The number of workers in the United States belonging to a union
fell by 326,000 in 2006 to 15.4 million — or 12 percent of
the workforce — according to the latest statistics released
by the U.S. Department of Labor.
In Oregon, union membership fell from 213,000 in 2005 to an estimated
211,000 last year. That’s 13.8 percent of the workforce.
Washington State bucked the trend, increasing its ranks by 26,000
members last year to an estimated 549,000 members, or 19.8 percent
of the workforce.
Washington now ranks fifth-highest in the nation in terms of union
density, trailing only Hawaii (24.7 percent), New York (24.4 percent),
Alaska (22.2 percent), and New Jersey (20.1 percent).
Among the five states reporting union membership rates below 5 percent
in 2006, North Carolina and South Carolina continued to post the
lowest rates (3.3 percent each). The next lowest rates were recorded
in Virginia (4 percent), Georgia (4.4 percent), and Texas (4.9 percent).
Nationally, the public sector still has the highest number of organized
workers, at 36.2 percent. In the private sectors only 7.4 percent
of workers are represented.
The largest decrease in union membership rates occurred in manufacturing,
where union membership dropped 1.3 percentage points to just 11.7
percent of manufacturing workers. For the first time since the Bureau
of Labor Statistics began tracking these trends, and likely for
the first time in U.S. history, union membership rates were lower
in manufacturing (11.7 percent) than in the rest of the economy
(12.0 percent), reported the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The national unionization rate has steadily declined from a high
of 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year for which comparable union
data are available.
“While I’m very encouraged that more workers in Washington
State have organized to gain a voice at work and win strong union
contracts, this news about declining national membership is another
troubling sign that America’s middle class is struggling,”
said Rick Bender, president of the Washington State Labor Council,
AFL-CIO. “It’s bad news for all workers, not just union
members, when fewer of us have a contract to protect our living
standards from being eroded away.”
He said the factors that have contributed to the national decline
include the outsourcing of jobs, the decline of America’s
once-powerful manufacturing sector and the enormous difficulty workers
face when trying to form or join unions to improve their lives.
A recent survey by Peter D. Hart Research Associates shows that
the public support of unions is at a 25-year high — 65 percent
approve of unions while only 25 percent disapprove. More than half
of all workers say they would join a union today if given the chance.
According to last week’s Department of Labor report, full-time
wage and salary workers who were union members in 2006 had median
weekly earnings of $833, compared with a median of $642 for wage
and salary workers who were not represented by unions. Unionized
workers also are more likely to have better employer-paid health
insurance and pensions.
The biggest obstacle, Bender said, is that “too many unscrupulous
employers routinely fire, harass and intimidate workers who express
interest in joining unions — even though that’s supposed
to be illegal.”
Weak labor laws have allowed union-busting consultants to make the
union election process a virtual minefield. Studies have found that
among employers faced with union organizing campaigns:
• 30 percent will fire pro-union workers.
• 49 percent will threaten to close a worksite, but only 2
percent actually do.
• 51 percent will coerce workers into opposing unions with
bribery or favoritism.
• 82 percent will hire high-priced union-busting consultants
to fight union organizing drives.
• 91 percent will force employees to attend one-on-one anti-union
meetings with their supervisors.
To combat this, unions are lobbying for legislation at both federal
and state levels that would allow workers to form a union by simply
signing authorization cards.
The Employee Free Choice Act will be re-introduced in Congress later
this year.
Last year, the EFCA was co-sponsored by 215 U.S. representatives
and 44 senators.
