E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
CEPR
The downhill slide in U.S. union membership has stalled.
After steep declines since 2008, the unionization rate leveled off last year, pointing to what is either a number that just can’t go any lower, a lull in yet more union membership hemorrhaging, or the beginning of a labor turnaround.
Union membership plummeted by nearly 1.4 million workers between 2008 and 2010, but “hit a plateau in 2011,” according to the Center for Economic Policy Research, an economic think tank that reviewed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The private sector led the way with a union membership increase of 110,000 employees, while the public sector saw a 61,000 decline, mainly due to government cutbacks.
The data shows a stabilization following years of unionization declines, but could it be the early signs of a union renaissance?
“No, not yet,” surmised John Budd, a professor of work and organizations at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and director of the Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies.
“We’ve reached a core group that doesn’t have much left to shrink,” he said, about traditional unionized workers in industries such as auto, airlines, and healthcare. On the other hand, he added, it could be a sign “people are turning to unionization again.”
The growing perception among many that economic inequities are rampant could fuel a rethinking of the role unions can play, he maintained. “That’s something that unions fight for, equality and economic fairness,” he said. “In terms of workers getting frustrated and unions turning the corner as a result, the signs of that potential have been around for a number of years now.”
A positive sign, he noted, is that in a political environment that has vilified organized labor and has spawned movements to hamper organizing rights in states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin, membership numbers have stabilized.
Others aren’t as hopeful.
Gary Chaison, professor of Industrial Relations at Clark University’s Graduate School of Management, believes the worst is yet to come. “There will be greater layoffs in the public sector as cities and states have to lay off workers to narrow the budget shortfalls caused by excessive pension obligations,” he said. “And as the economy stalls, perhaps the result of continuing high employment and low consumer confidence, or the banking crisis in Europe, employers in manufacturing will be reluctant to add to their workforces.”
Here are some details of the CEPR report:
- The largest net increases in unionization came from health care and social assistance; construction; and durable goods manufacturing.
- The biggest declines came from professional and business services; utilities; and non-durable manufactured goods.
- Florida saw the biggest gains in union members in 2011; followed by Michigan Colorado, Illinois and Missouri.
- New York, the most heavily unionized state, saw the sharpest drop, followed by California.
Overall, women represented the biggest increase in union membership with an increase of 36,000 female members, compared to about 12,000 men.
“I don't think that men or woman have a greater natural propensity to join unions, but it's all about industry,” Chaison said. “Apparently there have been fewer job losses or health care occupations or service occupations -- hotels and restaurants -- dominated by women.”
Leave a Comment:
Should we call it a "plateau" when union membership is at the lowest its been in many years? A plateau seems to me, should be something other than the bottom, where union membership is not is located. I guess MSDNC is trying to make Obama look for his and their re-election campaign.
ya think?!
These social cycles move in waves. It does not go straight down or up. There is a pattern to it just like there is a pattern to the stock market prices. Google for "what moves the stocks kondratieff wave" to understand how aggregate social mood writes history through financial markets, economy, politics and culture.
Hopefully unions are making a strong come back, and the people of this nation are tired of being raped and lied too.
@dongwork
I know right! Raped and lied to by the UNIONS. Paying these silly benefits with bloated pensions.
Unions rape the american people when they "bargain" if you can even call it that.. more like strong arm thuggery to get additional benefits. They "bargain" with someone who has a total conflict of interest with the union and american people.
I love seeing union people cry when they have to pay 12.5% of their healthcare, LOL
It was the unions who created the entire middle-class and the consumer economy.
Before unions, most American workers lived in little more than a shack. And maybe a company shack at that.
Unions are not the problem and never were the problem.
BAD TRADE POLICY is the problem, LACK OF PROPER TARIFFS is the problem, and has been the problem for 50 years.
brendan-4 thinks we should all be happy in our Foxconn jobs and dorms! Watch out for falling co-workers!
The only reason union membership is not falling is because government union membership is at an all-time high of 34% while private sector unions continue to fall at 10.8%, an all-time low. Once we say goodbye to Obama, government union membership will decline with cutbacks in funding for dead weight.
Nice try at revisionism there Road Warrior. Did you even read the article before spewing your wingnut talking points? 1776 is right our problems were not caused by unions. They were caused by corporate greed and low wattage voters like RW here who care nothing for facts and do their research at night in front of a boob tube watching Murdoch's con men.
So the UAW and all their benefits did not have anything to do with its cash flow. Unions are out dated and do nothing but drive up the cost of goods. They try to tell Boeing they can not open a plant in South Carolina that will employee 1000 Americian workers. I guess you would rather have them build it out of the country and employee their workers.
Unions are pure evil. They have bled dry every industry they've infected. They are now bankrupting government. I was in unions when they killed the steel industry and I witnessed their destruction first hand.
If unions weren't unfairly protected by illegal laws, they would have been abolished years ago.
Illinois just passed a series of laws to help save money and one of the laws is that this year on, it will only take 3-4 months to fire a teacher instead of the old law that took TWO YEARS!
