which way it will go.

Average wages in the U.S. have been stagnant for years, while the cost of living has grown and worker productivity has fueled increasing corporate profits. “Quiet fleecing” is the term the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank, recently came up with to describe the situation. It’s a play on the more-viral term “quiet quitting” — the idea that workers do what’s required of them to keep their job and nothing more.

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Quiet quitting caught hold in the wake of the pandemic and the so-called “Great Resignation,” where it seemed a good part of the labor force was taking a stand against employers. Many actually left for new jobs that offered better pay, conditions, or both.

This trend disproportionately benefited college-educated workers, which describes fewer than 1 in 3 Philadelphians.

Even among people who have college educations, some have found their jobs simply weren’t paying enough,...

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