1. "WASHINGTON - The nation's labor unions saw another steep decline in membership last year, even as the economy showed signs of recovery and job losses slowed.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that unions lost 612,000 members in 2010, dropping the unionized share of the work force to 11.9 percent from 12.3 percent in 2009. That follows a loss of 771,000 workers in 2008, continuing a steady decline from the 1950s when more than a third of workers belonged to unions."
Union membership falls sharply; private sector union ranks at pre-WWII levels | StarTribune.com
2. Results of a recent Rasmussen poll found that 9% of nonunion workers were interested in joining a union. For public school grads, that means that 91% have no such interest. In fact, maybe that means that 9% are public school grads who didnt learn to read on their own. (Just 9% of Non-Union Workers Want to Join Union - Rasmussen Reports)
3. Rasmussen found that even workers in companies who were in danger of losing their jobs, it was still only 9%. What do the 91% know about union membership that the 9% dont? One can only conjecture.
In the 1950s some 1/3 of all private-sector workers belonged to a union. Now only 7.6% of nongovernment workers belong to one. From 1997to 2004, private sector employment grew from 66.1 to 103.6 million, but union membership declined from 14.3 to 8.2 million. (AEAweb: Annual Meeting Papers)
4. An interesting historical anomaly is the period 1945 through 1965, a golden age in many ways. This was the period after the war, when any of our potential competitors were rebuilding from the devastation, making it impossible for the United States economy not to thrive. Beneficiaries included the unions and blue collar high school graduates who were assured of high paying jobs. That is no longer true, and probably wont be again, short of a third World War. From H.W. Brands, "American Colossus"
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that unions lost 612,000 members in 2010, dropping the unionized share of the work force to 11.9 percent from 12.3 percent in 2009. That follows a loss of 771,000 workers in 2008, continuing a steady decline from the 1950s when more than a third of workers belonged to unions."
Union membership falls sharply; private sector union ranks at pre-WWII levels | StarTribune.com
2. Results of a recent Rasmussen poll found that 9% of nonunion workers were interested in joining a union. For public school grads, that means that 91% have no such interest. In fact, maybe that means that 9% are public school grads who didnt learn to read on their own. (Just 9% of Non-Union Workers Want to Join Union - Rasmussen Reports)
3. Rasmussen found that even workers in companies who were in danger of losing their jobs, it was still only 9%. What do the 91% know about union membership that the 9% dont? One can only conjecture.
In the 1950s some 1/3 of all private-sector workers belonged to a union. Now only 7.6% of nongovernment workers belong to one. From 1997to 2004, private sector employment grew from 66.1 to 103.6 million, but union membership declined from 14.3 to 8.2 million. (AEAweb: Annual Meeting Papers)
4. An interesting historical anomaly is the period 1945 through 1965, a golden age in many ways. This was the period after the war, when any of our potential competitors were rebuilding from the devastation, making it impossible for the United States economy not to thrive. Beneficiaries included the unions and blue collar high school graduates who were assured of high paying jobs. That is no longer true, and probably wont be again, short of a third World War. From H.W. Brands, "American Colossus"