Big Labor’s Top Ten Special Privileges
Privilege #1: Exemption from prosecution for union violence.
Privilege #2: Exemption from anti-monopoly laws.
Privilege #3: Power to force employees to accept unwanted union representation.
Privilege #4: Power to collect forced union dues.
Privilege #5: Unlimited, undisclosed electioneering.
Privilege #6: Ability to strong-arm employers into negotiations.
Privilege #7: Right to trespass on an employer’s private property.
Privilege #8: Ability of strikers to keep jobs despite refusing to work.
Privilege #9: Union-only cartels on construction projects.
Privilege #10: Government funding of forced unionism.
And you ask why unions are in decline and why manufacturing jobs are going overseas and why the rust bucket states are rusty. What manufacturer wants a few union bigshots to come in and do all this to their company?Would YOU set up a business where complete strangers could put a stranglehold on your operation anytime they wanted and extort any amount of money or work conditions out of you? Stall your assembly line any time they choose and be above the law and drive you out of business?
Now explain why the Chicago public school system, which of course is unionized has a 40% drop out rate and less than 10% of the graduating seniors go to universities however the Chicago Urban Prep Charter Academy has a 25% drop out rate and all the graduating seniors are admitted to 4 year universities. The Urban Prep teachers are not unionized and Urban Prep is an all male black high school with students chosen by lottery from Chicago's ghettos.
Obummer refuses to look at successful schools and maintains the same fail, fail, fail system that he was elected state senator from.
Get rid of the unions, let the schools do their jobs and stop the shi* that unions cause repeating the same public school failures.
Whenever you read an article, the most important part of the article is the author and his/her bias. You have to ask the question "Am I getting the straight unbiased information or a slanted version to twist my viewpoint to the the direction that the author wants?"
In this case Eve Tahmincioglu is a dedicated leftist unionist. She refers to another leftist unionist think tank CEPR and two leftist pro union professors, John Budd and Gary Chaison.
Therefore the article is slanted first by the author and then by her referral to a liberal union think tank and information she obtained from two pro union professors.
Except for the graph which shows a steady decline in union membership everything else in the article is tainted and cannot be taken at face value. What we see is that after every uptick in union membership there is a large decrease in union membership. This the author refuses to mention or explain.
So using the graph and common sense and going back 12 years we see upticks in union memberships followed by large decreases in union membership but the author, her think tank and professors, refuse to discuss why this always happens. They hold out hope that somehow this will be like the phoenix and unions will be reborn from their ashes.
The author conveniently forgets to mention the many state and federal lawsuits against the unions and the mafia for fraud and misuse of unions funds.
Unions are nothing more that "Legalized" Organized Crime Groups. There was a time when they met a definite need, that time has come and passed. In Maryland, the only reason there was an increase in Union Membership is because the Governor "FORCED" State Employees to pay a "Fair Share (90% of actual dues) in exchange for the Union delivering votes for his reelection. Basically, the Governor paid off a Bribe to the Unions, they got a guaranteed $4 million dollars a year when they delivered the votes to him.
Business organizations, such as the chamber of commerce, are nothing more that "Legalized" Organized Crime Groups. Their only function is to maximize profit while socializing their losses.
Unions have been almost completely destroyed by the wealthy and the propaganda they use. Working class people are regularly told by their non-Union bosses, how bad Unions are. Of course, the less money they pay their workers the more obscene their profits are. I spent 12 years as a non-Union carpenter, making low wages and no benefits. The company constantly "warned" us of the demonic Union. I finally joined the Union while working on a bridge.
That is when I learned how I had been used for 12 years. After joining the Union, my pay greatly increased and I actually got health insurance for my family. I am now retired and I see the same things going on, only worse. I speak with young carpenters and the vast majority believe that the Unions will just take their money. The wealthy propaganda has been very effective. It is designed to keep the workers under-paid, no bargaining power and no benefits for their families while keeping the owners wealthy.The slogan, United we stand, divided we fall, is so true. Non-Union wages are the same or less than they were 30 years ago. Of course the price for health care, gasoline, food, etc... has increased exponentially. Do yourself and your family a favor if you want to live a decent life, join a Union. Quit being used by people who only care about their wealth. It should be illegal to treat employees this way, of course in America, it is all about greed at any cost.
Well said!!
I have to question whether or not unions were ever necessary. Why did people line up to go to work in those 19th century sweat shops in the first place? Because they obviously thought it was better than the alternative, otherwise they wouldn't have done it. Perhaps the capitalists that started those shops shouldn't have started them in the first place, shouldn't have created the jobs in the first place - would they have been better off then? Certainly, then they wouldn't have been (to borrow classic union propagandist terms) "exploited" by the "fat cat, do-nothing owners." Instead, they could've remained starving and died young - after all, the average life expectancy just before the start of the industrial revolution was 45.
