Opinion Editorial | |
| Monday, March 10, 1997 | |
Sweeney Strategy Has Some PromiseBruce Bartlett
|
AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney recently announced a major redirection of union resources into recruitment of new members. The goal is to stop the hemorrhaging of union membership as a share of the U.S. labor force. (See figure)
In the 1950s, more than a third of all workers were union members. As recently as 1980, more than 20 million workers belonged to a union. In 1996, however, just 16.3 million workers were members of unions, 14.5 percent of all employed wage and salary workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. This represents a drop of 91,000 union workers just since 1995 -- 0.4 percent of total employment.
What has been happening for many years is that the industries where unions have had strength have been those where employment has been stagnant or declining. Overall manufacturing employment, for example, has fallen by about 2 million since 1980.
By contrast, industries where unions traditionally have been weak have grown sharply. Thus employment in services virtually doubled between 1980 and 1996, from 17.9 million to 34.4 million. The only major growth area for unions has been government, where almost 40 percent of workers are now union members.
Another factor leading to union weakness is the declining wage premium for union membership. In 1983, the median wage for all private-sector union members was 39 percent higher than for non-union members. Last year this premium declined to 27.5 percent, with union members making $584 per week and non-union workers earning $458.
In fact, in some industries, there is virtually no premium. Union workers in finance, insurance and real estate -- an industry where employment has been growing rapidly -- made $534 per week in 1996 with non-union workers making $520.
Changing trends in pensions may also be a factor in union decline. During the period of union strength, most pensions were of the defined-benefit variety -- companies took responsibility for investing pension assets, and workers were promised a fixed monthly benefit.
But during the last 20 years, growing numbers of pensions have been converted to defined-contribution plans, where workers must make their own investment decisions. With many defined-contribution plans invested heavily in corporate stock, workers may now view themselves more as owners than wage slaves.
Unions often blame Washington for their problems. If only more union-friendly legislation could be passed, they believe, union strength would turn around. Hence, vast resources have been poured into anti-North American Free Trade Agreement and anti-Republican efforts. But such efforts have all been to no avail. The trends toward globalization and government downsizing have been too strong to resist. This suggests that Sweeney's new recruitment strategy has more promise.
Bruce Bartlett is a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis.
Home | Support Us | All Issues | Social Security Debate Central | Contact Us |
