To: Mr. Whist who wrote (169388 ) 8/9/2001 1:53:37 PM From: Tom Clarke Read Replies (1) | Respond to Union Membership Is DecliningUnder Sweeney's predecessor, Lane Kirkland, union membership, which peaked at 32.5 percent of the American workforce in 1953, fell to 14.9 percent by 1995. But under Sweeney it has fallen at an even faster rate than it did during Kirkland's last five years--to 13.5 percent today. AFL-CIO officials insist percentage figures don't matter because union density always falls when the workforce increases rapidly, as it did in the 1990s. But the absolute numbers are equally sobering: In the last five years, the number of private-sector union workers fell by 252,000--despite a tight labor market (which favors organizing) and a Democratic administration enforcing labor laws. Even factoring in gains by public-sector unions, overall federation membership has dropped by 68,000 in the last five years. A decline of this magnitude is disastrous because labor's ability to organize new factories and offices is directly proportional to union density: If three of four plants in an area are organized (thus providing those workers better wages and benefits), it is not hard to convince workers at the unorganized plant to vote for a union. But if none are, workers are more likely to heed management's warnings that joining a union would make it impossible for their plant to compete. Apply this logic to entire industries (e.g., insurance) and entire regions (e.g., the South), and you have the dilemma facing today's labor movement. tnr.com