Somewhere along the way, workers started to consider a job to be a right, rather than a privilege. They haven't a clue as to the risks involved with any venture, the pressures from competitors (both domestic and international), and where those pressures really come from: Not the so-called "greedy" owners who simply want to line their pockets. No, those pressures come from you and me, as consumers, always shopping for the best deal. Profits are always held in check by consumers, who will take their business elsewhere (or do without), if the product or service gets too pricey and/or quality drops. Those are the simple realities of doing business on this planet. Too many unionists have never understood this dynamic, and for some reason, seem incapable of understanding it. Those who do get it, move beyond the union environment - they realize that the world owes them nothing, if they want to be successful, they need to do whatever it takes to make themselves more valuable to society. It's called personal responsiblity. It's called growing up. It seems that those who remain unionists are simply those who never grow up.
Rob, if you think it is a privilege to work under the lethally dangerous, unhealthy, exploitative conditions that miners and steel workers did in the 19th century then you should have no problem working like one. You think there is nothing wrong with a sweat shop and that it is a privilege to work in one? Quit your job, go to a thrid world country where there are no unions or government regulation and work in one.
Got an education? Got a good job now? Doesn't matter. If it is a privilege to work in a sweat shop with no regulations then go work in one and tell us how much of a privilege it is after the first day. Otherwise you are a hypocrite.
Without unions, there will be no Middle Class.
People are beginning to realize this, again...
How many have joined, ten?
unions will kill the middle class,
Unions did create a middle class. It is an illusion. It was temporary and resulted in great job increases in foreign countries. Unions also created unemployment and bankruptcies, and the jobs and industries disappeared along with the high wages that created the illusion of a middle class.
Did unions create a middle class in Detroit? No, they helped ship the car industry overseas. Without unions Toyota and Honda would have been much smaller and much less penetration in the US. The unions helped create theses companies.
The only unions left are the government unions, and they are doing to the country in general, what the unions did to specific industries. Industries like steel, airlines and automobile.
A real middle class is created by innovation, education, and efficiency.....something the unions are good at eliminating.
Maybe they are seeing what is hapening in China and remembered Unions are what stopped that when it happened here.
Look up the word "Pinkertons"
Agree with#2. I have friends who have retired and thus are no longer in the union. The companies are hiring "younger" folk, who need training and are not in the union. Guess what? the company changed to HMOs, they have cut their pensions, they have cut their insurance. They cut the salaries. I imagine that five years from now these same people will look up and realize they have "nothing" and will form a union against the company. Bet on it.
Only unions fight for workers rights. If you want to keep paid time off, retirement income. medical insurance, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, health and safety laws- support unions. If you want to be serf or slave, keep busting unions.
Don't you people realize consumers pay for unions? We pay for corporate taxes, we pay for minimum wage, etc. When unions "negotiate" for better wages, etc., the products have to go up in price. So, we who purchase the products pay more. If there weren't any unions, while pay for some jobs would go down, so would the prices. Just like government control of ethanol. Cost for food has skyrocketed. Sorry folks, but I don't feel like paying an extra $10k for a car to help union members. You become competive with your competion like the rest of us, and then you don't need a union and we all pay our "fair share".
Paul, Mitt Romney makes $40K in about 18 hours due to his stock porfolio. You tell me who is really taking money from you; the union worker making $25/hr or the CEOs making $2200/hr
Why can't CEOs live on $500,000 a year? The rest of us could retire after 5 years making that kind of pay.
I'd rather pay for for a union-represented made in American than for some piece of crap made in China by child laborers who are no better than slaves. I'd rather have a union watching out for my safety than to trust a corporation to do so.
Unions didn't kill the American auto industry. Bad management did. Failure to recognize future market trends. Failure to control bloat and other manufacturing costs. And yes, over committing to pension funds did cause long term financial issues. However, had they actually been paying attention and managed their companies, those pensions would not have done any where near the damage they did. Management got fat and happy and forgot to run their business. All they worried about was the stock price and what their options were worth. Stocks and options have killed American manufacturing as much as "over paid" American workers ever did. Management has lost sight of how to run a business to success.
Azindy, I work for a small business in the northeast. Our company offers excellent benefits. Great healthcare, matched 401, profit sharing, and a good management team. So tell me, can your union beat 55 cents on a dollar match up to 4% on your 401? I think not! I also worked for a major corporation that paid an annual wage dividend to wort off the unions! That worked too!
Unions did kill the auto industry. That's why the new workers are being paid half of what the older ones are. That was part of the restructuring that even Obama signed on to.
Again, they have bankrupted every industry they've invaded, textiles, steel, air lines, auto's, and now government.
Remember that great company Fruit of the Loom. Unions killed it. The union wouldn't look at international competition and I watched the negotiations and the stock bottom out. The company moved offshore and all those American jobs were lost. The unions struck again!
Probably none of you remember but Ford fought the unions the most. GM gave in the most. Now Ford didn't get a government handout and GM did.
Look at another government statistic, its on the net. By the time the union employee and the non union employee are 35-40 their take home pay is the same. The only difference is that the unionized company is socked with another layer of administration and a costlier product. The worker gets the same.
Corporations have to wait until the remaining Union members retire. Unless your a unmotivated worker nobody wants these around any more. From what I've seen the Unions create so much red tape these days that they make these corporations inefficient.
