Saturday, January 29, 2005
Union density down to 7.9 percent in private sector
The BLS just released its latest numbers on union membership in the United States. Bottom line - it's not good. In the private sector union membership dropped below 8% - the lowest level since the early 1900's. Public sector workers - union's strong suit the past several decades - also dropped significantly to 36.4%, nearly a full percentage point off from last year. Unions continue to blame the loss of "good" jobs and employer antagonism toward unions. No inward-looking, as usual.
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2 comments:
Yes, this is all very bad for unions, but one could make the argument that maybe companies are finally acknowledging employees as an asset instead of mere replaceables.
I find the article interesting that they blame the decline on employer antagonism toward unions. I can not see that being a valid arguement. I think the problem might be that the union's are selling a product (the "Union") that the employee's do not want. If I really wanted to have a union in place in my organization, the fact that management did not want it would be more incentive for me. The fact is, the legal obligation that employers have to allow their workers to form this collective bargaining unit, does not change the fact that the average employees see no value in it.
I think they need to "re-package" their product and try selling it in a different manner.
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