Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Saturday, January 28th, 2017

Share of U.S. Workers in Unions Falls to Lowest Level on Record

Author:     Eric Morath and Kris Maher
Source:     The Wall Street Journal
Publication Date:     Jan. 26, 2017 1:17 p.m. ET
Link: Share of U.S. Workers in Unions Falls to Lowest Level on Record
Stephan:   Republicans have never liked even the concept of unions, although they are happy to use them as Nixon did the Teamsters and Trump did the Police Union. They argue there is no need for unions or collective bargaining. But as with so much that Republicans believe the actual facts do not support their fantasies.  Anyone who cares about actual facts, and who take time to look into unions quickly learns that the creation of the American middle class and the development of unions go hand in hand. But that truth has been lost in the miasma of conservative disinformation, and just as unions helped create the middle class so the demise of unions correlates with the collapse of the middle class.

The share of American workers in unions fell to the lowest level on record in 2016, showing a return to the downward trend for organized labor after membership figures had stabilized in recent years.

The total number of union members fell for both private- and public-sector workers last year, the first overall decline in four years, the Labor Department said Thursday. New policies from the Trump administration threaten to put more downward pressure on organized labor’s last stronghold, government employees, but might help stem membership losses among manufacturing and construction workers.

Change in MembershipPercentage change in union memberssince 2000, by sectorTHE WALL STREET JOURNALSource: Labor Department
%RecessionConstructionManufacturingOtherprivatesectorGovernment2000’10-75-50-25025

Only 10.7% of workers were union members last year, down from 11.1% in 2015, and from more than 20% in the early 1980s. It is unclear whether any of Republican President Donald Trump’s policies could reverse this decadeslong slide in private-sector union membership, especially when unions were unable to gain traction with a union-friendly Democrat in the White House.

The share of union members in the workforce stabilized between […]

Read the Full Article