I can go on and on, but from what I can tell state labor laws make the Unions obsolete and large corporations will hire contractors instead of hourly workers.
Unions are a dime a dozen.... Used to be a fair days work for a fair days pay..... The Union has become its own money making entity. Unions cut corners in defending their own employees these days and seem to only work for those who are problematic on the job. Whatever happened to protecting healthcare benefits, wages and cost of living increases?
it has been said that the only thing the union cares about is the union (not necessarily their members).
They were necessary in the past when their were no laws to protect employees, now you need a lawyer so you can pay on a need basis. Some of the union stewards that I have seen in union shops I worked at only cared about themselves.
Also do not like the fact that if you complain about the union, many have provisions that they can fine you, what is that all about?????
have a good week
You concede that unions were necessary. What makes you think that workers aren't struggling for equal pay, benefits, or safety in the work place anymore?
Unions are juyt as necessary today as they were a century ago.
Pay is shrinking, benefits are being reduced and cancelled, and security is long gone.
The only voice this nation of workers has to bond together and form more unions to take on the greed that is killing this nation.
The entire foundation of a capitalistic nation is the prosperity of the working classes, and unions keep many of us prosperous and capable of stimulating the economy.
Or you can work a bunch of $15 hr jobs and pay for you healthcare and have no pension and no hope
FedUp
Your 'fair day's work for a fair day's pay' came about because of unions. I don't know how old you are but my father grew up in PA where his father worked in the coal mines. They lived in company housing (for which they paid rent), were paid in company script (which was only good in the company store), had only Sundays off, no holidays, no safety considerations, no health care, no sick leave, and worked 12 hrs a day.
The only reason we have the 5-day work week, safety laws, fair wages, holidays, benefits, etc. is because an entire generation of workers fought and won those benefits. Unions DID create the middle class. And since the decline of unions you can draw a direct correlation to the decline of the middle class. I concede that some unions did demand too much, but then company management also agreed to those demands so it goes both ways.
Want a country with no unions? Just look to China and the working conditions there. That's where we were a hundred years ago. I have no desire to subject my grandchildren to those types of working conditions.
Yo ProgressivesNow-
If you don't like your work environment, change jobs. Your employer will have to do better if he can't find decent staff. Don't look to the rest of us to pay your union wages "just because".
Way to go dsb!! Couldn't have said it better - they don't realize that unions are not just about salary. They are lemmings that listen to ultra right-wing commentators that are trying to blame someone else. BTW I'm 52 and have been a Republican my whole life, but I'm sick and tired of my own party demonizing the wrong people.
Paul-4412303 guess what - I'm a public employee and I make LESS here than I could in a private sector job (yes I'm in a union). But I stay here because of the benefits - they make the tradeoff worth it for me. And to burst another lie...I pay $500 a month towards my pension and have since the day I walked in the door 17 years ago - you "union haters" are NOT paying my wage!
So when you don't have benefits, vacations, holidays, sick pay, unemployment, etc., please go find a rich CEO to help you out - I'm sure they're lining up.
And BTW if you hate unions so much make sure to NOT call the police, firefighters, EMT's, and any of those type of people when you need them. Call your billionaire CEO - I'm sure he'll be there for you!!
You people are UNBELIEVABLE!!! You make me further question my Republican roots (which would make my grandmother turn over in her grave!)
Thanks progressive, you have conceded that even with unions we still have the problems and support my point that having a lawyer is better than union representation. Thanks for clarifying my point.
have a good week.
So using the graph and common sense and going back 12 years we see upticks in union memberships followed by large decreases in union membership but the author, her think tank and professors, refuse to discuss why this always happens. They hold out hope that somehow this will be like the phoenix and unions will be reborn from their ashes.
The author conveniently forgets to mention the many state and federal lawsuits against the unions and the mafia for fraud and misuse of unions funds.
The real reason the numbers aren't falling is the government employees who are unionized are one of the few growth areas.
As long as the Dems are in control, they will repay their patron unions with more and more at the expense of the average taxpayer.
Letusreason - You obviously did not read the article. Public sector union membership is declining as private sector membership is increasing again mainly due to local governments laying people off to balance their budgets
Actually, I did read the article. The writer just has no credibility.
Letusreason - there are plenty of Republicans in unions - I'm one of them - so don't you dare try to lump us all in and demonize us - I can't stand Obama and NO ONE is "repaying" me with taxpayer money. I earn everything I make and I could make more in the private sector. But I choose to stay here for the benefits - they ALMOST even it out. And I pay $500 a month towards my pension for the last 17 years......so I'm not getting ANY free ride. I am so sick of how easily the lemmings in our party follow the leader - of coures they want you to demonize the unions, it takes the light off them. They sell you that crap and you buy it hook, line and sinker because you want to. Our President just got a 15% raise and a raise in his car and tech allowance. What have the workers seen...................no raise for the last 4+ years. The big wigs in the party are only too happy to have a bunch of lemmings!!
You could make more in the private sector? So you've traded benefits for salary, big deal. What that means is the union has done NOTHING for you.
