Labor unions and the American worker

Labor Union & the American Worker

Membership in American labor unions has been declining for the past fifty years but the rate of decline has rapidly picked up momentum in the past few years. This decline in membership has been more marked in the manufacturing sector but has been witnessed in other sectors as well. It is worthwhile to look into the causes of this decline since it has had an impact on the work life of the American workers. Union membership in the private sector reached its peak in 1970 with a total of more than 16 million workers. (Caplow; Bahr; Chadwick; Modell, 1994) Things were different in 1956 when one out of every three private sector workers was a labor union member., by 1998 things had turned out to be quite different with one out of every ten private sector workers being a labor union member. However, labor union membership amongst the public sector employees went up from 12% to 39% during the same period. Several studies have pointed out that the decline in private sector union membership has been due to the changes in the rate of new-organization of unions and differential employment growth rates between nonunion and union sectors. The failure of union organizing activities during the seventies and eighties has also been held responsible for the decline. (Bennett; Kaufman, 2002)

One particular study has found that the decline in private sector union membership in the period from 1977 to 1991 was because of the drop in worker demand for representation in the unions despite the fact that the relative supply of union jobs did not change. (Farber; Krueger, 1992) The drop in union membership can also be attributed to the growth of the service industries as compared to the smokestack industries. Service industries, in general, have almost always resisted unionization. Various industrial sectors have also exhibited differential demands for unionization. For instance, there has always been a heavy demand for unionization in the construction industry which was later replaced by the mining and transportation industries. Unionization has also been extremely high in rubber, railroads and steel industries but all of these industries have seen a dramatic fall in union membership. (Caplow; Bahr; Chadwick; Modell, 1994); (Goldfield, 1989)

One more reason for this fall has been the growth in the white collar is to blue collar worker ratio. It has been a general trend for the white collar worker in the private sector to resist joining any labor union. Obviously, the increase in the percentage of white collar workers amongst the labor force in the private industry leads to a decrease in the percentage of unionized workers. Corporate managers have also played a role in de-unionization by moving their factories from the "Frostbelt" i.e. The Northeast and Midwest to those regions of the countries, "Sunbelt" which permitted them to operate closed shops because of their traditional resistance to unionization. In the last ten years, capitalists have also stepped up their anti-labor offensive preferring to hire non-union workers. The federal government's executive branch has also been generally unsympathetic towards organized labor since 1980. (Caplow; Bahr; Chadwick; Modell, 1994); (Goldfield, 1989)

Public support towards unionization has also eroded in the last two decades. Surveys have found that the public find business leaders to be more trustworthy than union leaders and many members of non-union families disapprove of unions. Other factors include the increased trend towards smaller sizes of new factories. Moreover, the American workforce has changed significantly in terms of composition, i.e. age, sex, education and race. Some cyclical phenomenon in the political, social and economic environment in the U.S. has also lead to the decline in union membership. These cyclical explanations for the decline include economic factors like the rising unemployment rates in the U.S., the mounting influence of the Republicans since 1952 in national politics, and the drop in class conflicts in the country. The unions also must take a major portion of blame for failure to deploy significant portions of their budgets for organizing new union activities. (Caplow; Bahr; Chadwick; Modell, 1994); (Goldfield, 1989)

As of 2006, only 12.5% of the current American workforce belongs to labor unions. This has had an adverse effect on the American worker's "right to organize and collectively bargain." Organized labor is the most effective way to curb the influence of corporate powers in the Congress, the most powerful method to force employers to provide fair treatment of workers, and one of the most efficient means to protect the rights of the workforce. The illegal and unfair tactics used by many employers can only be curbed through the medium of organized labor. It is a fact that the decline in the influence of labor unions has resulted in a downward pull on salaries and other benefits in the private sector. As many as 50% of the workforce today do not possess retirement security, 16% do not have health insurance, and there has been a loss of real income for ninety percent Americans since 1973. ("Divide and Conquer," 2009); (McFadyen, 2006)