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1) Are Unions Literally Dying Off? The Bureau of
Labor Statistics released its
annual report on union membership and if you squinted really hard, you
could find some good news for labor organizations in it. There were 49,000
additional union members in 2011, and the unionization rate fell only
one-tenth of a percentage point, to 11.8 percent of the total workforce.
Most of us would be hard-pressed to find cheer in
a chart that looks like this one...
...but
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka tried anyway:
Despite an
unprecedented volley of partisan political attacks on workers' rights and
the continuing insecurity of our economic crisis, union membership increased
slightly last year. Working men and women want to come together and to
improve their lives.
The AFL-CIO boasted of the 15,000 new members in the
16-to-24 age group, while failing to notice that number is down more than
200,000 from just four years ago. The leftist publication
In These Times saw the BLS numbers as a mixed bag, and commented
they "give little hint of the future."
On the contrary, the numbers give us a rather large
hint of the future, and herald a slow, lingering death for unions of all
types without a change in organizing strategy.
The Baby Boomers naturally have comprised the bulk of
the U.S. workforce for many years. As the workforce has aged, you would
expect union membership to age as well. However, an examination of the last
ten years of data reveals that union membership is aging at an accelerated
rate relative to the rest of the workforce.
In 2001, 6.3 percent of union members were below that
age of 25. Last year, only 5 percent were. That's not encouraging, but the
other end of the spectrum is truly alarming.
In 2001, 14 percent of union members were 55 years of
age or older. Last year, 23.3 percent were. Almost half a million working
union members are 65 or older. During the last 10 years, not only did unions
lose more than 1.5 million members, but 1.1 million additional members
entered the 55-and-over age group.
This creates a demographic storm that unions have not
faced in recent memory. Over several decades they have been unable to
increase membership at the same rate as the growing workforce. Now, even as
the overall size of the workforce slows or stalls, they will find themselves
needing to grow at a rate to replace retiring and deceased members.
The aging union membership would also seem to be a sign
that battles over retirement, health care and seniority will become more
bitter and difficult in the short term, since a growing segment of the union
population sees these as primary issues.
If, however, the focus on the needs and desires of the
older members comes at the expense of younger members, or potential members,
the unions essentially may retire themselves out of existence.
2) Last Week's Intercepts. EIA's blog,
Intercepts, covered these topics from January 24-30:
*
Diane Ravitch's Fairy Tale Journey Through the Gumdrop Land of California.
No one ever went broke telling people exactly what they want to hear.
*
California Teachers Association Backs Brown Over Sister Union. Will a
coalition of the untaxed unite around a single tax hike initiative?
*
Twinkie the Kid Wins School Showdown. "He should have armed himself."
*
Small Potatoes. Is it bad for unions in Idaho or not?
*
Crabby. Held back by The Man.
3) Quote of the Week #1.
"If I'm a parent in poverty I have no clue because I'm trying to struggle
and live day to day. The idea of parents making decisions simply based on
choice is the abandonment of public schools." - Michael Walker Jones,
executive director of the Louisiana Association of Educators, commenting on
Gov. Bobby Jindal's plan to expand school vouchers in the state. (January 23
New Orleans Times-Picayune)
Quote of the Week #2. "To me that is incredibly offensive and exactly
what is wrong with the top-down approach." - Gov. Jindal, responding to
Jones' comments. (January 24
New Orleans Times-Picayune) |