Don't count on those benefits long term, public sector cuts area coming. You will be far better off in the private sector.
It sounds like you are a union lemming, republican or not. As mentioned before, I've been in unions and they are pure evil.
So using the graph and common sense and going back 12 years we see upticks in union memberships followed by large decreases in union membership but the author, her think tank and professors, refuse to discuss why this always happens. They hold out hope that somehow this will be like the phoenix and unions will be reborn from their ashes.
The author conveniently forgets to mention the many state and federal lawsuits against the unions and the mafia for fraud and misuse of unions funds.
For those who criticize unionized workers,
No CEO, absolutely none, work, and I repeat none work without a contract!
And before they sign their new contract they spend up to $ 50,000.0 in hired guns
( Lawyers ) to go over their new corporate contract with a fine tooth comb
looking for clauses they do not agree with.
So, why the average middle class worker cannot have some sense of economic
certainty , knowing that at least for the next 3-5 yrs he/she will have a job with
some small increases and some benefits, huh?
Take for instance the pathetic Nardelli case, where he plunged Home Depot and
Dodge/Chrysler, back top back.
This clown does not even know how to put on a tool belt, or hit a nail on the head, or even change the oil on his own car.
However he was made the CEO of both this companies, with multi-million
contracts and stock options even for not performing, as well as golden
parachutes, while laying off thousands of workers.
If allowed, there would be no Chrysler today, or GMC, instead they would have allowed Sharking and vulture capitalism destroy, sale and auction all remaining assets and buildings, terminate all workers and dismantle both car manufacturers ( A la Romney style ).
Now more than ever people should think twice about working on a right to work state style basis ( without a contract).
A union contract also put the brakes somehow on stupid irrational risk taking by CEOS knowing that they cannot just "Flush" workers down the toilet when they screw-up.
Joe, most union workers are fine workers, but I have worked in a shop in which some union workers knew the rule book more so than their job! And representation, what a joke.
There are more good companies that care about their employees as much as they care about the success of the company, that is a big difference with most unionized companies/plants in which they do not consider the success of the company at all. For the union to become more successful, then need to understand this principle or you will see a drop in membership, again.
To Atlas,
Union bosses are not saints, their corruption should be also cleaned out.
Unions also have some Big Fat Rats, I know that.
However, the company and the unionized worker should work together
to benefit both, the company and the worker, not the company side only
and "Screw the workers" .
It's a lie that the average company tries to "screw the workers". Companies rate employees by performance. If an employee is being screwed it is because he is a poor performer and the company is "encouraging" him to find a "better opportunity".
The more valued you are the more you are rewarded. As a former hiring manager, it is pretty easy to separate the winners from the losers. When there is a layoff guess who gets dumped first!
It is not a companies responsibility to provide you with a job, it is their responsibility to make a profit for it's investors. Employers eagerly reward their good performers, and try to steal them from each others. That's what pay for performance is all about.
It is YOUR responsibility to make yourself a valuable employee, not for the company, but for YOUR family. As UAW members found out, unions do NOT mean job security. In the private sector, performance is job security.
Unions have nothing to do with "an honest days work for an honest days pay", they are all about extorting the highest wage possible for the least work possible.
That would be wonderful if the employees worked more than 6 hours of an 8 hour shift.
It's pretty amazing that any unionization occurs now a days with all of the anti-worker campaigns waged by corporations. Management from many large corporations threaten and intimidate their workers. They work swiftly to stamp out any whiffs of unionization. Most workers don't know their full legal rights in this country to vote to join a union.
Wal Mart, hiding behind their "All American" brand, continues to squash their workers' rights from voting to join a union at all costs.
Use your wallet to protest these injustices.
I worked summers during college breaks and got a job on a unionized job site. The third day on the job, the union job stewart pulled me aside and said "Hey Kid, don't work so hard, you are making the rest of us look bad!"
That Friday, I picked up my check and never returned.
That was my experience with a union.
That's because there are so few union members left other than the die-hards as a percentage of total workforce. Other than government union members, many of them are beginning to realize they'd be better paid and better treated by a non-union employer. And as more states become right to work states, they'll not be able to compete for jobs. They had their place in the day. But they got greedy and corrupt with the only beneficiary being union bosses. Fortunately, many union members got wise and have been leaving unions in droves. The current stall in that loss is only temporary. I expect the decline will continue as the economy improves.
We're losing union jobs not because people are fed up with their benefits and middle class wages, but by the loss of manufacturing to slave wage labor overseas.
Unions will come back along with more manufacturing. A lot of reasons contributed to their decline, including over-confidence and the corruption that usually accompanies over-confidence brought on my too much power...but on that score, unions aren't unique.
Main reasons, IMO, were technology and low cost overseas labor, the latter brought on by the end of communism and the suddenly doubling of the global workforce, competing within the same basic capitalist system.
I'd guess that if you took away the 7% unionized private sector and the 37% unionized public employees, much of the middle class would be gone. Unions, plus skilled workers in high tech non-union jobs, are the only thing standing in the way of a two class society of rich and poor.
