PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Editorial: …Today, only 6.6 percent of private-sector employees belong to unions, compared with about 35 percent in the 1950s. Public-sector membership fell slightly last year, to 36 percent, compared with 37 percent in 2011. But the total number of government workers in unions dropped by 234,000, to 7.3 million, as state and local governments continued to lay off teachers, police officers, firefighters, and others.
The union membership decline among private-sector workers is being blamed on manufacturers’ moving to right-to-work states, where workers who don’t join unions don’t have to pay nonmember fees; the growth in retail, restaurant, and other service jobs that have traditionally lacked union representation; and efforts in Wisconsin, Indiana, and other states to roll back the power of unions. Union membership dropped 18 percent in Indiana last year, and 13 percent in Wisconsin.
The economic uncertainty that remains after the recession, exacerbated by the greatest income disparity in recent memory, demonstrates the need for responsible representation of America’s workers to advocate for fair wages and appropriate benefits. But the dramatic decline in union membership suggests workers no longer have confidence in organized labor to get the job done. “We need to do things differently,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. He’s right… (more)
EDITOR: We believe unions have traditionally served a vital purpose in giving the average working man and opportunity to negotiate for fair wages. Not only has this been good for labor but also for the economy.
However, sometimes unions are their own worst enemies, losing sight of what is best for their members and being unduly combative towards management.
