Membership in Private Sector Unions

¶ … Membership in Private Sector Unions so low?

Union membership in the private sector has declined dramatically in recent years, while union membership in the public sector remains fairly steady. In fact over half of current union membership in the U.S. is public sector-related. The reasons why public sector unions remain strong could be due to the fact that public unions represent teachers, nurses, police and fire professionals -- all groups that either serve or protect the public. As to why private sector unions are struggling, this paper offers scholarly research on that topic.

The Literature on Unions

Princeton University professors Farber and Western report that union membership in the 1880s was less than 5% of workers in the private sector, and there have been "advances and retreats" in the succeeding years. In 1945 union members rose to 34.2% and by 1954 it stood at 33.5%. Subsequent to 1954, union membership has experienced "a steady decline" to a low of 13.3% in 1998 (Farber, et al., 2001, p. 461). The reasons for the change in union membership can be attributed to "differential growth rates in employment between union and nonunion sectors" (Farber, 461).

Professor Morris M. Kleiner (University of Minnesota) understands that there has been tough resistance to companies when unions are knocking on the door. The professor explains that companies resist having unions because unions have the power to raise wages, which could result in "loss in profits" (Kleiner, 2001, p. 521). This resistance, however, is expensive, Kleiner explains, because companies hire high-priced consultants to help block union efforts. The resistance, Kleiner writes, manifests through the use of "sticks and carrots"; this strategy helps to put a halt to union organizations in the workplace. "Sticks" include: a) "captive audience speeches by supervisors"; b) "harassment of potential union leaders"; c) the firing of union leadership; and d) failure to bargain in good faith over the first contract (Kleiner, 519). The "carrots" include: a) pay increases; b) programs that benefit employees; c) additional "financial participation in the profits of the firm" (Kleiner, 519).

Stanford University professor Robert F. Flanagan offers several explanations as to the decline in union membership in the private sector. First Flanagan offers four hypotheses: one, changes in the structure of the American economy "favor nonunion over union employment"; two, union organization is less intense than it was; three, workers' interest in general has tapered off with reference to unions; and four, management vigorously opposes unions in many instances (Flanagan, 2005, p. 33). Adding to that list, Flanagan asserts that many companies have adopted "human resource management policies" that are similar to what unions have demanded in the past and this results in "diminished demand for unionization" (Flanagan, 34). In other words, if a company is keeping its workers happy and satisfied with progressive policies and sharing the profits, the need for a union in a progressive company is greatly reduced.