Hey ProgressivesNow-
You shop at WalMart? Well, you my friend are personally responsible for those "slave wages" in China and the loss of US union jobs. It kills me. You guys for unions are the same ones shopping at WalMart and everywhere else where you can save a buck or two. Reminds me of Al Gore screaming about global warming while having the highest power bill of anyone in Tennessee...hypocrite is Democrat...
Just a story about union corruption. Our Local union president took a job with the international for a couple of years, and then had to return to work at our plant. In the meantime, that former union president was among those scheduled to be laid off, by seniority. The union was able to change his seniority date to a date that he was not laid off. There was nothing the union members could do about it, and because of that a number of lifetime union members left the union.
"I'd guess that if you took away the 7% unionized private sector and the 37% unionized public employees, much of the middle class would be gone"
Well that's an obvious lie. Checked out Detroit lately? That's what unions bring.
The public unions are in for a rude awakening no matter who gets elected, borrowing 40% of what you spend cannot continue. That means deep cuts and if the choice is between the majority of voters or public unions, unions will lose hands down.
So using the graph and common sense and going back 12 years we see upticks in union memberships followed by large decreases in union membership but the author, her think tank and professors, refuse to discuss why this always happens. They hold out hope that somehow this will be like the phoenix and unions will be reborn from their ashes.
The author conveniently forgets to mention the many state and federal lawsuits against the unions and the mafia for fraud and misuse of unions funds.
community college in chicago in negotiations with the union. Guess what the CC is proposing? Salary freeze for 5 years!!!! Now tell me those of you who are against the union and for the private sector. Would you work for your boss for five years without a pay increase, esp. if the company is heaping more work on you?
So whats new. The community college is making up for the years it was stuck on the old contract. Most public companies are only now starting to get tiny raises for many years starting back in 2008 they got nothing for many years.
It is now the public organizations that hid under stimulus money or union contracts to avoid the cuts turn to take a cut. Guess what the original issue still exists not enough money to pay for all the services provided by the government employee. Now why the union thinks its a good idea to lay some people off so others can get raises rather than cut everyone equally I have never understood.
Absolutely not! Unemployed is superior to this kind of abuse.
And you are why America is going down the drain. Unions have raped the public for too long, now they are being reigned in. That will continue. Again, it won't matter who gets elected.
Sally you can't have it both ways! You liberals complain about the higher cost of private education and higher student loans and how hard it is to get money for education yet you want the people who teach to get more money too, that will increase the cost of education.
NOW WHICH WAY DO YOU WANT IT?
Can't wait until a there are right to work laws in all 50 states. Then the good ole boys in the union will have to hold their meetings on the loading dock at lunch because they will actually have to DO their jobs instead of drink beer, smoke grass and complain about management when they are supposed to be working! Then they can go home in the evenings and whine about the good old days when they actually ran something and had money to spend on junkets to the carribean instead of working two jobs.
Read the contract. If management was dumb enough to let that slip by, the stockholders need to throw them out and bring in tougher negotiators on the next one.
Can't wait until "right to work for less" laws are repealed in all 50 states People are waking up to the fact that corporations only care about maximizing profits while screwing over their employees.
Yo Minan-
How about making yourself irreplaceable to your company. Then they will really care about you because you ensure them profits. If you are there just "expecting" a paycheck b/c you show up, well I don't feel like paying for your sorry tail everytime I buy a product your company makes....
If you are truly "irreplaceable to the company," the company will overlook your union membership.
It's not an either/or proposition.
Paul hit the nail on the head. Corporations are not obligated to give you ANYTHING. The best way to ensure that you will always have a fair deal is to arm yourself with skills that are in demand and provide high value to your company. If you have good skills and are getting a raw deal at your current company, then you should be able to find a better position. I also never understood the concept of automatic raises based on years of service. You should be paid based upon your performance as it pertains to the company and nothing else.
A good union understands that to survive, the company or industry has to survive as well. If it cannot, and must substantially cut costs to produce an acceptable profit to owners, then someone else, somewhere, should probably be doing the job.
Most "arguments" lie in the area of what is an acceptable profit? The union has one number; management one higher.
Any union that cannot attract members without forcing employees to sign up, isn't worth the paper the union contract was written on. Right to work states means the union must stay on their toes and provide a reason to join the union. I think it makes for a better run union.
End union fascism, demand right to work in all 50 states.
End corporate fascism, demand the end to "right to work for less" laws in all 50 states.
Ya know when ya reach bottom, there's no place to continue to fall....LMAO.
unions are still needed, yes there are laws to protect workers, but it's the unions that ensure those laws get followed.
No. Unions have nothing to do with law enforcement. Unions, today, are merely the fund raising branch/money laundering operation of the DNC.
Go USA
you're a fool..... We get plenty of benefits from our union... and they support democrats because republicans are INSANE
you get plenty of benefits from your union aquired through strong arm tactics and thuggery.
who pays for your benefits? do you?
dongwork4yuda, you are suspended for a day for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
Hmmm...why would it not be your right as an individual to basically hire someone to negotiate your employment contract?
