Apparition
30th November 2010, 08:56 AM
By Holly Rosenkrantz
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Union membership in the private sector declined in 2009 to a record low of 7.2 percent, as a recession eroded employment in labor-organized industries such as construction and manufacturing, a U.S. report showed.
The figure compares with 7.6 percent in 2008, according to data released today by the Labor Department. Union membership made up 12.3 percent of the total workforce, down from 12.4 percent in 2008. It increased among government workers to 37.4 percent from 36.8 percent.
Labor leaders have been trying to stem a decline in the number of organized workers, brought on by job losses at automakers and other production industries. Union members made up 16.8 percent of the private sector and 20.1 percent of the total workforce in 1983, the peak based on the way the agency currently tracks data, said Jim Walker, a department economist.
The median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers were $908 for union members last year, compared with $710 for employees not represented by a union, the Labor Department said.
“These numbers make it clear that union jobs are good jobs,” Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in an e-mailed statement. The data “makes clear”, she said, why the administration supports the bill known as the card-check legislation that would make it easier for workers to form a union.
“These numbers show a need for Congress to pass legislation to level the playing field to enable more American workers to access the benefit of union membership,” Solis said.
--Editors: Joe Richter, Larry Liebert
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-22/union-membership-in-the-private-sector-declines-to-record-low.html
Hooray! :)
The lower the rate the better the economy and society will be.
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Union membership in the private sector declined in 2009 to a record low of 7.2 percent, as a recession eroded employment in labor-organized industries such as construction and manufacturing, a U.S. report showed.
The figure compares with 7.6 percent in 2008, according to data released today by the Labor Department. Union membership made up 12.3 percent of the total workforce, down from 12.4 percent in 2008. It increased among government workers to 37.4 percent from 36.8 percent.
Labor leaders have been trying to stem a decline in the number of organized workers, brought on by job losses at automakers and other production industries. Union members made up 16.8 percent of the private sector and 20.1 percent of the total workforce in 1983, the peak based on the way the agency currently tracks data, said Jim Walker, a department economist.
The median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers were $908 for union members last year, compared with $710 for employees not represented by a union, the Labor Department said.
“These numbers make it clear that union jobs are good jobs,” Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in an e-mailed statement. The data “makes clear”, she said, why the administration supports the bill known as the card-check legislation that would make it easier for workers to form a union.
“These numbers show a need for Congress to pass legislation to level the playing field to enable more American workers to access the benefit of union membership,” Solis said.
--Editors: Joe Richter, Larry Liebert
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-22/union-membership-in-the-private-sector-declines-to-record-low.html
Hooray! :)
The lower the rate the better the economy and society will be.