Corporate executives do it all the time, they just don't have unions; they have lawyers.
You go ahead and bring a Lawyer to negotiate a contract with me and see what happens.
Bwwwwaaaaahahahahahah! Looks like the Unions owe a huge thank you to Scott 'Weasel' Walker.
This question of unions and the middle class is silly. The middle class is the 3rd income quintile - the 4th is the upper middle class and the 2nd is the lower middle class (sometimes known as the "working class"). They can't be increased or decreased.
On several occasions over the years since modern record keeping began in 1983 union membership and union density have plateaued and even increased slightly. That doesn't effect the long term downward trend. All this data comes from the Current Population Survey which is very accurate, consisting of 60,000 interviews per month, but it is a survey and is subject to the statistical and sampling errors of all survey data. One expert told me that the margin of error was +/- 0.18%. In a workforce of more than 100 million that can easily give you an error of +/- 100,000 union members. All the 2011 data seemed to be within the margin of error.
You are correct, of course, that income classes are a constant percentage, based on population. But, the amount of average income, by individuals in each class, may differ over time...going up, down, or stagnating, no?
Not sure why you would want to exclude the third quintile from the "working class?"
Also, are you arguing that union membership does NOT correlate with classes based on wages - i.e. you wouldn't find more union members in the middle and upper middle classes than in the bottom two quintiles?
I will never understand people who think Unions are still relevant or necessary. I don't understand why union employees don't understand that if they are a high performing employee they are only hurting themselves by joining a union. Why would you want to work under a 4-5 year contract that guarantees you a 2% increase per year when you could work for a non-union company and possibly receive a 4-5% increase per year based on your performance? Is it because you don't think you are a good enough employee to be a high performer? Why is it ok with those of you who do work hard, do an excellent job and get the same raise as the low performer in your area? Can't you see how that makes everyone want to work to the lowest common denominator?
Especially when the low performers can never be fired?
I've been a Human Resources Director in the Healthcare field for many many years, in both union and non-union hospitals... I can tell you the non-union employees do not work any harder, are actually treated better by management and high performers make significantly more than union employees...
are you serious. I have seen the job market and every single job I have had that is non union just sucked, barely paid the bills, didn't offer healthcare for my family and there was no pension plan...
Not just 1 or 2 jobs a dozen or more. I kept leaving job after job looking for a better deal and finally got a union job and have been extremely happy ever since. I am not struggling and I don't wonder what is coming
Why would I ever want to not be in a union.. You are delusional
What industry do you work in? I don't know of any decent sized company (say 100 employees or more) that do not offer healthcare and retirement plans...
I will never understand people who don't think Unions are still relevant or necessary. Why do they enjoy being the corporation's lackey? Do they really like making working for low wages and no benefits. In many shops, non-union employees spend more time kissing butt than actually performing work. These people would be better off living in a communist country where they would have no rights.
I would guess that even in right-to-work states, non-union jobs pay more, if there is local union job competition, than in areas were there is zero union competition.
If employers do not make an attempt to maintain parity in wages, unions would grow in numbers. Employers will pay only what they "have to pay" to get competent labor...the same as the cost of any other factor of production.
The main point of capitalism is not employment, it is the deployment of capital to make more capital...that's why it's called capitalism and not "employmentism."
Amazing that the human resource director above sounds like a socialist. Go talk to the CFO.
"I would guess that even in right-to-work states, non-union jobs pay more, if there is local union job competition, than in areas were there is zero union competition."
Sorry, that's a lie. As a hiring manager we looked at prevailing wages, with ZERO regard to union/non union. More often than not, union shops were paid less than non union. If anything they lowered the average.
Where my wife worked the union out right lied and told employees they'd get a raise if unionized. Once they were voted in, they were paid "prevailing union wage" which was a pay cut! Needless to say that was the only place that went union.
What people don't want to accept is what person does has a certain worth. Unions artificially distort that worth via extortion. In the end it doesn't work, GM happens, the textile industry collapse happens, the steel industry collapse happens, etc. Again, look at Detroit. That is the ultimate result of extorted union wages.
Professionals DO know what they are worth and have no problem improving their skill set to make more by being worth more.
UNIONS YES.
Because of my union, I have a solid wage that matches my multiple college degrees, I have healthcare that is better then most, I have a pension, and a 401K plan. After 15 years I have 4 weeks paid vacation 1 week sick leave and some holidays off.
I get training money through my union, I have job security, and I get paid 1.5 OT on Saturdays and 2x's on Sunday.
I stimulate the economy because I can afford to. I own a house and I can pay it down in much less then 30 years. I go on vacations, and I make investments that will help me retire earlier then 60.
I want all of you to enjoy that with me. UNION's YES!
must be nice to have a pension AND 401k
my only question is, who pays for your crazy benefits?
what happens when everyone is union and no one can afford your costly benefits?
Big deal, my company has all of that and more. But you do enjoy one thing that my employees don't have........... union dues.
Ah...and you would have "granted" all of that to your employees out of your personal sense of "equity" and/or "generosity?"
Good...then, you are NOT an "evil business owner." Problem is that you are in the minority. Most "owners" believe maximizing profit is the way to do it...and they'll write an annual check to United Way for the rest.
@Dong...yeah, and the Chinese are lovin' your bennies.
Won't be long until they are working in your field and you're on unemployment and blaming the employer for your stupidity.
It's happened over and over again, but some of you just never learn.
I have all that without a college degree in a non union company. We pay for performance not seniority. By the way I make 6 figures.
I had all that with an associates degree and was able to retire at 55 with a fat portfolio because I made sure I was indispensable. Excepting my school years I was also non union all the way.
"Problem is that you are in the minority. Most "owners" believe maximizing profit is the way to do it...and they'll write an annual check to United Way for the rest."
Sorry, that's another lie. Only a simpleton would shortchange his valued employees, on the contrary we were not only keeping ours happy we were trying to lure them away from our competition!
Once again, it depends on YOU! How much you are worth depends on YOU! Lazy slackers love unions because it takes an act of God to get rid of them once they are hired. Competent people want nothing to do with unions because they know they can do much better on their own.
I needed no one to negotiate my wages, I did that and had no trouble pulling six figures once I built my reputation. That's what the American dream is about, rising to the limits of your abilities, the sky is the limit.
Its because corporations actively fired union members & used the sour economy as an excuse. Even the American Red Cross execs got caught saying they wanted the unions out.
Miss Shapiro did you read the comment right above your title. Union's were made to protect the American from being disenfranchised and protect the American people to have a chance for people to save there jobs and negotiate to have raises and benefits for there members. My uncle was union member for 30 years and now because of it he has the freedom to retire at 62 with 4,000 a month pension. His house is paid for and he has full benefits that HE EARNED through hardwork and his union membership. I told him that I wish I had a chance to be part of a union, he said well times are different and even if you proposed to start a union now you'll be railroaded out of job so don't even think about it. So that's why I'm hoping myself that unions make a come back so i'll have a better chance of keeping a job then I do now as long as I prove to be a good worker.
Unions are not only not declining in membership, but membership will increase, because workers can no longer ingore the obvious: that there have been escalating attacks on workers for more than 30 years. Unions exist because of the abuses that existed without them and they will grow in response to the blatant abuses taking place now. The American boss class thinks it is immune to class struggle, but, the contradictions of capitalism are not going away, and we have fought and won many battles in the past. The more aware the parasite class becomes that they lossing their grip, the more they have been tightening their grip in anticipation of what is inevitable. They think that if they crackdown now, things will be a lot easier in the struggles to come. We have plans too.
Yeah,keep up the union bull@!$%# and all you'll be organizing are dishwashers and ragpickers because there will be no other jobs available.
Maybe American workers are finally starting to wake up and realize they are getting screwed.
If the union fails, say good-bye to fair wages, 40 hours work weeks, safety, etc. Unions are a needed and value component in keeping the US from becoming the next China!
You are so right!!!
Whether or not unions/non-unions are a factor, the truth is that in the last 40 to 50 years, corporate hegemony has not shared increasing profits with labor. Rather, the profits have gone to absurdly escalating management rewards for that seemingly rare commodity "talent", and into stocks, i.e., the money management machine of Wall Street. IMO, unions can "claw back" a bit of the wealth that labor creates. However, I do not support outlandish retirement plans for public employees like police and firemen, who are bankrupting some communities. Of course, it is up to the communities themselves to decide what is a reasonable retirement and benefits package for public employees, so residents should keep a close eye on local government and its fiscal policy.
The little blip you see on the scale is Obama's doings; pushing all stimulus work to Unions. The unions have helped break every entity that is in trouble today; cars, manufacturing, etc. Why do you think it all went to Mexico and overseas?
Good job Obama; keep up the inaccurate reporting and lying out your big teeth!
I have worked at 2 companies which I was required to join and pay union dues. One of the jobs I had I could do a weeks worth of work ( piece work ) in about 2hours, then I was told to go to the restroom and hide, by the union Stewart. The other job at another factory, we went on strike as recomended by the union officials for a $1.00 per hour raise over 3 year contract. We struck, the union trreasurer ran off with our strike fund and after 6 weeks. We settled for $ .30 over 3 years. we could not make back the money lost over the new 3 year term . Strange the union officials all got new beige in color ford autos. The union workers got f----ed.
And, the employees at ENRON got screwed by their management. Does that mean we have to scrap capitalism? So, you had a bad experience.
I work for a state university that has unions. The unions are always blamed for the budget problems but that's just a sneaky way to hide the real problems from the public. We have the most bloated executive budget you could imagine! These executives make bloated salaries and receive full pensions with full benefits when they retire even if they only stay for 5 years...not to mention all the bonuses on top of their salaries they get while they're working. If the staff didn't have the unions to represent them it would be brutal to see the working conditions, lack of benefits and poor salaries the university would get away with!!
Just for the edification of the board here - your pension is what, after what service and for how long. Ya, thought so.
Brutal? are you working at a university or a salt mine?
Oh, that means one person doing the work of one person,and not 6 AA hires standing around.